Chiefs to Likely Duck Seahawks in NFL Season-Opener Due to Patrick Mahomes Rehab

When the reigning Super Bowl champs open their 2026 NFL season, they likely won’t be playing the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Seahawks are set to kick off the new season at home at Lumen Field on Wednesday, Sept. 9, with their opponent yet to be announced. It’ll mark the first time since 2012 that the NFL’s season-opener will take place on a Wednesday night, a change that comes in response to the NFL exploring more international games and adjusting the season schedule accordingly.

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The Chiefs have already been tabbed as one of nine potential road opponents for the Super Bowl LX champs, but it doesn’t look like the two will clash in Week 1. The main reason, according to Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, is that Patrick Mahomes may not be prepared to play by then.

“I don’t think that’s on the table anymore. I think from a league standpoint, there would be some concern whether [Patrick Mahomes] would be ready to go,” Hunt said at the NFL owners’ meeting earlier this week.

Here the NFL owners' meetings, a news tip from Clark Hunt: The Chiefs are not expect to start the season in Seattle.

“I don’t think that’s on the table anymore. I think from a league standpoint, there would be some concern whether [Patrick Mahomes] would be ready to go."
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) March 30, 2026

“My guess is the [NFL] won’t want to take that risk,” Hunt continued. “We’ve all seen some of the videos of [Mahomes’] rehab. By every indication, he’s ahead of schedule, and has worked really hard to be ahead of schedule.”

Chiefs coach Andy Reid also recently weighed in on Mahomes’s recovery timeline and whether the star QB actually has a shot at playing in Kansas City’s first game of the season:

“Every player is different. I would tell you though, I would never bet against him. He’s always going to put in the time, effort, and always push it. ... So far it’s all been positive,” Reid said.

Mahomes suffered a season-ending ACL injury last December, immediately underwent surgery, and based on the average recovery timeline for such injuries could return by mid-September. There’s a fair chance he speeds up his rehab and returns a week earlier in time for Week 1, but Kansas City probably won’t want to risk it. And neither does the NFL.

Though it may look like the NFL is intentionally giving the Chiefs an easier start to their 2026 season by not pitting them against the reigning Super Bowl champs, their move is assuredly driven by viewership ratings. If Mahomes isn’t healthy enough to go, the Chiefs would have to roll out backup QB Justin Fields. A Fields vs. Sam Darnold matchup wouldn’t draw as many eyeballs as, say, Darnold playing against an established starter, so it makes a lot of sense why the league prefers to take the safe road by finding a different opponent for the Seahawks in their marquee season-opener.

As an added note, back in 2009 when Tom Brady was returning from his ACL injury, the Patriots opened the season at home on Monday Night Football. That timeline gave Brady an extra day to suit up and the convenience of staying in Foxborough. Hunt addressed the possibility of the Chiefs asking for something similar this year in light of Mahomes’s ongoing rehab: “It’s not a request we’ve made. It sounds like a good idea [for the NFL], although it’s only one [more] day.”

We should know more about the Chiefs’ and Seahawks’ 2026 schedules when they’re released in May.

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