By Frank Pingue
Sept 7 (Reuters) - The 2026 NFL season kicks off on Wednesday with a Super Bowl rematch, launching a wide-open title chase that will include a record nine international games played across four continents before a champion is crowned on Valentine's Day in Los Angeles.
The road to Super Bowl LXI, set for the shared home of the Rams and Chargers on February 14, looks unpredictable following an offseason that reshuffled rosters, coaching staff and championship odds.
The Seattle Seahawks
will get the 2026 campaign underway when they unveil their Super Bowl championship banner before hosting the New England Patriots in the first Wednesday season-opener since 2012.
The unusual scheduling clears the runway for the league's most ambitious international push yet.
The NFL's slate of international games this season will span seven countries and eight stadiums, starting on Friday in Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where the San Francisco 49ers face the Los Angeles Rams in the first NFL regular-season game Down Under.
From there it is on to Rio de Janeiro, where the Baltimore Ravens meet the Dallas Cowboys at the Maracana, followed by three games in London, plus stops in Paris, Madrid, Munich and Mexico City.
ROSTERS RESHUFFLED ACROSS THE LEAGUE
There has been no shortage of change around the league since Seattle rode a dominant defense to the franchise's second Lombardi Trophy in February.
The Rams, already regarded as the Super Bowl favourites, got bolder. Cleveland sent Myles Garrett to Los Angeles for Jared Verse and multiple draft picks, a trade that only hardened the belief the Rams were a Super Bowl favourite. Aaron Donald then came out of retirement to rejoin the team he helped to win it all in 2022.
New England, the league's parity poster child after rocketing from the AFC East basement to the Super Bowl in a single year, added firepower of their own by trading for Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown.
The Seahawks return largely intact in their bid to repeat but face a question mark in the backfield after Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III left for Kansas City in free agency.
The Kansas City Chiefs enter the campaign facing plenty of uncertainty, most notably how quarterback Patrick Mahomes will fare on his return after suffering a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee in December.
Mahomes, who led the Chiefs to three Super Bowl titles over a five-year span, did not appear in any preseason games as a precautionary measure but appears to be on track for their September 14 opener against the Denver Broncos.
Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy said he had no doubts about Mahomes's return, adding that his teammate's determination throughout the recovery process stood out.
"His grind, his will and want-to is beyond anybody I’ve ever seen,” said Worthy. “Whatever he puts his mind to, that’s what he’s going to do. He kind of leads the team in that way."
There has been plenty of buzz around Fernando Mendoza, who the Las Vegas Raiders selected first overall at the NFL Draft, but his regular-season debut will have to wait as the team have named veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins as their starter.
COACHING CAROUSEL GIVES SIDELINES A NEW LOOK
Sidelines saw just as much turnover as rosters. A record-tying 10 teams hired new head coaches this offseason, six of them getting their first shot at the job.
Among the newcomers, Jesse Minter inherits a Super Bowl-caliber Ravens roster built around two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, while the Buffalo Bills promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to replace the fired Sean McDermott after years of postseason heartbreak.
Perhaps no storyline captures the league's blend of youth and longevity better than Pittsburgh's. Four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, at 42 the oldest player in the league, returns for a 22nd season to reunite with new head coach Mike McCarthy — the pair won a Super Bowl together with the Green Bay Packers in February 2011.
Former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who stepped down in January after 19 seasons, believes the pairing has a chance to sneak up on the league.
"I think that's the only reason Aaron comes back. He believes it, I believe it. I don't think he comes back if he doesn't believe that," Tomlin said on "The Rich Eisen Show".
"They're probably not being talked about in the ways that some others are being talked about, but that can be a good motivator and a catalyst for them as well. I think they got high expectations, and I think they should have high expectations."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; editing by Clare Fallon)
