Patriots News 09-06: Key Matchups Against The Seahawks

Good morning, and a happy Sunday to all. Here is your Patriots news and notes for 09-06, and our first key matchup piece of the 2026 regular season.

The preseason is over, the roster is set (for now), and the practice squad is now filled. We haven’t seen the Patriots’ starters on the field in a game situation yet this year (except in joint practices), but the Seahawks didn’t play their starters in the preseason either.

So, both teams may exhibit some rust in the early going.

We’ll get to those matchups below.

Quick Hitters For the Patriots and NFL News

NFL Release Regarding Player Safety: The NFL announced changes at today’s league meeting in Atlanta, while player leadership was briefed and voted on the changes at a Board of Player Representatives meeting on Tuesday.

Beginning this season, the NFL will place greater emphasis on five player health and safety rule violations:

Hip Drop Tackle
Horse Collar Tackle
Launching
Hit on a Defenseless Player
Blindside Block

Players who commit three offenses in any of these categories during a season will be suspended for one game. Players who commit only one violation will receive 50 percent of their fine back at the end of the season.

Forged in Foxborough: The Patriots released Episode 3 of the 2026 series, with in-depth access as the team goes through training camp with new wide receiver A.J. Brown, quarterback Drake Maye, head coach Mike Vrabel, and a focus on some of the UDFAs that made the team, Tanner Arkin, Khalil Jacobs, and Channing Canada.

Video Board Whining: The Patriots’ video board use during opponents’ field goal attempts was much ado about nothing. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed that the use of video boards was and remains legal.

Nowhere was the whining louder than in Western NY. Perhaps that because Tom Brady owned Buffalo to the tune of 33-3. And one of those three losses was the final regular-season game, where Brady and the starters played only a half.

Patriots No Huddle Podcast: Derek, Mike, and I were back on Thursday to talk about the Patriots’ roster and other news on PatsFans.com. We’ll be back at it tonight at 7 p.m to break down the Seahawks game.

You can always check out our other podcasts on our YouTube channel.

Please check it out. And be sure to like, share, and leave us a review.

Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriots tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots’ team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position.

We will continue to display this in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.

Patriots, Seahawks Key Matchups Week 1 Of The Season

The Seattle Seahawks face the New England Patriots on September 9, 2026, at Lumen Field as part of Week 1 of the 2026 season. Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m. after Seattle unfurls their Super Bowl banner before the game.

Seven months after Seattle dismantled New England 29-13 in Super Bowl LX, the two franchises open the 2026 season against each other at Lumen Field on Wednesday, September 9, a rare Week 1 rematch of the previous year’s title game, only the second time since 1970.

The first game of the NFL season will be broadcast by NBC and can be seen in the Boston area on NBC 10 Boston. Jim Nantz will handle play-by-play duties with Cris Collinsworth as the color analyst. Melissa Stark and Kaylee Hartung will work from the sidelines.

The game is also carried on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Bob Socci will call the action along with former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak, who will provide color analysis. The games are produced by Marc Cappello. If you are in the car, you can tune in to SiriusXM: 225 (NE) or 226 (Seattle).

So, without any further ado, let’s quickly get to the matchups.

Patriots RBs vs. Seahawks Front Seven — Edge Seattle

The Patriots’ running game should be a much improved unit this season. With Will Campbell and Jared Wilson getting a year in the strength and conditioning program, Wilson moving to his natural position at center, the addition of LG Alijah Vera-Tucker, and the addition of FB Reggie Gilliam, the running game should be much more consistent in 2026.

However, Seattle’s front seven dominated the Patriots in the Super Bowl, making the Patriots’ offense one-dimensional, which played right into the Seahawks using their pressure packages.

TreVeyon Henderson may not play in the opener, after suffering an ankle injury a few weeks ago in training camp. Rhamondre Stevenson and Corey Kiner may have to handle the duties, unless they activate Lan Larison off the PS.

The running game will aim to take some of the heat off of Drake Maye and control the clock. But this is a tough assignment on Week 1.

Patriots WRs vs. Seahawks Secondary — Edge New England

Drake Maye has been improving his chemistry with new WRs A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs, who give him an excellent 1-2 punch along with Pop Douglas, Mack Hollins, and Kyle Williams, TE Hunter Henry, and Eli Raridon.

This is a much better group than the one that faced Seattle in the Super Bowl. And Maye has gotten a firmer grasp of Josh McDaniels’ offense in his second season in it. The key here is the protection.

Seattle has an outstanding front seven with interior rushers Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II, and Jarran Reed, an interior trio widely regarded as one of the best units in football. Edge rushers DeMarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu, and Derick Hall are very effective.

The secondary is anchored by cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who signed a lucrative extension this offseason, plus safety Julian Love and emerging star Nick Emmanwori.

