The New England Patriots’ 2025 season as a whole was a success, but it ultimately ended in a disappointing loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Seven months removed from its 29-13 defeat, the team of head coach Mike Vrabel will get another crack at the newly-crowned world champions: it’s Patriots at Seahawks to kick off the NFL’s 2026 season.
The two teams will face off at Seattle’s Lumen Field on Wednesday night, a highly-anticipated rematch that will feature a new-look Patriots team going
up against a steady Seahawks squad that saw only marginal changes during the offseason. The question is whether or not New England managed to close what was a 16-point gap on Super Bowl Sunday.
We will find out on Wednesday. For now, let’s get to know the Seahawks in our first opponent preview of the season.
Seahawks key stats
The Seahawks were the best team in the NFL last season, and their stats reflected this. And given that the personnel turnover has been minimal — more on it in a second — it would not be a surprise to see them post similar numbers in 2026 as well.
Given that those numbers are the only serious statistical information we have about the team, if we disregard its 0-2-1 preseason slate, let’s take a look at them.
Record: 14-3 (1st NFC West/1st NFC)
Scoring differential: +191 (1st)
Turnover differential: -3 (t-19th)
Offense: 28.4 points/game (3rd), 351.4 yards/game (8th), 28 giveaways (31st), 0.036 EPA/play (14th), 0.137 EPA/dropback (8th), -0.076 EPA/run (22nd)
Defense: 17.2 points/game (1st), 285.9 yards/game (6th), 25 takeaways (6th), -0.113 EPA/play (1st), -0.065 EPA/dropback (5th), -0.206 EPA/run (1st)
Even though it was ranked only 14th in the NFL in expected points added and turned the ball over more than every team but one during the 2025 regular season, the Seahawks offense was quite successful as a whole. That was particularly true in the passing game, where the team finished second in net yards per attempt (7.6) — a ranking mirrored by the defense (5.1). The points and yards per game rankings were impressive as well, but do not quite hold up when looked at on a drive-by-drive basis: Seattle was ranked 11th in both categories on a per-series average.
Defensively, there was no such drop-off between the raw data and the efficiency metrics. Seattle finished the regular season first in points allowed per game (17.2) and first in points allowed per drive (1.48), sixth in yards per game (285.9) and fourth in yards per drive (25.8), and top-10 in virtually all major categories including scoring percentage (28.7%; 2nd) and turnover rate (12.8%; 6th). The run defense was particularly stout, but teams did not have any easier of a time moving the ball through the air. Long story short, this was as complete a defense as any in the NFL — and the Patriots found this out first-hand in the Super Bowl.
Seahawks 2025 season
In this section, we typically look back at the games already played this season. With this being opening week, however, there are no such points of reference. Instead, let’s recap Seattle’s championship campaign from a year ago.
Week 1: 17-13 loss vs. San Francisco 49ers (0-1)
Week 2: 31-17 win at Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1)
Week 3: 44-13 win vs. New Orleans Saints (2-1)
Week 4: 23-20 win at Arizona Cardinals (3-1)
Week 5: 38-35 loss vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2)
Week 6: 20-12 win at Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2)
Week 7: 27-19 win vs. Houston Texans (5-2)
Week 8: Bye
Week 9: 38-14 win at Washington Commanders (6-2)
Week 10: 44-22 win vs. Arizona Cardinals (7-2)
Week 11: 21-19 loss at Los Angeles Rams (7-3)
Week 12: 30-24 win at Tennessee Titans (8-3)
Week 13: 26-0 win vs. Minnesota Vikings (9-3)
Week 14: 37-9 win at Atlanta Falcons (10-3)
Week 15: 18-16 win vs. Indianapolis Colts (11-3)
Week 16: 38-37 (OT) win vs. Los Angeles Rams (12-3)
Week 17: 27-10 win vs. Carolina Panthers (13-3)
Week 18: 13-3 win at San Francisco 49ers (14-3)
Wild card round: Bye
Divisional round: 41-6 win vs. San Francisco 49ers
NFC Championship Game: 31-27 win vs. Los Angeles Rams
Super Bowl: 29-13 win vs. New England Patriots
All things considered, the Seahawks were deserving world champions last season. They were arguably the strongest team already in the regular season, posting a league-best scoring differential of +191, before going on a dominant postseason run.
