Sam Darnold and the defending champion Seattle Seahawks are short favorites in a season-opener Super Bowl rematch against the New England Patriots. Kevin C. Cox / Getty ImagesSept. 8, 2026 12:48 pm EDT Updated It’s been more than 200 days since the Super Bowl and we are ready for NFL kickoff.Even better news: The league expanding its international footprint to Melbourne with its first-ever game in Australia means there are not one, but two standalone primetime games to open the season.It all starts with the Seattle Seahawks hosting the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl rematch on Wednesday before the action goes Down Under, where this season’s Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams will take on NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers on Thursday. The Seahawks and Rams are both 3.5-point favorites at FanDuel, with Seattle a heavily juiced -3 at DraftKings as of writing.There are short point spreads up and down the board for Sunday’s 13-game marathon with nine games listed at 3.5 or fewer points, the tightest of which are close to a pick’em: The Buffalo Bills (-1.5) at Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (-1.5) and New York Jets at Tennessee Titans (-1.5). Jets-Titans also has the lowest listed total of the week at 39.5 points.Power Rankings: Why the Seahawks aren't No. 1Chad GraffOnly three games have spreads of a touchdown or more: The New Orleans Saints at Detroit Lions (-7), Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars (-8.5) and Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Chargers (-9.5). According to Evan Abrams at the Action Network, that 10-point spread makes the Charges the first double-digit Week 1 favorite since 2019 — part of why Justin Herbert and Co. made the cut for The Athletic’s Week 1 survivor picks.