These two franchises have played at the highest level before, but barring the obvious, why does this game feel so different this time around?
Al Michaels' call of Malcolm Butler intercepting Russell Wilson in Super Bowl XLIX is a moment forever etched in the minds of both New England Patriots fans and Seattle Seahawks fans, for very different reasons.
Since then, the two franchises have met only four times, and every game has gone the Seahawks' way. All of which were also presented in different fashions.
The 2016 matchup the Seahawks won was the first time then-head coach Pete Caroll had returned to Foxborough since he coached the Patriots in the late '90s. The Week 2 game in 2020 was the famous empty-stadium matchup that came down to a goal-line stand by the Cam Newton-led Patriots, which Seattle thwarted. The Seahawks won in overtime in 2024, and then came Super Bowl LX.
Last February's big game was billed as the high-powered young Patriots offense going toe-to-toe with the aggressive and ever-powerful Seahawks defense; the latter was the one that actually showed up to play.
And with that, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels takes the blame for that.
"I didn't do a good enough job. Point it at me. They 'out-everythinged' us in the game," McDaniels said, via talking with Mike Reiss at ESPN. "We have a lot of things we learned. But I think this will be a different game; I think it will be a new game. It's a new year. We have some different players. They have a few guys that are new. They certainly found some opportunities last year, and hopefully we've done a good job trying to limit those Wednesday night."
The key element in McDaniels' quote is the new additions to the roster. Despite Drake Maye putting up prime Tom Brady-esque numbers in 2025, there was no defined WR1 on the field. They have that now with A.J. Brown. There is even an argument to be made that free agent signee Romeo Doubs is a WR1A or WR2 at the very least.
The offense also bolsters a refined front five. With additions like Alijah Vera-Tucker and the move of Jared Wilson to center, it is a solid return back to normalcy. Morgan Moses and Mike Onwenu return as well, and the redemption of Will Campbell is going to be something of key interest going into this game.
Campbell left Super Bowl LX without talking to the media after an embarrassing performance. Keep in mind he was coming off an MCL injury, and as was mentioned all offseason on the Patriots Roundtable Podcast, playing left tackle after an MCL injury isn't the easiest thing to do.
Campbell is healthy now and coming off an impressive training camp where hardly any criticism of his play on the practice field arose.
So what’s different about Wednesday night's game? Well, it’s a test to see if the Patriots could evolve.
Here's the thing: Week 1 of the regular season is always supposed to be the first test of how well a team adjusted during the offseason, and the Patriots got that right out of the gate. Do they need to actually win against the defending champions who beat them in the Super Bowl last year? McDaniels, Mike Vrabel, or any other coach or player would say yes.
However, most people just want to see a statement of how well this team adjusted after last season's fallout. The easy schedule talk, the Will Campbell criticisms, Drake Maye being overwhelmed in the Super Bowl, and, of course, losing the last game of the year can all become a thing of the past depending on just how well they have adjusted. That might not mean the Patriots win the game, but if Drake Maye can get in a shootout with Sam Darnold in the second half, expect the narrative to be that the Patriots have made the right adjustments and they're going to be alright going forward.
Win or lose.
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