Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was last season’s Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year. But that’s not what his trophy said.
Smith-Njigba posted on Instagram a video that showed his trophy says, “JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA 2025 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THEYEAR.”
In the video, Smith-Njigba shows the trophy and says, “I really want to expose them. It’s getting disrespectful, guys.”
Smith-Njigba then pointed to the word “Defensive” and said, “Defense? Come on, bro.”
He then pointed to “Theyear” and said, “One word? Man.”
“Its getting disrespectful at this point,” Smith-Njigba posted in a caption. “Just keep the award at this point. Leave it in the history books tho.”
Although the Associated Press handles the voting for the awards that are announced at the annual NFL Honors event, PFT has been told that the NFL, not the AP, makes the trophies. So it was a mistake made by whatever engraver the NFL hired to do the job, and a mistake no one at the NFL noticed before giving the trophy to Smith-Njigba.
Smith-Njigba said they can keep the trophy, but the NFL should, of course, issue him a new one.
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The 2026 regular season begins where the 2025 postseason ended — with a game between the Patriots and Seahawks.
During a Friday press conference regarding the newly-released schedule, NFL Media executive V.P. and COO Hans Schroeder explained the decision to start the year with a Super Bowl rematch despite the fact that the Super Bowl was lopsided.
“I think one of the things to go back to last year is, you’ll remember in Week 2, we actually replayed the Super Bowl — similar Super Bowl dynamic from a couple years ago, in that that Philly-K.C. game in New Orleans wasn’t necessarily a particularly close one,” Schroeder said. “But we saw that rematch, I think, did 33 million viewers in that second week doubleheader game.
“So coming out of that, and to the point of always learning and trying to see what we can learn from the data and the information we get, we thought it’d be really exciting to come back. A Super Bowl relevant rematch is never going to be more relevant than in Week 1, and sort of pick up this year where we ended off last year, had a really neat symmetry or connection to it. So we really love that idea. We looked at, you know, a number of opponents for Seattle in that window, but we think [the kickoff game is] a really big window. It’s one of those places where we think we can continue to build the audience higher and just love the idea of opening the season where we left it last year with another chance for the Patriots or the Seahawks and that game in particular.”
An immediate Super Bowl rematch has started the season only twice before, with the Panthers and Broncos meeting in the opening game of 2016 and the Vikings and Chiefs squaring off in Week 1 of the 1970 season, the first year of the merged AFL and NFL.
Since 2016, there have been four other Super Bowl rematches in the next regular season. In 2017, the Patriots hosted the Falcons in Week 7. In 2023, the Eagles visited the Chiefs in Week 11. In 2024, the 49ers and Chiefs met in Kansas City in Week 7. And, as Schroeder mentioned, the Chiefs hosted the Eagles in Week 2 last year.
This will be the fourth straight season featuring a rematch of the prior year’s Super Bowl.
Some have suggested that the NFL opted for Patriots-Seahawks as a way to lean into the story of the offseason. It’s hard to believe the league would specifically want to do that, since it’s not exactly the kind of thing the NFL would want to affirmatively showcase.
Then again, if the goal is to have the biggest possible audience for the opening game, starting the year with Patriots-Seahawks will attract plenty of the folks who may not be football fans, and who may have curiosity about New England coach Mike Vrabel, given his repeated mentions in TMZ and Page Six.
And, like a Super Bowl rematch, that storyline will never be more relevant than it will be in Week 1.
The NFL is increasingly moving games off Sundays to play them on other days of the week, when TV networks and streaming platforms will pay more money for them. And no team epitomizes the NFL’s changing approach more than the Seahawks.
The Seahawks’ 2026 schedule features games on every day except Tuesday.
Seattle will host the first game of the 2026 NFL season, as is customary for the defending Super Bowl champions. But the major changes this year is that the game will be on Wednesday, September 9, rather than being played in the normal Thursday night opening slot.
The rest of the Seahawks’ schedule features 10 games on Sundays, a Thursday night game, two Monday night games, a Saturday game in Week 15, and the Christmas night game, which falls on a Friday this year. The Seahawks’ 17th and final game will be on either a Saturday or a Sunday.
