5 Takeaways From Seattle Seahawks 2024 Schedule

Playing six games at home in the first nine weeks, the Seahawks will be able to get comfortable at Lumen Field, but a tougher stretch of games awaits in November and December.

Jan 8, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) passes under / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

In what has become an annual tradition for sports fans, the NFL announced official 2024 schedules for the Seattle Seahawks and all 32 teams on Wednesday, stirring up plenty of excitement for the upcoming season.

Opening a new era under coach Mike Macdonald on September 8 against the Broncos, quarterback Geno Smith and the Seahawks will spend a ton of time at home in the first half of the season before enduring a tougher final two months with three NFC West road games on the docket. Still a big ratings draw, they are slated to play four prime time games with two of them coming at Lumen Field and two on the road.

Week	Opponent
Week 1	vs. Broncos
Week 2	at Patriots
Week 3	vs. Broncos
Week 4	at Lions (MNF)
Week 5	vs. Giants
Week 6	vs. 49ers (TNF)
Week 7	at Falcons
Week 8	vs. Bills
Week 9	vs. Rams
Week 10	BYE
Week 11	at 49ers
Week 12	vs. Cardinals
Week 13	at Jets
Week 14	at Cardinals
Week 15	vs. Packers (SNF)
Week 16	vs. Vikings
Week 17	at Bears (TNF)
Week 18	at Rams

Taking an extensive look at all 17 of Seattle's games, here are five key takeaways from the team's official schedule, including the toughest stretch and a more acceptable bye week placement:

1. While NFL wins are always difficult to come by, the schedule sets up favorably for Seattle to get off to a fast start.

In the first nine weeks, Seattle has two difficult prime time matchups, including a Monday Night Football clash in Detroit in Week 4 and a Thursday Night home duel against San Francisco in Week 6. But away from those two contests, the first two-plus months shape up nicely with six of the first nine games coming at Lumen Field. Aside from hosting San Francisco under the lights, Miami, Buffalo, and New York will have to travel cross country to the Pacific Northwest as road opponents. Los Angeles will also come to town in Week 9, creating an opportunity for Macdonald's crew to start off fast out of the gate with homefield advantage for much of September and October.

Geno Smith will look to continue his mastery of the Lions when the Seahawks hit the road for a Monday Night game in Detroit in Week 4. / Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports

Potentially helping matters even more, several of Seattle's opponents in the first seven weeks may be breaking in a new starting quarterback. In Week 2, for example, New England likely will roll with veteran Jacoby Brissett, but third overall pick Drake Maye could also be in the mix to start early as a rookie. Even in the season opener, incumbent Jarrett Stidham will have to fend off first-round pick Bo Nix for the starting job in Denver, while former Seahawks backup Drew Lock may be in the hunt to take Daniel Jones job in New York.

2. On the flip side, not capitalizing on a bunch of home games before November could spell doom with a rough second half slate.

While the Seahawks should be excited about the opportunity to start strong with several games in front of their home fans, that won't be the case in the final eight weeks and the level of competition will be ramped up. Starting with a road rematch against the 49ers in Week 11, five of their final eight games will be on the road, including all three of their NFC West road games and a trip to East Rutherford to deal with a healthy Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. That's far from ideal.

In addition to having tough divisional road games stacked on top of each other in the last two months and a long flight to the east coast to face Rodgers, Seattle will have to close the season with a chilly December night game against Caleb Williams and the Bears at Soldier Field followed by a road trip to Hollywood to battle the Rams, which could have major NFC West and playoff ramifications. Finishing .500 in the last eight weeks could potentially be best case scenario, putting far more pressure on Macdonald's team to win big early.

3. The number of rookie quarterbacks Seattle will face remains to be determined...

In today's NFL, teams tend to throw rookie quarterbacks into the fire more than they used to, asking them to learn on the job rather than observing from the sideline. After investing the 12th overall pick in Nix, who started five years at the college level, it wouldn't be surprising at all if coach Sean Payton entrusted him with the keys to the Broncos offense from day one. But the Patriots may not be eager to push Maye onto the field before he's ready after two years as a starter at North Carolina and with Brissett being a quality veteran stop-gap, the Seahawks probably won't see the rookie in Week 2 of the regular season.

After signing Kirk Cousins in March, former Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will have to wait for his turn and barring injury, he won't be suiting up in Week 7 against the Seahawks. But in the second half of the schedule, Williams already has been named the Bears starter before even taking a practice rep and with the Vikings coming to town in Week 16, first-round pick J.J. McCarthy may have usurped Sam Darnold for the starting role by that stage of the season. For now, it seems probable Seattle will face at least two rookie signal callers, but could defend as many as four or five. Whether that ends up being a positive for the Seahawks or not remains to be seen.

4. Unlike a year ago, the Seahawks have an ideal bye week and won't have to worry about playing on holidays or back-to-back Thursday nights.

Last season, the Seahawks received one of the NFL's earliest bye weeks after a Week 4 win over the Giants on Monday Night Football. This meant they finished the regular season playing 12 consecutive weeks, and to make it worse, they had back-to-back Thursday night games in late November, losing to the 49ers on Thanksgiving and the Cowboys one week later as part of a second half collapse. Due to logistics, the schedule was unforgiving in many ways, and while it can't be used as an excuse for the team falling apart down the stretch, circumstances certainly didn't help.

In 2023, the Seahawks had to play back-to-back Thursday night games as part of 12 consecutive games after an early bye. / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Luckily for Seattle, however, Macdonald's team didn't receive a similar raw deal this season. Scheduled for their bye in Week 10, the week off comes at the perfect time right before a physical road rematch against San Francisco, allowing a refresh before the aforementioned eight game gauntlet to close out the season. And while the Seahawks do have two Thursday night games like they did last year, at least they are spaced several weeks apart and neither of them landed on Thanksgiving or Christmas, allowing them to spend time with their families.

5. Depending on start times for a handful of games, Seattle may have dodged the bullet regarding 10 AM ET kickoffs.

As is the case every year for the Seahawks, who have the largest gap between them and the next closest NFL team in the league location-wise by a wide margin, they will rack up airline miles in 2024 with long road trips to East Rutherford, Foxboro, and Atlanta. But if there's a silver lining, two of their trips east will be in prime time versus the Lions and Bears, ensuring they won't have to deal with early kickoffs in Week 4 or Week 17. As for the three remaining games set to be played in the eastern time zone, the Week 13 game against the Jets could be a candidate to flex into a prime time slot if both teams are in the playoff hunt.

Without knowing start times against the Patriots and Falcons, it remains unclear how many early starts the Seahawks will have to deal with in the fall. But considering they could have had as many as five of them, having at least two of those games in prime time should be viewed as a major plus on the schedule.