When the New England Patriots come out of the tunnel at Seattle’s Lumen Field on Wednesday night, 214 days will have passed since their loss in the Super Bowl.
In those 214 days, the Patriots turned the page in emphatic fashion, making major investments in hopes of turning themselves into a true championship-caliber team. However, with the reigning champs right back on their schedule to open the 2026 season, the team of head coach Mike Vrabel will be confronted with its recent past again.
The stage
therefore seems set for a revenge game against the Seahawks. Just don’t tell the Patriots.
“You like to think it’s a new year,” said quarterback Drake Maye. “You like to think that, but at the same time, you could go against an opponent that you just lost a Super Bowl against. In the last game that I played and was out there, we lost to them in the biggest game. That’s what you play the game for. So there’s definitely, I would not say extra, just a little bit of, ‘Man, this is our chance to start the season off strong on a good foot and knowing the opponent that we have.’
“You get to say, you get a little bit of a revenge game, but I would not say revenge game. They won the big one, and we got to start the season off. You cannot get that game back that we lost, so we are onto something new.”
After winning all three of their playoff games in the AFC in January, Maye and company qualified for Super Bowl LX. While they did manage to keep the contest against the the NFC’s top seed relatively close early on, the floodgates eventually opened late.
Seattle ended up winning 29-13, with the Patriots’ offensive output in particular disappointing. The lack of consistency on that side of the ball also helped undo what was a mostly solid defensive effort led by newly-extended cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
So, is the Patriots defense feeling any extra motivation heading into Week 1?
“I wouldn’t say so,” said linebacker Christian Elliss. “They’re a good team. They’re coached well. For us, it’s just about playing to our identity, going out there, and having fun.”
