Super Bowl rematch to open new season - your guide to NFL's key games

The new NFL season begins this week and if the pressure is on defending champions Seattle, they are not showing it.

The Seahawks' defence dominated the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl for a second time in February.

And British coach Aden Durde, who remains Seattle's defensive coordinator, is ready to go again after becoming the first overseas coach to win the NFL's biggest prize.

"It's an experience that was unreal," he told BBC Sport. "It's hard to explain but, for myself, I felt it gave me an overview of why I really enjoy what I do and why I do it.

"It's the thirst for the process and for improvement, doing it on a day-to-day basis. Now we get another chance to do that and that's the exciting thing."

Seattle begin their title defence with a Super Bowl rematch against the Patriots on Wednesday (01:20 BST, Thursday).

But their biggest threat is set to be the Los Angeles Rams, who are favourites to win Super Bowl 61 after bolstering their star-studded roster.

Last year the divisional rivals produced two thrilling games in the regular season before Seattle edged out the Rams in a play-off classic.

"Who knows what [that rivalry] will look like this year," added Durde. "That's the whole point of the off-season, the work we've put in to sharpen ourselves and get ourselves battle ready."

Now it's time to let battle commence - so here's a rundown of this season's key fixtures.

Since 2004, the opening game of the NFL season has featured the defending champions.

Seattle triumphed in Santa Clara in February so will host this year's kick-off game and it will be the first season opener to feature a Super Bowl rematch since 2016.

The NFL season normally starts on a Thursday, and in the past two years the season's first international game has been played on a Friday.

However, the NFL's 2026 schedule is starting a week later than normal, bringing it into conflict with US bylaws which prohibit professional American football games being broadcast on a Friday or Saturday from the second week of September.

So the Rams' game against the San Francisco 49ers in Australia, in front of 100,000 fans at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will kick off at 10:35 local time on Friday, which will be Thursday evening in the US (01:35 BST, Friday)

The season opener has therefore been brought forward to a Wednesday for the first time since 2012.

Next Thursday will mark the first game at the Buffalo Bills' new home, with the Detroit Lions heading to Highmark Stadium, while on 25 October the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player Kenneth Walker makes a swift return to Seattle after joining the Kansas City Chiefs.

American football is a big part of the holidays in the US and Thanksgiving week now features five games while there is again a triple-header on Christmas Day.

The NFL will play its first game on Thanksgiving Eve as the Rams, who feature in a league-high seven prime-time games, host the Green Bay Packers on Wednesday, 25 November.

That's followed by a Thanksgiving triple-header on Thursday, 26 November, which begins with two divisional match-ups as Detroit host the Chicago Bears (18:00 GMT) and the Dallas Cowboys welcome the Philadelphia Eagles (21:25 GMT).

Then provided Patrick Mahomes makes a smooth return from injury, the star quarterback will renew his rivalry with Josh Allen as Kansas City visit Buffalo (01:20 GMT Friday).

For the fourth straight year, the Thanksgiving slate concludes with a Black Friday clash on 27 November as the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Denver Broncos.

That is one of 17 games to be streamed on Amazon Prime, which include the Houston Texans at Philadelphia on Christmas Eve, plus the Baltimore Ravens at the Cincinnati Bengals on New Year's Eve.

Netflix will stream five games, including two on Christmas Day, when Chicago host divisional rivals Green Bay (18:00 GMT) before Denver welcome Buffalo (21:30 GMT).

The festive triple-header concludes with a repeat of last season's epic NFC Championship game, as Seattle host the Rams (01:15 GMT, 26 December).

After a record seven international games last year, there will be nine during the 2026 season, with Australia and France becoming hosts for the first time.

Regular season games will be played across four continents and seven countries, with the NFL returning to Mexico after a four-year gap while Brazil, Germany, Spain and the UK remain on the schedule.

The NFL's regular season ends on Sunday, 10 January 2027, with the play-offs scheduled to begin on 16 January.

They will culminate with Super Bowl 61 on Sunday, 14 February 2027. It will be the first time that the NFL's championship decider is played on Valentine's Day - and the following day is a national holiday in the US, Presidents' Day.

The big game will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, making it the ninth Super Bowl to be played in the Greater Los Angeles area.

Built at a cost of $5.5bn and opened in 2020, it is the world's most expensive stadium and is shared by the Los Angeles Chargers and Rams.

Knowing the Super Bowl would be held in their own stadium in 2022, the Rams went all-in to build a star-studded roster for that season and the gamble paid off as the Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23–20 in front of 70,048.

The Rams have tried to replicate that formula by trading for defensive stars Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie in the off-season while three-time defensive player of the year Aaron Donald, 35, came out of retirement on a one-year deal.