If the NFL’s Canoodling Coach of the Year survives the Russini affair fallout, he’ll be going up against his nemeses in the new season’s first game.
The Seattle Seahawks will begin defense of their Super Bowl title against the team they defeated to win it – the team led by an ex-NFL reporter’s married boyfriend.
Seven months after downing the Patriots to capture Super Bowl LX, the Seahawks will welcome the New England Patriots to Lumen Field for the 2026 NFL season opener September 9th.
The matchup was among many notables unveiled Thursday night as NFL teams posted their schedules on social media followed by the league’s full announcement of its 272-game slate.
It will be the third time the teams in the previous season’s Super Bowl will meet in Week 1 of the next season and the second time they’ll do so in the opener, according to AP.
The only other time came in 2016, when Denver beat Carolina after defeating them in the Super Bowl earlier in the year.
Seattle will look to do the same to coach Vrabel and his Pats and history is on its side. Since 2004, 21 defending champs have played in the opener and have gone 16-5.
It will mark the 12th Super Bowl rematch in the following season and the fourth straight season to feature one.
Vrabel, the reigning AP coach of the year, will coach his first game since he missed the NFL draft to seek counseling after photos of him and football reporter Dianna Russini at an Arizona resort were publicized.
Russini later resigned from The Athletic.
The latest betting markets show a 30 percent chance Vrabel will not be coaching the Pats on opening day.
