SEATTLE — Seven months and a day after taking home the Lombardi, the Super Bowl-winning Seahawks are back and set to take the field Sept. 9.
Facing off against their Super Bowl LX foe, the New England Patriots, there will be a lot to watch for as the Hawks play their first game of the season.
Things lost
With safety Coby Bryant taking off to Chicago and cornerback Riq Woolen finding a new home in Philadelphia, the Seahawks secondary will be worth keeping an eye on.
The penalty-prone Woolen will be replaced by Josh Jobe, who has performed well, since joining the Seahawks in 2024.
Byrant’s replacement, on the other hand, is a different story. Ty Okada is the next man up, but with Okada officially ruled out for tonight (and rookie Bud Clark out for the season), the lack of depth is worrying.
Nick Emmanwori, who was arguably robbed for Defensive Rookie of the Year last year, has been working through an ankle injury, after getting surgery earlier this summer.
Officially listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game, his involvement could give the Seahawks a much-needed boost to bolster the league’s best defense.
Things gained
The biggest gain of the off-season is also the Seahawks’ biggest question mark. With Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III leaving for Kansas City, running back Jadarian Price, fresh off the 2026 NFL Draft, has a lot to prove.
As the first running back on the depth chart, Price is expected to take the majority of the snaps Wednesday night.
While Price did not play in the preseason, head coach Mike McDonald feels comfortable with where the former Norte Dame running back is at the moment.
The Seahawks also gained a new offensive coordinator with former San Francisco 49ers tight end coach Brian Fleury taking over for now-Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak.
Despite never calling plays, Fleury looked solid throughout preseason, working with the Seahawks back-ups. His emphasis on the run game, backed up by his knowledge as running game coordinator in San Francisco, could set Price up for success.
Things that could be
Now, it’s way too soon to talk playoffs, after all, week one hasn’t even started, but it’s worth discussing.
There have only been eight teams to win back-to-back Super Bowls, with the Kansas City Chiefs being the most recent team in 2023 and 2024.
ESPN has the Seahawks’ odds to repeat at 12-1, sitting beneath the Rams, the Buffalo Bills, and the Baltimore Ravens.
The Super Bowl-defending champs, a team that retained most of their championship-winning squad, is sitting below a team desperately snatching up talent to stop them, a team that lost last year to the Broncos in the divisional round, and a Ravens team that was last in the playoffs in 2024.
Repeating is not an easy feat to accomplish, but with so much focus shifting toward the Los Angeles Rams, it’s starting to feel like 2025 again.
Back at the start of the 2025 NFL season, the Seahawks had 60-1 odds to win the Super Bowl. Whether it’s due to our proximity to the Pacific Ocean or a general disdain for Seattle sports, the doubt was strong then, and it still continues today.
The Seahawks might not be entirely the same team they were last year, but with new additions and a tough as nails brotherhood (detailed thoroughly in HBO’s “Hard Knocks”), who’s to say they don’t do it again?
As McDonald says, it’s time to “run it forward.”
The Seahawks face the Patriots Sept. 9, with kickoff set for 5:20 p.m. at Lumen Field.