Ryan Laws
With Super Bowl 60 now in the books, the football season has officially come to an end…
Except now we have the combine, draft, free agency, schedule releases, and we are right back to the preseason kicking off again! Time flies, doesn’t it?
Let’s stick with the schedule release aspect, and a topic drawing discussion has been who the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks will open their title defense against in week 1?
There are 9 potential opponents that the Seahawks will play at home next season, however with the rumor coming out that the Los Angeles Rams will play the San Francisco 49ers in Australia in week 1, that leaves us with 7 choices, and I will be ranking them by who I would like to see face Seattle the most & the likelihood the NFL will choose them.
7. Arizona Cardinals
Even with the Cardinals being the only divisional opponent left to choose from, I think there is next to no chance they see a week 1 primetime game. Between only winning 3 games last season and having question marks at the quarterback position, Arizona will likely play in Seattle during a Sunday late afternoon slate during the season.
6. Kansas City Chiefs
Now, the situation with the Chiefs in week 1 is dicey. If Patrick Mahomes is going to be good to go by week 1, this is probably the easiest kickoff to the season ever, the Super Bowl champions vs Mahomes in his first game back after his knee injury? Sign me up!
However, despite the positive reports about Mahomes’ rehab so far, I personally don’t think he will be ready for the start of the season. Mixed in with the fact that if there is any uncertainty, then the NFL will hesitate to schedule it, without Mahomes, this game loses its luster.
5. Dallas Cowboys
Now this will be an entertaining matchup during the season when it does happen, but I do not think it will occur as the first game. While it is a high-powered offense against the league’s best defense, Dallas just played in a season opener a year ago, they do usually get a ton of primetime games, and this one could still happen in the national light. I’ll cross it being the opener off the list.
4. Los Angeles Chargers
This does have the makings to be a good game, but there is really no story to it to explain it being the Seahawks first opponent. I think it is perfect here in the middle of the rankings. If anything, the NFL will question Herbert’s ability to win big games, and punt the thought of this game starting our football year.
3. New England Patriots
A Super Bowl rematch is always going to be a story that writes itself, and a formula that will draw eyes to it every single time. However, that is part of the reason the Patriots aren’t higher. This will be the headliner in week 1, but it will also be the headliner in week 5, or ever. The numbers also back this, as the NFL has not scheduled the Super Bowl rematch in the opening week since 2016.
2. Chicago Bears
This game will be absolutely awesome when it happens, and if we get it in this postseason run, it could have been the most entertaining game. I think the NFL is going to realize the Bears have that must-watch magical factor with Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson, they should receive a hefty amount of national games. If the Bears are the legitimate threat that we discovered they were during the latter half of this season, this would be an amazing opener.
1. New York Giants
The G-Men are coming off a tough season, weighed down by injuries and the firing of Brian Daboll, but just like everyone expects, I think John Harbaugh is going to right the ship and get the Giants out of the basement. While some may say just a coaching change shouldn’t be enough to land you the opportunity to play the Super Bowl champions to begin the season, the story does. The Seahawks head coach, Mike Macdonald, is awfully familiar with Harbaugh, as he served on his Ravens staff from 2014-2020 and once again from 2022-2023 before taking the offer to coach in Seattle. The formula between promising players such as Jaxson Dart, Malik Nabers, and Abdul Carter, to go along with a coaching story that can be talked about in the weeks leading up to the matchup, I think we have our pick, NFL.
While the NFL season doesn’t kick off until September 10th, and the schedule won’t be released until mid-March, it feels like football season is still with us!
