Mike Macdonald and the Seattle Seahawks are defending Super Bowl champions. But that won’t guarantee the team anything when the 2026 campaign begins.
And in one of the most difficult NFL divisions, the Seahawks could face as much adversity as anybody to start next season.
On Saturday, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport predicted how each NFL team will do at the beginning of the 2026 campaign. Davenport projected the Seahawks to have a “mild” start.
“It shouldn’t be all that surprising that no NFC West team has an easy road to roaring out of the gate—the division sent three teams to the postseason a year ago,” wrote Davenport. “Seattle begins their title defense at home in a Super Bowl rematch with the New England Patriots before a less-than-daunting two-game road trip to Arizona and Washington.
“Then things get real—four games in five weeks against playoff teams from 2025, with the other contest a home tilt with the Chiefs.”
Seahawks Predicted to Start a Little Slow in 2026
Davenport projected the Seahawks to start the 2026 campaign with two or wins. One could argue that’s a fast start, but Davenport didn’t necessarily clearly define what constituted “the start” of the NFL season.
For the Seahawks, he sees a rocky October because of the schedule.
From Week 4-8, the Seahawks face the Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears. All of those teams except the Chiefs went to the postseason in 2025.
Davenport didn’t predict how many of those games the Seahawks might lose. But with a “mild” start to the 2026 campaign, Davenport probably sees Seattle losing at least twice during that five-week stretch.
Seahawks Need to Use Lumen Field to Their Advantage
The Seahawks were a terrific road team on their way to the Super Bowl title in 2025. But the team still has one of the best home-field advantages throughout the league.
With that in mind, the good news for the Seahawks is four of their five opponents from Week 4-8 will visit Lumen Field.
The Seahawks also drew the Super Bowl rematch against the New England Patriots at home in Week 1.
Before their Week 11 bye, the Seahawks will only play four road games. Just one of those contests will be versus a 2025 playoff team — the Broncos.
The Seahawks will have some tougher road games at the end of the 2026 campaign. But the front-loaded home slate could help the Seahawks get off to better than a “mild” start.
The Seahawks went 6-2 at home last season versus 8-1 on the road. Seattle also won two home games during the 2026 playoffs.
During the regular season, the Seahawks have nearly won twice as many games than they’ve lost at Lumen Field. Overall, the Seahawks are 128-66 since the stadium opened in 2002.
Seattle is also 12-2 at Lumen Field during the NFL postseason.
The Seahawks might need a faster start to win the NFC West again. During the second half of the season, Seattle will visit both the 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. The Seahawks will also play on the road at the Philadelphia Eagles and Carolina Panthers.
Seahawks Receive Warning on Tough Stretch to Begin 2026 NFL Season