NFL schedule release winners, losers: Seahawks set up nicely, not high-profile rookies

After days – maybe weeks? – of anticipation, the 2026 NFL regular-season schedule finally emerged fully formed Thursday, May 14, the remaining gaps filled in after the league revealed so many of its showcase matchups throughout the early part of the week while other leaks sprang elsewhere. And now teams and fans alike know – where are those prime-time battle royales?

Is the bye week too early? When is our division rival coming to town? It’s a lot to sift through – and we’ll do so live over the course of the evening – but let’s anoint the winners and brand the losers of this year’s schedule release: WINNERS Seattle Seahawks They reigning Super Bowl champions host the regular-season kickoff Sept.

9 – a Wednesday due to Labor Day’s Sept. 7 placement on the calendar – against the New England Patriots, the team they whacked in Super Bowl 60 in February. But the early game, along with a Thursday night date at Denver in Week 6, plus a Week 11 bye means the ‘Hawks will enjoy quite a few organic breaks throughout the fall – a nice little advantage for a team seeking to qualify for back-to-back Super Sundays for the second time in franchise history.

And the fact that the Seahawks are traveling substantially fewer miles than the division rival Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, who meet in Australia to start the season, doesn’t hurt, either. NFL’s international footprint The league's quest for world domination continues – to the point that international matchups are an increasingly commonplace aspect of the schedule. This year, the NFL will stage games in four continents , seven countries and eight stadiums outside of America – with regular-season debuts occurring in Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro and Paris.