Why the NFL Kicked Off on a Wednesday — and Why Seattle’s 13-10 Win Felt Like a Super Bowl Sequel
The defending champion Seahawks edged the Patriots in a Super Bowl rematch, in an opener moved to Wednesday to make room for the league’s first regular-season game in Australia.
The 2026 NFL season began with a quirk of the calendar and a familiar matchup. On Wednesday, September 9, the defending champion Seattle Seahawks hosted the New England Patriots in a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl — and won again, 13-10.
Why Wednesday?
The traditional Thursday-night kickoff moved up a day for only the second time ever. The reason was global: the league scheduled its first regular-season game in Australia, the San Francisco 49ers against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, which would fall on Thursday night in the United States. To avoid a clash, the opener shifted to Wednesday.
A defensive grind
Unlike the record-setting shootout in Charlotte a few days later, the opener was a low-scoring game in which neither offence ever pulled clear. When the final whistle blew, Seattle had started its title defence with another win over the team it beat on the sport’s biggest stage.
The international era
The Melbourne game is the latest step in the NFL’s push to grow its audience abroad, following regular-season games in London, Germany, Mexico and Brazil. For fans, the unusual Wednesday start became a talking point in its own right — and a sign that the league’s calendar is increasingly shaped by its global ambitions.
With a Super Bowl rematch, a Wednesday kickoff and a game Down Under all in the first week, the 2026 season started with plenty for fans to discuss.
This story was written by the Celestia Times newsroom based on the reporting linked above. Details in developing stories can change; see our corrections policy to report an error. Illustration is original artwork, not a photograph of the events described.