Emmanwori was doing extra stretching and warming up with teammates Thursday, but is still considered “iffy” for Week 1 after arthroscopic ankle surgery in July. This will be worth watching if he can play on Wednesday.

Next up is the Seahawks’ offense.

Seahawks RBs vs. NE Front Seven — Edge New England

Seattle’s backfield is their biggest question mark entering Week 1. Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III left in free agency for Kansas City, and Zach Charbonnet, the presumed lead back, opened the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list.

That likely hands early-season carries to rookie first-round pick Jadarian Price and returnee George Holani, with veteran depth signee Emanuel Wilson also in the mix. It’s a group with far less proven juice than the one that powered Seattle’s title run. Price hasn’t started a game since 2021 when he was in high school.

The Patriots, with Milton Williams and Christian Barmore, will lean heavily on Cory Durden as their dedicated run stuffer this season. During the joint practices this summer, they struggled at times.

I think Price is going to be an excellent pro, but it may be a lot to ask of him to get his first NFL carries this week to take up the slack for Walker.

Seahawks WRs vs. NE Secondary — Edge Seattle

Sam Darnold has Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was the most prolific WR in the league last season; JSN had 1,793 yards and 10 TDs, and Seattle moves him all over the formation, and he will draw Christian Gonzalez on most downs. But the Patriots must account for him on every down.

JSN is flanked by Cooper Kupp and a re-signed Rashid Shaheed, and tight end AJ Barner, giving Seattle one of the deeper receiving rooms in the league even after losing Walker in free agency.

The Patriots’ starting secondary is loaded. Christian Gonzalez has developed into one of the league’s premier cornerbacks, pairing with Carlton Davis III and slot corner Marcus Jones to form what analysts have called a top-tier group, further boosted by the addition of veteran safety Kevin Byard alongside rising second-year safety Craig Woodson.

However, New England’s Achilles’ heel could be the pass rush. Dre’Mont Jones and Elijah Ponder remain open question marks, especially with Landry working back from a late-season injury, opening the season on PUP, and second-round pick Gabe Jacas unproven.

Special Teams — Edge Seattle

The Patriots and Seahawks’ special teams are really matched up well here. Both are good in the kicking game, have excellent punt returners, and very good coverage units.

But in the kickoff return game, Seattle has the edge with Rashid Shaheed returning both kicks and punts. Especially since the Patriots’ top coverage player, Brendan Schooler, remains on NFI.

The Patriots’ kickoff return unit hasn’t truly settled on a returner yet.

Prediction:

The Patriots and Seahawks are both very well-coached teams, and this matchup promises (on paper) to be a much closer game than the Super Bowl.

Keys to the Game from a Patriots’ perspective:

Drake Maye Running Has To Get The Ball Out Fast: Maye has to counter Seattle’s pass rush with the quick passing game. This means players like Brown, Doubs, Douglas, and Williams have to get separation quickly.

Control the Clock and Silence the 12s: Seattle’s Lumen Field means facing an elite crowd noise advantage. The best way to keep them quiet is to control the clock by mixing up running and passing games and using play-action to take a few shots downfield.

Pressure Sam Darnold and Avoid Repetitive Blitzes: The key is to bring pressure on Sam Darnold and force him into mistakes. But if they rely too heavily on blitzes to do that, they will get burned, something that happened too often in the preseason.

The marquee names such as JSN, A.J. Brown, Witherspoon, and Gonzalez will dominate the talk prior to the game, but the X-Factors for each team, Shaheed for the Seahawks and Douglas for the Patriots, may end up being the reason for the team that comes out on top.

Douglas has had two outstanding summers in a row, but he hasn’t translated that into on-field success yet. Week 1 would be a prime time to start.

Since 2004, 21 defending champs have played in the Week 1 opener and gone 16-5. So, history is against the Patriots pulling off an upset; a Madden simulation actually has the Patriots winning on a last-minute FG. They’ll come close.

Seahawks 24-23

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Mike Vrabel On If Playing Seattle In The SB Aids in Game Prep:

“I mean, I don’t think that it— I mean, as far as the players that they’ve had and the play style, maybe. I mean, we’ll have to block them better. We’ll have to be able to run the football better. We’re going to have to be able to stop the run better. I mean, there’s a lot of things that we’re going to have to do better based on the personnel that they have.

“They may do some of the same things. They may change. We’ll have to be ready for a lot of those. But I mean, I think that the players are there, the ones that contributed heavily and that are there [are] really good players that we’re going to have to understand their play style and what they do and how they rush and how they block.

“And I think that’s been about the only thing that you can really take away from it and just be ready for the style that we think that they may run offensively and defensively.”

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“Somebody asked me what success looks like, and I said, ‘Yeah, you can judge it by wins and losses during the season, but success for me in the offseason is going to be that the players believe in what we’re doing, and they believe in the message, they believe in the teaching, and they believe in the connections that we’re making.’” — Mike Vrabel

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About Steve Balestrieri

A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)

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