The opener has been played: Seahawks 13, Patriots 10
The game went to the champions, but not the way the first half suggested. New England led 10-0 and looked in control, then Seattle scored the last 13 points of the night to win 13-10 at Lumen Field. The night turned on turnovers. Drake Maye threw three fourth-quarter interceptions, the last of them picked off in the end zone in the final seconds by cornerback Josh Jobe, and Seattle’s defence did the rest.
There was drama on both sides before that. Seattle lost their starting quarterback, Sam Darnold, to an injury on the opening drive, so the comeback was led by his backup, Drew Lock. The go-ahead touchdown was a 45-yard catch-and-run by Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a fourth-and-one, and Jason Myers kicked the winning 26-yard field goal. New England’s new receiver A.J. Brown left in the third quarter with an ankle injury, so it was a bruising start for both teams.
Here is the shape of it in numbers, which is where it gets interesting if you are learning the game.
| Team stat | Seattle | New England |
|---|---|---|
| Final score | 13 | 10 |
| Giveaways (turnovers) | 0 | 3 |
| Takeaways (interceptions) | 3 | 0 |
| Sacks | 3 | 2 |
| Total yards | 285 | 277 |
| First downs | 13 | 19 |
| Time of possession | 25:43 | 34:17 |
| Penalties (yards) | 10 (98) | 7 (50) |
Why the losing team out-gained the winner. New England had more first downs and held the ball nine minutes longer, and still lost. That is the single most useful lesson a new fan can take from this game: yards and possession are nice, but takeaways decide matches. Seattle forced three interceptions and three sacks and gave the ball away zero times. If you want to understand why the turnover column matters more than the yardage column, I’ve pulled apart the numbers that actually win games in my NFL defense stats guide.
Maye’s night is a passer-rating lesson. He arrived as the 2025 MVP runner-up, the man who had just led the league in passer rating and completion percentage, and here he posted a rating in the fifties, because three interceptions drag that number down fast. The league’s own tracking had him at nought from four with three picks on throws of 20 yards or more. Passer rating and completion percentage are exactly the stats I explain, in plain English, in the NFL QB stats guide.
The play that won it was a decision, not just a catch. On fourth-and-one, most teams run for the yard. Seattle threw, and Smith-Njigba turned a short pass into 45 yards and the tying score. That is play-calling, the running argument coaches have with themselves on every fourth down. If the logic of going for it rather than playing safe interests you, I’ve covered how coaches make that call in coaches and play-calling.
One last oddity worth a glance: Seattle won despite 10 penalties for nearly 100 yards, which tells you penalties can hurt without ever deciding a game on their own. If you’re not sure what all those flags mean, here’s how NFL penalties work.
So the preview below stands, the champions were meant to be there and they held on. It just took a comeback, a backup quarterback, and a defence that refused to lose to make it happen.
So it is almost start of the season and the opener is a bit of a fun one with it being a Super Bowl replay – or a grudge match if you are a patriots fan. Season kicks off on Wednesday 9 September, with the Seahawks hosting the Patriots at Lumen Field.
What’s happening on Wednesday
Seattle Seahawks against New England Patriots, 8:20pm Eastern, live on NBC and streaming on Peacock. This is the NFL Kickoff Game, the single fixture that opens the season a few days before the rest of the league plays.
The two last met on 8 February, when Seattle won Super Bowl LX 29-13 at Levi’s Stadium in California. Now the losing side travels to the winner’s home ground to start the year, in front of a Seattle crowd that has spent seven months waiting to celebrate.
A champion opening at home is an annual tradition. A season opener that replays the Super Bowl is unusual, because the schedule had to pair these exact two teams in the very first week, with thirty-one other opponents it could have chosen instead.
Why the champions get opening night
The defending Super Bowl champion hosts the first game of every season. It is a standing tradition, not a one-off: the league gives the title holder a home fixture on the Wednesday or Thursday after Labor Day, wraps it in a concert and a banner ceremony, and lets them raise the championship flag in front of their own fans before kickoff.
What changes each year is the opponent. Usually it is a strong visitor picked for the occasion. This year it happens to be the same team the champions beat in the final, which turns a routine opener into a rematch.
If you want the full picture of how a season is built, from this opener through the eighteen weeks that follow, I’ve laid it out here: how the NFL season works.
The opening weekend at a glance
Wednesday is kick off of the season, the first full weekend runs Thursday to Monday, and it includes the league’s first regular-season game in Australia.
| Game | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patriots at Seahawks Kickoff Game |
Wed 9 Sep, 8:20pm | Lumen Field, Seattle | NBC / Peacock |
| 49ers vs Rams International |
Thu 10 Sep | Melbourne, Australia | Netflix |
| Cowboys at Giants Sunday Night Football |
Sun 13 Sep, 8:20pm | MetLife Stadium, New Jersey | NBC / Peacock |
| Broncos at Chiefs Monday Night Football |
Mon 14 Sep, 8:15pm | Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City | ESPN / ABC |
The Thursday game in Melbourne is the eye-catching one: the first regular-season NFL game ever played in Australia, and it streams on Netflix rather than a traditional US network. It is part of a record run of international fixtures this season, nine games across seven countries, with the league playing for the first time in Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro and Paris, and the Jacksonville Jaguars staging two games in London.
New to this? Where to start before Wednesday
If you are coming to this cold, I have three guides that will help you get a quick start before the season starts!
First up, get to grips with how the season is shaped, eighteen weeks, then the playoffs, and then the Super Bowl. Read this guide how the NFL season works.
Secondly we need to look at the Super Bowl and what these two teams did to get here. Seattle are the reigning champions, and you can see every past winner and how the Super Bowl actually works on the Super Bowl guide.
Thirdly, the Patriots themselves, if you want a way into one of the sides. Their long rivalry with the Jets is a good introduction to how New England have been so dominate the Patriots and Jets rivalry, explained.
Don’t worry if you didn’t see the game last year, all you need to know that it’s a rematch. That the champions are meant to be there, and that the team across from them is the one they beat.
So enjoy this seasons opener!