We now know who will be sitting out the season opener.
Football is finally back, and the Seattle Seahawks will begin their season at Lumen Field, taking on the New England Patriots.
It is a Super Bowl rematch and that brings with it a whole lot of pressure for both teams.
Of course, Seattle at home is the favorite, but the Patriots will be stung by last year's loss and will want to make an example with Drake Maye and Co. ready to play the role of party poopers on the road.
But before we get to how the game could play out, we need to know who isn't taking their spot in Seattle's lineup.
And the inactives list has just dropped.
Not playing tonight are:
- Jalen Milroe, QB.
- Tory Horton, WR.
- Nick Emmanwori, CB.
- Ty Okada, S.
- Beau Stephens, G.
- Nick Kallerup, TE.
- Mike Morris, DE.
So, for the most part, the Seahawks are healthy heading into the season opener.
With the Seahawks now the hunted, they are going to get every team's best shot in 2026, starting with the Patriots, but are they equipped to handle it?
Offensively, how new coordinator Brian Fleury gets Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, AJ Barner, Rashid Shaheed, and Cooper Kupp rolling will be an interesting watch.
So too will how Fleury meshes the run game with Jadarian Price and George Holani.
The Seahawks offense has a lot of unknowns, but we know what we're going to get from the defense.
The Dark Side, as it was called last season, gets another chance to stifle the Patriots' offense, which now includes two genuine weapons in A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs.
So, look for Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence, Byron Murphy II, and others to get after this New England offense.
Being relatively healthy is a great position to be in for Seattle, and considering it is at home as well, everything points to a favorable result for the defending champs.
But as we know, Week 1 is a big unknown, since neither team can really prepare for what they'll face.
Still, the Seahawks will fancy their chances.
Football is here, folks...finally.
