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The NFL Kicks Off: A Super Bowl Rematch, a Game Down Under, and Mahomes' Road Back
The 2026 NFL season begins on 9 September with a Super Bowl rematch between Seattle and New England. The opening weekend also brings the league's first regular-season game in Australia and a Monday night return for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
American football's long summer wait is almost over. The 2026 NFL season is set to begin in early September, and the opening weekend offers a rematch of the last Super Bowl, a historic first game on foreign soil, and one of the most watched comebacks in the entire league.
A Super Bowl rematch to start
The season gets under way on 9 September with a fitting curtain-raiser. The Seattle Seahawks will host the New England Patriots in a rematch of the most recent Super Bowl, giving the opener an instant and unmistakable edge of drama.
Seattle enters as the marginal favourite. The Seahawks have been installed as 4.5-point favourites for the game, a modest edge that reflects just how closely matched the two sides proved to be on the sport's very biggest stage.
The NFL heads to Australia
One of the weekend's biggest talking points is not about who is playing, but where. On 10 September, the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers will meet at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia.
The fixture makes real history. It will be the first ever regular-season NFL game played on Australian soil, the latest step in the league's steady and deliberate push to plant its flag in new markets around the world.
The choice of venue is striking in itself. The Melbourne Cricket Ground, one of the great sporting arenas of the southern hemisphere, will host a sport with which it has almost nothing in common, a symbol of how far the NFL will travel for growth.
Lopsided odds and a Monday night finale
Some of the early matchups look anything but even. Week 1 features the largest opening-week points spread since 2012, with the Los Angeles Chargers installed as 11.5-point favourites over the Arizona Cardinals.
The opening slate saves a heavyweight for last. Kickoff weekend concludes on Monday, 14 September, when the Denver Broncos visit the Kansas City Chiefs under the bright lights of Monday Night Football.
Mahomes and the Chiefs at a crossroads
That Monday night game carries an extra layer of intrigue. The Kansas City Chiefs, long the measuring stick of the league, arrive at the new season with some serious questions still to answer about their form.
The biggest of them concerns their star. Patrick Mahomes is working his way back after a torn knee ligament ended his 2025 campaign, and how quickly he can return to his best will shape not just the Chiefs' season but the wider balance of power.
The team is coming off an uncharacteristic slump. Kansas City finished last season without reaching even the conference title game for the first time since Mahomes became the starter, a rare stumble for a franchise used to going deep every year.
Change has followed on the field as well. The Chiefs will take the field with a markedly different defence, having fully remade their defensive backfield in an effort to shore up a unit that will be central to any bid to return to the top.
A season full of questions
Taken together, the opening weekend sets the tone for a campaign brimming with storylines. From a Super Bowl rematch and a first game down under to the comeback of one of the sport's biggest stars, the 2026 season begins with far more questions than answers, exactly as the fans like it.
