The 2026 NFL season has finally arrived, and it kicks off with a Super Bowl rematch between the Seahawks and Patriots on Wednesday at 5:20 p.m. in Seattle. 

The Seahawks, who defeated the Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX, are eager to “run it forward” and aim to prove last season’s championship was just the beginning.

The Seahawks return with most of last season’s championship roster, with a few key subtractions like Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III and cornerback Riq Woolen. But they also doubled down on the franchise’s cornerstones, with key players like Leonard Williams, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Devon Witherspoon all inking huge contract extensions this offseason. 

With quarterback Sam Darnold, who proved his last doubters wrong last season, and third-year head coach Mike Macdonald, who was the standout star of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series this summer, the Seahawks are poised for another massive year.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle of all, though, is math. The odds are stacked against defending Super Bowl champions, with just eight teams ever winning back-to-back titles in the NFL’s history. The Seahawks came as close as you can get to doing it in their 2015 season. Can they overcome the odds and repeat as champs in 2026?