SEATTLE – The NFL’s eternal quest for year-round domination of the attention of the sports world may be best illustrated in the rollout of the league’s annual schedule.
What was once something that happened with no fanfare has morphed into a three-day event that begins with the gradual release of a few games on Monday and Tuesday before every team’s full schedules are revealed simultaneously Wednesday at 5 p.m.
The drip-drip-drip began Monday morning with the news that Cowboys will play the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles in the NFL kickoff game Sept. 4.
More announcements are set for Tuesday morning, including the revealing of the full matchups for seven international games.
The international games are scheduled to be announced during the Good Morning Football Show on the NFL Network, which begins conveniently enough at 5 a.m.
Here are six Seahawks-related things to know as the schedule release nears:
Opponents already set
The opponents for all teams were set the minute the 2024 season ended. Opponents are based on a formula of playing each team in your division twice as well a rotation of playing teams from other divisions and three games based on where teams finished in the 2024 standings.
All NFC West teams this year will play all teams in the NFC South and the AFC South. The NFC West also plays one road game against the same-place finisher in the AFC North as well as one game against the same-place finisher in the NFC East and NFC North.
For the Seahawks, that breaks down to eight home games against San Francisco, Los Angeles Rams, Arizona, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Houston, Indianapolis and Minnesota and nine road games against San Francisco, Rams, Arizona, Carolina, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Washington and Pittsburgh.
Dates, times and TV designations will be announced for all games other than Week 18, as the NFL leaves the final weekend unscheduled.
Could the Seahawks play internationally?
Home teams for all seven international games have already been set.
The Seahawks have road games against two — Jacksonville (set to host a game in Wembley Stadium in London) and Pittsburgh (set to host the NFL’s first game in Ireland in Dublin).
Several reports, including from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, state that the Vikings are expected to be the opponent for the Steelers in Dublin.
That leaves the Seahawks-Steelers game — and a reunion for DK Metcalf against his old team — for a prime-time TV slot if desired.
That leaves the Jags’ game in London as a potential international game for the Seahawks.
Rumors on the social-media platform X have stated the Rams are the likely opponent there. But as of Monday afternoon, there were no reports of that from outlets that traditionally cover either team.
The Seahawks have played two international games — in 2018 in London against the Raiders and 2022 against Tampa Bay in Munich. (They also played Buffalo in Toronto in 2012, but that was a Bills’ home game.)
How many prime-time games?
The most prime-time games a team can be scheduled for initially is six. The prime-time schedule can change later if games are flexed.
The Seahawks had four prime-time games last year, going 1-3, beating the Bears on a Thursday night but losing to the 49ers (Thursday night), Detroit (Monday night) and Packers (Sunday night).
They had three initially in 2023 but ended up with four when a game against the Eagles was flexed to a Monday night, and they had just two in 2022 in the first year after Russell Wilson trade after having four or five every season from 2013-21.
Divisional games often end up on Thursday night and a game against the Rams and a Cooper Kupp reunion might be a natural.
Besides the Steelers game, other tempting prime-time matchups include the home game against Minnesota and a rematch for new Seahawks QB Sam Darnold against the team he played for last season; the home game against Houston and C.J. Stroud; the road game against a Washington team coming off an NFC Conference title game appearance and featuring former Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner.
Could the Seahawks play on Christmas Day?
The NFL announced last month at the league meetings that it will play three games on Christmas Day, which falls on a Thursday. Two are scheduled to air on Netflix and another on Amazon Prime.
The announcement marked the latest indication from the NFL that it plans to make Christmas Day games an annual occurrence. That was something the league tried for years to avoid before beginning to embrace it in 2021.
There have been 32 games on Christmas Day in NFL history, with 25 teams participating. The Seahawks are one of seven who have yet to play on Christmas Day.
They have played on Christmas Eve, doing so as recently as 2023 at Tennessee, and the day after Christmas, doing so last year at Chicago.
Given how the league intends to continue with its Christmas Day presence, odds are the Seahawks will play on that day sooner rather than later.
How tough will schedule be?
By one metric — the combine win-loss record of 2024 opponents — it will be among the easier in the NFL.
According to statistics released by the league, the combined win-loss record of the Seahawks’ foes in 2024 was 47.4%. That ties for the 22nd easiest schedule.
The bad news? That’s similar to every other team in the NFC West. The 49er have the easiest schedule using that metric, at 41.5%, with Arizona 27th at 45.7% and the Rams 17th at 49.1%.
The main reason for that is every team in the NFC West facing every team in the AFC South and NFC South — each are divisions that a year ago had only one winning team.
What often matters more in judging a schedule is its layout.
The Seahawks began last season 3-0 before embarking on a brutal stretch of three games in 10 days that began with a Monday night road game against Detroit.
They lost all three as part of a stretch of five defeats in six games that helped derail the season.
The reality of increasing games on Thursday nights and other nontraditional dates means such stretches are a fact of life that all teams have to manage.
Preseason games will also be set
Teams generally announce their preseason games along with the regular-season schedule.
The Seahawks will have one preseason game on the road and two at home. Coach Mike Macdonald said the Seahawks would like to hold joint practices again this year, potentially against the road opponent as well as one at home.
The Seahawks have often played the Raiders in the preseason and it would undoubtedly be fun if that were to happen now with Pete Carroll coaching Las Vegas.