The Seattle Seahawks might get robbed of the opportunity of kicking off the 2026 NFL season. That right usually belongs to the Super Bowl champions, but a decision from the league involving some NFC West teams might change the plans for the upcoming campaign.
The Seahawks have a plethora of options as possible Week 1 rivals. However, two teams must be discarded: the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. Why? According to John Ourand of Puck, the NFL will make both teams play in Melbourne in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season.
This might cause the NFL to change some stuff. For instance, the Seahawks might not be opening the season despite them being champions. Given that the game between the Rams and 49ers will be played in Week 1, the NFL might opt to put them before the opening Thursday with the hopes of reducing the significant travel/jet-lag effect. After all, going from the west coast of the United States to Australia implies a 17+ hours. It also represents an 18-hour time difference.
Australia is getting a good one
Getting Rams and 49ers to battle it out as the first-ever game in Australia is just fantastic. Both were Super Bowl contenders last year, both have top-5 head coaches and all-around stars. Basically, it’s one of the best games the NFL could’ve given to Australia.
Last season, both teams ended 12-5 and divided their regular season series 1-1. The first one went to the 49ers 26-23. Then, the Rams took vengeance and blew them out at home 42-26.
Playing in Australia needs to be strategically placed on the schedule
The NFL is known for going on trips to Europe, Mexico, and recently Brazil. While all of those require some logistics, big travel time, and some scheduling issues, Australia is a whole other monster. It’s almost double the time of the second-longest travel and almost double the time change and adjustment from Europe too.
Hence, putting the Australia games in the middle of the season might really hurt the teams going, even if a bye week follows soon after that. Hence, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the NFL keeps pushing these games to be played in Week 1 or 2, where teams are still fresh.