The only other team in NFL history to play on six different days of the week was the 2024 Chiefs, who also were the defending Super Bowl champions and also played every day but Tuesday. No team has ever played on all seven days of the week, but with the way the NFL is changing its schedule, that will probably happen soon.
In 2025, the Seahawks and Rams were arguably the best two teams in the NFL. They met three times.
In 2026, they won’t meet at all until Week 16.
The first game happens in Seattle on Christmas Day. Two weeks later, the rematch will take place at SoFi Stadium to end the regular season
By late December, who knows how both teams will look? Chances are that they’ll both be in contention. And maybe, like last year, their two games will have a direct impact not only on the NFC West title buy the No. 1 seed in the conference.
However it plays out, here’s hoping that the series, the division, and the top seed won’t come down to whether someone calls the league office to point out that a key play possibly should get a second look — in order to see whether its was a forward pass or a lateral.
The Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl champions, but the Rams were given the most primetime games in 2026.
The Rams’ seven primetime games tied the all-time record for most primetime games. The 2025 Chiefs and the 2023 Bills also played in seven primetime games.
The Packers, Chiefs, Bills and Seahawks each have six primetime games, and the Cowboys, Eagles, Bears, Patriots and 49ers each have five primetime games.
The Vikings, Giants, Steelers, Ravens, Lions and Texans all play four primetime games. The Jaguars, Broncos, Bengals, Falcons, Panthers, Chargers and Bucs each have three, and the Colts, Saints and Browns all have one.
The Rams’ seven primetime games are:
Week 1: Thursday, Sept. 10, vs. 49ers, 8:35 p.m. ET, Netflix (Australia)
Week 2: Monday, Sept. 21, vs. Giants, 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN
Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 27, at Broncos, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC
Week 5: Monday, Oct. 12, vs. Bills, 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN
Week 12: Wednesday, Nov. 25, vs. Packers, 8 p.m. ET, Netflix
Week 13: Thursday, Dec. 3, vs. Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime
Week 16: Friday, Dec. 25, at Seahawks (Christmas), 8:15 p.m. ET, Fox
Yes, the 2026 NFL regular season opens with the same game that ended the 2025 postseason. It’ll be a Super Bowl rematch in Seattle, with the Seahawks hosting the Patriots on the night the defending champions hang a banner.
It’s an interesting choice, to say the least. The Super Bowl wasn’t close. And that was at a neutral site. In Seattle, what will happen?
The Seahawks have opened as 3.5-point favorites at DraftKings. Our guess is that will move in Seattle’s direction.
Beyond the game, the selection of the Patriots will bring into focus the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini situation. It will require NBC to deal with the issue, at some point during the broadcast.
It also opens the door, frankly, for a potential sit-down by Russini with Oprah (or whoever) on Tuesday, September 8.
Look at it this way. Memorial Day is coming. Things will slow down during the summer months. Labor Day lands on Monday, September 7. With the Patriots-Seahawks game only two days later, Tuesday night becomes the perfect time to attract maximum attention — and to create maximum chaos.
Russini may not decide to tell her story on the record. If she does, Tuesday, September 8, has instantly become the perfect night to do it.
Get ready to see plenty of the reigning Super Bowl champions in 2026.
The Seahawks will have six primetime games in the upcoming season, beginning with the kickoff game — a Super Bowl LX rematch between Seattle and New England on Sept. 9 on NBC.
Seattle will then have a string of three consecutive primetime games in October and November. The club will be in Denver to take on the Broncos in Week 6 on Thursday Night Football. In Week 7, the Seahawks will be at home to face the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football. And in Week 8, the club will stay at home to face the Bears on Monday Night Football.
After a bit of a break, Seattle will host Dallas in Week 13 on Monday Night Football.
Then the Seahawks will host the Rams on Christmas Day in primetime on FOX.
Of course, Seattle could also be featured in Week 18 against division-rival Los Angeles should that matchup be the most compelling in the last week of the season.
