The NFL Kickoff game is almost here, it’ll take place Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 8:20 p.m. EST, with the Seattle Seahawks hosting the New England Patriots. Here’s what to expect.

Seahawks Raise the Super Bowl Banner

The Seahawks are of course coming off their spectacular season that resulted in a Super Bowl win over the Patriots, now they’ll raise the banner in front of the Patriots during pre-game ceremonies.

Patriots Thoughts

Multiple players and coaches have commented on the opener being against their Super Bowl foe. Younger players like Drake Maye are excited to start the season off with a challenge. Head coach Mike Vrabel has also addressed the challenge that comes with the game, but has also noted what he believes needs to change for the Patriots to have a different outcome compared to the Super Bowl, such as better more physical blocking, and stopping Seattle’s run game. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel’s took accountability for the Super Bowl loss but believes the correct adjustments have been made to beat Seattle in the opener.

Seahawks Thoughts

Seahawks players and coaches have also made comments about the opportunity to play New England again this soon, most notably, Sam Darnold believes it’s an exciting opportunity to start their defense of the Super Bowl title. Head coach Mike MacDonald has warned his team not to keep too much of the Super Bowl blueprint, acknowledging the fact that a team like the Patriots has had time to grow, and change a lot of their schemes and personnel.

Keys To Victory

The Patriots are going to need better blocking. During the Super Bowl the passing game had plenty of struggles due to the offensive line not holding up, and so did the run game which only totaled 79 yards between three players. It is most important that the run game gets going as the Seahawks pass defense is a top unit, although the addition of A.J. Brown for the Patriots could give the Seahawks unit some problems. The Patriots added guard Alijah Vera-Tucker this off-season which should give them much needed interior offensive line help, and Will Campbell should be fully healthy, which should help him preform much better than he did in the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks need more of what they had last year, a strong run game, however this could be difficult with the loss of Kenneth Walker, and Zach Charbonnet missing week 1, meaning rookie running back Jadarian Price will immediately be carrying the load. Seattle does have the opportunity to open up their passing game due to the possibility of Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez potentially not playing week one because he doesn’t have a contract extension yet. If Gonzalez doesn’t play, it’ll be huge for Seahawks wide receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba who was shut down by Gonzalez in the Super Bowl, which is why the passing attack for Seattle wasn’t as good as normal.

Game Prediction

The biggest question for the game is whether or not Gonzalez is going to play, even though he hasn’t given a definitive answer it seems as if everything points towards him playing, considering he’s participated in recent practices. With that being said, I see the Patriots walking out of Lumen Field with the victory in a close fought battle.