As we continue to preview the 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule, having already looked at the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals, it is time to keep with the bird theme and look at the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Seattle is actually where the Cowboys season will begin, in exhibition fashion, as Dallas will play their first preseason game at the Seahawks, but it won’t be until Week 13 on Monday Night Football when they play in one of the toughest road environments in the NFL for
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This Week 13 Seahawks game will come with a very uncommon rest advantage for the Cowboys, as it follows their Week 12 Thanksgiving home game on a Thursday afternoon against the Philadelphia Eagles. For just the third time in their history, the Cowboys’ annual Thanksgiving game will be followed by a Monday night game, giving them a rare 11 days between games. The Cowboys will then go into their bye week following the Seahawks game, but stay out west following it for another NFC West opponent, playing at the L.A. Rams in Week 15.
With Mike Macdonald at the helm in Seattle, the Seahawks have created the latest version of their “Legion of Boom” defense, and rode this defense along with a strong running game and timely, explosive passing game all the way to a Super Bowl championship. The Cowboys have not won on the road at the Seahawks since 2014, an early season win that sent a clear signal that season’s team was built different.
That year’s Cowboys were also sparked by their run game, and now over a decade later it will be interesting to see what the Cowboys run game looks like by the time they get to Seattle in 2026, and equally what the Seahawks ground attack will look like after losing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker in free agency, but drafting Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price with the last pick of the first round this April.
Seahawks Key Free Agent Signings/Departures
* SIGNED IN FREE AGENCY
- LB Dante Fowler Jr.
- LB Chazz Surratt (Re-signed)
- CB Noah Igbinoghene
- RB Emanual Wilson
- WR Jake Bobo (Re-signed)
- OL Josh Jones (Re-signed)
- CB Josh Jobe (Re-signed)
- WR Rashid Shaheed (Re-signed)
* DEPARTED IN FREE AGENCY
- RB Kenneth Walker III
- LB Boye Mafe
- S Coby Bryant
- CB Riq Woolen
The Seahawks put a heavy emphasis on re-signing their own free agents this offseason, which gives them a short list of departures, but they are all significant nonetheless. Coby Bryant played 100% of the team’s defensive snaps in the Super Bowl, while Riq Woolen and Boys Mafe were contributors as well, while Kenneth Walker was the Super Bowl MVP on offense.
Seattle did add another former Cowboys pass rusher in Dante Fowler Jr. to now pair with DeMarcus Lawrence, and still have a depth chart in the secondary that will be the envy of every other team trying to play catch up to the “big nickel” defenses having the most success in today’s game.
On the other side of the ball, also much like the Cowboys, the Seahawks offense is going to be a great case study in “running things back”. Their core of Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed, and Cooper Kupp will have a new play-caller in Brian Fleury, replacing Klint Kubiak who parlayed winning a Super Bowl with this group into the head coaching job for the Las Vegas Raiders.
With Fleury coming over from within the Seahawks own division, where he most recently served as run game coordinator and tight ends coach for the San Francisco 49ers, the Seahawks will feel like they have the right fit in a division known for similarities in playing styles offensively. Having a fresh running back and ascending offensive line for Fleury to put to work are also positives – which brings us to what else the Seahawks have done in the draft and with their coaching staff this offseason.
Seahawks 2026 Draft Class
- Round 1, Pick 32: RB Jadarian Price
- Round 2, Pick 32 (64 Overall): S Bud Clark
- Round 3, Pick 35 (99 Overall): CB Julian Neal
- Round 5, Pick 8 (148 Overall): G Beau Stephens
- Round 6, Pick 18 (199 Overall): WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr.
- Round 7, Pick 20 (236 Overall): CB Andre Fuller
- Round 7, Pick 26 (242 Overall): DT Deven Eastern
- Round 7, Pick 39 (255 Overall): CB Michael Dansby
With the exception of grabbing Price at the end of round one as their replacement for Walker, the Seahawks drafted in a way that adds young talent to existing positions of strength already, with four picks going to the secondary, and another to the interior offensive line.
This is an organization that has been complimented for it’s continuity and synchronicity under Macdonald, who just became the first ever head coach to win a Super Bowl as their team’s primary defensive play-caller. Their best challenges to a Super Bowl defense will come from within their own division, with the Rams leading the league in primetime game appearances this season as a white hot pick to win it all, and the 49ers always in the mix.
With this season’s Cowboys at Seahawks game coming in December, which Seahawks draft picks are seeing the field and have established roles by this point will be something to keep an eye on.
Seahawks 2026 Coaching Changes
*New to staff this season:
- Offensive Coordinator Brian Fleury
- Offensive Line John Benton
- Running Backs Thomas Hammock
- Inside Linebackers Zach Orr
- Quarterbacks Tyson Prince
The Seahawks will have several other new coaches in more secondary positions this season, but more noteworthy are the changes at the positions we’ve already highlighted as ones that will be crucial to making or breaking their title defense season. Sam Darnold will have both a new quarterback coach and offensive coordinator. Fleury’s experience working closely with the offensive line group as this new coordinator will have to gel with a new line coach entirely in John Benton. Their first-round pick in the backfield will have a new running backs coach in Thomas Hammock.
One of the most underrated moves of the entire NFL offseason is also on this list though, with the Seahawks adding former Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr as inside linebackers coach. Having this wealth of defensive knowledge between Macdonald and Orr is the rich getting richer, and a scary thought that the Seahawks already with a threatening secondary could be even more fearful in the front seven as well.
Ultimately when it comes to the coaching matchup against the Cowboys though, this game will just be another late-season litmus test of just how good of hands the Cowboys highly-paid offense is in with head coach Brian Schottenheimer calling the plays in year two, as well as for offensive coordinator Klayton Adams alongside him for year two as well. By this point in the season, Schottenheimer and Adams’ gameplans will already be put to the test by the Giants, Ravens, Texans, Buccaneers, and 49ers defenses, but the Seahawks on paper stand to be the toughest of this entire season’s bunch.
A win would send the Cowboys into the bye with the highest of possible vibes, and take a bit of pressure off the following game against the Rams potentially, while a loss at the Seahawks would make beating the Rams off the bye much more crucial but no less difficult. With only the Jaguars, Giants, and Commanders remaining on the schedule after this bunch, the Cowboys will need a statement win sometime between Thanksgiving and Week 15, seeing how they match up with the reigning champs in the middle of this tough stretch.