Seahawks active roster
Roster up-to-date as of Sept. 7, 7 a.m. ET | *denotes nominal starter
Quarterback (3): Sam Darnold* (14), Drew Lock (2), Jalen Milroe (6)
Running back (4): Jadarian Price* (8), George Holani (36), Emanuel Wilson (23), Brady Russell (38 | FB)
Wide receiver (5): Jaxon Smith-Njigba* (11), Cooper Kupp* (10), Rashid Shaheed* (22 | KR/PR), Torry Horton (15), Montorie Foster Jr. (87)
Tight end (4): A.J. Barner* (88), Eric Saubert (81), Elijah Arroyo (18), Nick Kallerup (89)
Offensive tackle (3): Charles Cross* (67 | LT), Abraham Lucas* (72 | RT), Josh Jones (74)
Interior offensive line (6): Grey Zabel* (76 | LG), Jalen Sundell* (61 | C), Anthony Bradford* (75 | RG), Olusegun Oluwatimi (55), Beau Stephens (70), Christian Haynes (64), Bryce Cabeldue (77)
Interior defensive line (6): Leonard Williams* (99), Byron Murphy II* (91), Jarran Reed (90), Brandon Pili (95), Mike Morris (94), Rylie Mills (98)
Defensive edge (5): DeMarcus Lawrence* (0), Uchenna Nwosu* (7), Derrick Hall (58), Dante. Fowler Jr. (56), Connor O’Toole (57)
Linebacker (5): Ernest Jones IV* (13), Drake Thomas* (42), Tyrice Knight (48), Patrick O’Connell (52), Chazz Surratt (44)
Cornerback (4): Devon Witherspoon* (21), Josh Jobe* (29), Nehemiah Pritchett (28), Julian Neal (1)
Safety (4): Nick Emmanwori* (3), Julian Love* (20), Ty Okada* (39), Avery Smith (27)
Specialists (3): Jason Myers (5 | K), Michael Dickson (4 | P/H), Chris Stoll (41 | LS)
Long gone are the days when Sam Darnold was the latest in a long list of quarterbacks failing to live up to the expectation of being a highly-drafted quarterback with the New York Jets. The journey to Seattle was not an easy one to travel for the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, but he made it count and is coming off the best season of his career: Darnold was the motor powering one of the league’s top offenses in 2025, and there is no reason to believe in a serious drop-off even under a new offensive coordinator.
Of course, it helps when you have one of the best wide receiver trios in football to throw to. The first player to mention is, of course, JSN.
The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Jaxon Smith-Njigba finished the 2025 regular season with 119 catches for a league-leading 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns. Darnold’s go-to guy and big-play threat all rolled into one, he added 17 passes for 199 yards and a pair of scores in the playoffs. In 20 total games last season, the first-team All-Pro cracked 100 receiving yards 10 times.
One prominent departure from last year, meanwhile, is running back Kenneth Walker. The MVP of Super Bowl LX signed with the Chiefs this offseason, and was replaced by Jadarian Price in the first round of the draft. Price will be running behind a high-quality offensive line that retained all five starters this offseason.
On the other side of the ball, the Seahawks are featuring one of the most disruptive defensive lines in football. Led by a starting quartet of edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence and Uchenna Nwosu as well as interior linemen Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy, blocking Seattle’s front line again projects to be a handful for opposing offenses.
The Patriots, of course, were unable to limit the group’s impact in the Super Bowl. The hope is that some reshuffling as well as some natural growth from youngsters Will Campbell and Jared Wilson will make for a more competitive battle this time around.
The standouts on that side of the ball are not limited to the line, however. Linebacker Ernest Jones was voted a second-team All-Pro last season (like Leonard Williams), while cornerback Devon Witherspoon was just made the highest-paid cornerback in football this offseason — a distinction reflective of his abilities on the field.
While Witherspoon is the most notable player in Seattle’s defensive backfield, the other starters are of a high quality as well. The group did lose starters Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant in free agency, but it still features Nick Emmanwori as one of the best nickels in football as well as Julian Love as a jack of all trades in the secondary. Emmanwori’s status will be worth watching, though, given that he remains limited in practice due to the ankle he hurt leading up to the Super Bowl.
Seattle’s kicking game operation, meanwhile, again projects as a rock-solid unit in terms of place kicking, punting, and returning.
Seahawks reserves
Practice squad (16): RB Velus Jones Jr. (33), RB Jacardia Wright (31), WR Emmanuel Henderson (84), WR Julian Hicks (82), WR Ricky White (86), OT Logan Brown (73), OT Bobby Hart (68), DT Deven Eastern (97), LB Aidan Hubbard (93), CB Michael Dasby (37), CB Trevon Diggs (16), CB Andre Fuller (35), S D’Anthony Bell (23), S. A.J. Finley (30), S Maxen Hook (42), S Rodney Thomas II (24)
Practice squad international (1): OL Federico Maranges
IR (7): FB Robbie Ouzts (40), WR Jake Bobo (19), WR Irvin Charles (85), OL Mason Richman (78), LB Power Echols (46), LB Aaron Smith (42), S Bud Clark (9)
PUP (1): RB Zach Charbonnet (26)
Exempt (1): CB Terrion Arnold (17)
Seattle has some prominent name among its reserves, including three starter-level contributors not available to take the field on Wednesday. Zach Charbonnet, who would project as the team’s No. 1 running back if healthy, will miss the game as will rookie safety Bud Clark and fullback Robbie Ouzts.
Seahawks coaching staff
Head coach: Mike Macdonald
Coordinators: Brian Fleury (OC), Aden Durde (DC), Jay Harbaugh (ST)
With Klint Kubiak now the head coach in Las Vegas, the Seahawks hired 49ers run game coordinator and tight ends coach Brian Fleury to replace him as offensive coordinator. Fleury was the biggest among eight total changes on Mike Macdonald’s coaching staff since the Super Bowl, most of which on the offensive side of the ball.
How exactly the departures of Kubiak, run game coordinator Rick Dennison (replaced by Justin Outten) and quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko (replaced by Jake Peetz and Tyson Prince) will impact the unit remains to be seen. If there are any growing pains, however, the Patriots might be catching the Seahawks at an opportune time in the season.
