The National Football League regular season begins where it left off last year with a rematch of Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. The Pats will be looking to exact revenge for the embarrassing loss they suffered in February, while the Seahawks hope to make a statement with a win tonight over what will likely be one of the best teams in the NFL.

It has been a long off-season. In fact, 213 days have passed since we have seen any NFL team play in a meaningful football game. After Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel took the stand to speak to members of the media over the weekend, he acknowledged how this week marks the start of a new season.

"I think this week, and especially today, it probably feels a little bit different because it is truly game week," Vrabel explained. "You come off that last preseason game, and you're in this purgatory to have a few days off. Today felt different."

It's not often that the NFL season begins with a Super Bowl rematch. 2016 marked the last time that the first NFL regular-season game featured the previous year's Super Bowl participants.

"It's exciting," Vrabel said. "To be a part of this league and to be able to open the season in Seattle is an honor, but it's a challenge."

Part of that challenge will be figuring out how to attack the Seahawks' defense, which allowed the fewest points per game combined in the regular season and the playoffs (16.9) last year. When asked if New England will be better equipped to go against that unit, quarterback Drake Maye said the Pats would be ready for the task at hand.

"One of the biggest things is we've got to see what it's like," he told reporters on September 5th. "We've got some new faces, and we experienced it, and we've got to learn from it... When you're out there, you've got to react. You've gotta have some urgency, and we gotta get ready to play at their place. It's going to be a tough environment. They're well coached. They've got great players, and we've got a good team. So, I'm looking forward to seeing what we've got."

The good news for New Englanders is that Maye is another year older and wiser. With that experience, he'll likely be more ready to go against Seattle’s elite defense.

"There's a lot of value in the things that we did last year on the road," said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on Sunday. "The types of environments that you have to deal with in the National Football League are helpful as you gain more experience and wisdom. So Drake just knows a lot more than he did last year in general at this time. And he's learned a lot of valuable lessons over time... I know he's eager to get out there and actually play a game, and see how far we've come."

On the other side of the United States, it has been a difficult off-season for the Seahawks, who went through many changes with the departure of key figures from last year's team, like offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III, to name a few. Losing so many valuable pieces from last year's team is understandably challenging, but - at the end of the day - the National Football League is a business.

"I mean, it's very hard. We saw Ken the other night. You know, it's tough. We were around him for four years," Seattle general manager John Schneider said on August 20th. "Riq (Woolen) and Boye (Mafe) and Coby (Bryant)... you just miss those guys, but you have to keep going. You have to be able to budget yourself to be able to make smart decisions moving forward."

One positive for the Seahawks is that, unlike the last time they faced the Patriots, they will be playing at home rather than a neutral site. On top of that, there will be a Super Bowl banner unveiling ceremony before kickoff to honor Seattle's victory in February. That moment will close the book on last year and signify the beginning of a new season.

“It's awesome,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said on Sunday. “It's week one, and it's exciting, and there's context behind it and everything, but it's also the first step of this journey as well.”

Obviously, you want to win your first matchup of the season, but as Macdonald explained - regardless of how the game ends - Week One is a stepping stone for every squad.

“No matter what," he clarified, "we're going to have to grow and evolve to become the team that we want to become by the end of the season.”

Even though they're the ones playing in the game, members of both the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots are just happy to be taking the field once again.

“It's a great opportunity for us. Obviously, this is a really good football team coming in here in New England. Really good defense, offense, good special teams, obviously, and really good coaching staff,” Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold told reporters on Sunday. “We got our work cut out for us, but it's exciting, man. It's exciting to have football back, and [we’re] just ready to go.”

Prediction for New England Patriots @ Seattle Seahawks (-3.5)

As opposed to the last time these two teams faced off, the Pats have a much better roster, while the Seahawks lost a significant amount of talent in the off-season. New England's defense did a great job of neutralizing Seattle wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and I expect that to once again be the case with Christian Gonzalez covering him for most of the game. Simultaneously, the wide receiver duo of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs will allow the Patriots to make this a much closer game. However, the Seahawks still boast an elite defense that will give the Pats many issues in the trenches, which is why New England struggled so mightily in Super Bowl LX. After all, they gave up six sacks the last time they were on the field, and the offensive line is not that much better than it was in Super Bowl LX. Couple that with a ruckus crowd at Lumen Field, and it feels like the Patriots will come out of this matchup with a loss. Even though New England covers the spread, Seattle will still manage to start the campaign off with a victory.

Prediction: Seahawks 22 - 19 Patriots

How to watch New England Patriots @ Seattle Seahawks (-3.5)

Patriots @ Seahawks starts at 8:20 p.m. EDT at Lumen Field. You can watch it on NBC or stream it on Peacock.

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