The Seattle Seahawks already know when their 2026 season will begin. The remaining mystery is who will be standing across from them at Lumen Field.
NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo offered a prediction on X, pointing to the Chicago Bears as the Seahawks’ likely Week 1 opponent. Garafolo listed the Seahawks’ possible home opponents still without a Week 1 assignment, then wrote that he was “not feeling” an early Super Bowl rematch and that Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes remained uncertain. His conclusion: “Has long felt like Chicago to me.”
That would put Caleb Williams and the Bears in Seattle for the NFL’s Wednesday night opener on September 9. The league has already announced that the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks will host the first game of the 2026 season, with the full schedule set to be released May 14.
Bears Make Sense as Seahawks’ Week 1 Opponent
Garafolo’s prediction is notable because Seattle has several attractive home opponents on its 2026 schedule. The Seahawks’ home slate includes the Bears, Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, New England Patriots, Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, along with NFC West opponents.
The Chiefs-Seahawks matchup would be the biggest national-brand option, especially with Mahomes involved. But Garafolo specifically downplayed that possibility, citing uncertainty around Mahomes.
The Patriots also carry obvious intrigue after Seattle beat New England 29-13 in Super Bowl LX. But opening with an immediate Super Bowl rematch would leave the league with fewer marquee windows later in the season, when the stakes could be clearer. Seattle’s win over New England gave the franchise its second Super Bowl title and pushed Mike Macdonald’s team into the “team to beat” role entering 2026.
That is where Chicago fits. Bears-Seahawks would give the NFL a fresh NFC matchup, a young star quarterback in Williams, and a champion defense trying to set the tone in front of its home crowd.
Caleb Williams vs. Mike Macdonald’s Defense Would Be the Hook
The strongest case for Chicago is not just market size. It is football.
Williams is coming off a breakout 2025 season under Bears head coach Ben Johnson. The Bears’ official site wrote in April that Williams set a single-season franchise passing record with 3,942 yards and helped Chicago win seven games in which it trailed in the final two minutes.
That creates a clean Week 1 storyline: one of the NFL’s rising quarterbacks against the defense that carried Seattle to a championship.
The Seahawks’ Super Bowl win was built around their “Dark Side” defense, which overwhelmed the Patriots and helped keep New England scoreless for most of the first half. Kenneth Walker III won Super Bowl MVP, but Seattle’s defensive front and secondary were central to the win.
That is a stronger matchup than a generic schedule-release tease. It would give fans an immediate test of whether Macdonald’s defense can keep dictating games now that Seattle is no longer sneaking up on anyone.
Thursday’s NFL Schedule Release Means Seahawks Will Find Out Soon
The NFL has already started revealing pieces of the 2026 schedule. The league announced that the Seahawks will host the season opener on September 9, while the full schedule will be unveiled May 14 at 8 p.m. ET.
Seattle’s opener is guaranteed to carry championship-night energy. There will be a banner, a national audience and a loaded list of possible opponents.
Garafolo’s read points toward Chicago, and the logic is easy to understand. The Bears give the NFL a major-market team, a quarterback who became one of the league’s more interesting young players in 2025 and a matchup that does not burn the Chiefs or Patriots cards too early.
For the Seahawks, it would be more than a ceremonial opener. It would be the first test of their title defense against a team that believes it is ready to move from rising threat to legitimate NFC contender.
The schedule release will make it official. For now, one plugged-in NFL insider sees Bears-Seahawks as the matchup to watch.
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