Seattle unveils its Super Bowl LX banner at Lumen Field on Wednesday night and then plays the team it beat to win it. The New England Patriots open the 2026 season against the Seahawks at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and Telemundo, with pregame coverage starting at 7 p.m. ET.

The February meeting at Levi’s Stadium ended 29-13, with Mike Macdonald’s defense sacking Drake Maye six times and forcing three turnovers. New England finished the first half with four first downs and 51 total yards. Kenneth Walker III ran for 135 yards on 27 carries and was named Super Bowl MVP, the first running back to take the award in 28 years.

The Patriots sent a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder to Philadelphia for A.J. Brown on June 1, reuniting the receiver with Mike Vrabel, who drafted him in Tennessee in 2019. Two days before kickoff, they agreed to terms with Christian Gonzalez on a four-year, $135 million extension that includes $102 million guaranteed and a position-record $33 million signing bonus, making him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history and the highest-paid player the franchise has ever had.

Gonzalez will spend much of the night lined up across from Jaxon Smith-Njigba, last season’s Offensive Player of the Year, while Devon Witherspoon, who reset that same market on Aug. 15 with a four-year, $132 million extension, works the other sideline. The two highest-paid cornerbacks in the league are on the field for the first game of the season.

Who is available for the Patriots and Seahawks on Wednesday night?

New England ruled out running back TreVeyon Henderson with an ankle injury and offensive lineman Ben Brown with a knee injury, which leaves Rhamondre Stevenson as the most experienced back available. Christian Barmore missed practice time earlier in the week for load management and carries no game status.

Seattle ruled out safety Ty Okada with a hamstring injury, leaving Julian Love and Nick Emmanwori as the only safeties on the 53-man roster. Emmanwori, coming off offseason ankle surgery, and receiver Tory Horton are both questionable.

Love was asked ahead of the opener about the turn from the ring ceremony to a new season.

“The buildup to the ring ceremony, it was understood that this was the last hurrah,” Love said. “We’re going to celebrate the hell out of this, getting these rings. After that, that chapter’s closed, the book’s closed… From the start of camp, we set the tone of, we’re going to be who we want to be this year, and it’s going to be a growing process. We’re at the bottom of the mountain, adversity is going to hit, things are not always going to go our way.”