Sam Darnold leads a revamped Seattle offense against a vengeful New England squad as these heavyweights clash at Lumen Field to launch a high-stakes championship pursuit.
Football is officially back as the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots at Lumen Field tonight to kick off the new NFL season.
A Super Bowl rematch to open the new year isn't something the league always does, but it provides both teams with an early litmus test right out of the gate.
For Seattle, it has a new offensive coordinator in Brian Fleury, a new running back in Jadarian Price, plus a host of untried backs.
Mike Macdonald's defense is again expected to be among the NFL's best, so most eyes will be on Sam Darnold and this new-look offense to see how it will fare in its first real NFL game.
As for the Patriots, Drake Maye has a couple of new weapons in Romeo Doubs and AJ Brown, so the Seahawks' defense will have to curtail their influence.
Maye has a new left guard in Alijah Vera-Tucker, but aside from that, the offense that was stonewalled in the Super Bowl returns looking for vengeance.
Defensively, the Patriots have a couple of new additions: Dre'Mont Jones and Kevin Byard III, the shiny new toys for Mike Vrabel. Others include Jaylen Reed from the Houston Texans and Darious Muasau from the New York Giants.
So there isn't too much change from both sides since they played in the Super Bowl, which is usually the case, but the Seahawks' offense is the big watch here.
How will Fleury go calling plays for the first time with real NFL bullets flying? Can the run game, with no Kenneth Walker or Zach Charbonnet, give Darnold something to lean on?
Also, can someone else other than Jaxon Smith-Njigba contribute in the passing game?
All of those questions will get answered at Lumen Field as the Super Bowl champs begin the long road back to where they hope to be crowned the NFL's best again.
Can the Seahawks claim an impressive win first up?
WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 9
TIME: 5:20 p.m. PT
WHERE: Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington
TV: NBC
LIVE STREAM: Peacock
BETTING ODDS VIA DRAFTKINGS
MONEYLINE: New England Patriots (+142), Seattle Seahawks (-170)
SPREAD: Seahawks -3·
TOTAL: 44.5