The first Monday night matchup of 2026, between the Chiefs and Broncos, was announced earlier this week.
Now we know the complete MNF schedule for the coming season.
Unlike the last few years, there are no longer simultaneous Monday night doubleheaders on ABC and ESPN.
As the network has been heavily advertising recently, Super Bowl LXI will be the first broadcast on ESPN in February from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
All games are set to kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday night.
Week 1: Broncos at Chiefs
Week 2: Giants at Rams
Week 3: Eagles at Bears
Week 4: Falcons at Saints
Week 5: Bills at Rams
Week 6: Commanders at 49ers
Week 7: Cowboys at Eagles
Week 8: Bears at Seahawks
Week 9: Bills at Vikings
Week 10: Chargers at Ravens
Week 11: Bengals at Commanders
Week 12: Panthers at Buccaneers
Week 13: Cowboys at Seahawks
Week 14: Steelers at Jaguars
Week 15: Patriots at Chiefs
Week 16: Giants at Lions
Week 17: Texans at Packers
We don’t know if Fernando Mendoza will be starting at quarterback for the Raiders in Week 1 of the regular season, but we do know who the Raiders will be playing in the first overall pick’s potential debut.
The NFL’s schedule reveal on Thursday night shows that the Raiders will host the Dolphins at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 13. The game will be on Fox.
Mendoza will have to get the nod over Kirk Cousins in order to start for the Raiders. Offseason addition Malik Willis is expected to make his first appearance for the Dolphins. Both teams will definitely have head coaches making their offseason debut as Las Vegas hired Klint Kubiak in February and Miami hired Jeff Hafley in January.
Sunday will also feature a pair of divisional games in the late afternoon window. The Packers will visit the Vikings while the Commanders will be in Philadelphia to renew their acquaintance with the Eagles. The NFC North matchup will be on CBS while the NFC East clash will be broadcast by Fox.
The other late game on Sunday afternoon will see the Cardinals visiting the Chargers on CBS. Arizona could have Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew or rookie Carson Beck at quarterback for that contest.
The 1 p.m. ET games will send the Bills to Houston for a date with the Texans while the Browns go on the road against the Jaguars. The Colts will host the Ravens, the Saints will visit the Lions, the Buccaneers will travel to Cincinnati for Dexter Lawrence’s first game as a Bengal, and the Steelers will kick off the Mike McCarthy era — with or without Aaron Rodgers — at home against the Falcons.
Previous reports revealed that the Jets will be in Tennessee and that the Bears will head to Charlotte to face the Panthers. The Jets-Titans game will be on CBS along with the Bills-Texans, Ravens-Colts and Browns-Jaguars games. All the other 1 p.m. games will be on Fox.
The entire Week 1 slate will kick off on Wednesday, September 9 with a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl rematch in Seattle on NBC. Thursday will bring a Netflix game between the 49ers and Rams in the NFL’s first game in Melbourne and Sunday night will find the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium to meet the Giants on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Those games were all announced ahead of Thursday’s full schedule reveal, which was also the case for the ESPN Monday night game between the Broncos and Chiefs in Kansas City.
The Rams and Seahawks played three nail-biters during the 2025 season and the NFL is banking on another one on Christmas night.
The matchup of NFC West teams will cap a three-game slate on Christmas this year. The Friday night game on December 25 will take place in Seattle and it will be broadcast by Fox.
Los Angeles won 21-19 at home last November, but lost 38-37 in overtime in Seattle later in the regular season. The final meeting between the clubs came in the NFC Championship Game and was a 31-27 Seahawks win.
Netflix will kick off the day’s games with a doubleheader that starts with the Packers visiting the Bears at 1 p.m. ET. The Bills will be in Denver at 4:30 p.m. ET in a rematch of last season’s divisional round game that the Broncos won in overtime.
With Christmas Eve falling on a Thursday, there will also be a game on Amazon Prime Video that night. The Eagles will travel to Houston to face the Texans, so all four games around the Christmas holiday will feature matchups of teams that were in the playoffs last season.
