Water Skiing Barefoot

SEATTLE -- The Seattle Seahawks' 2024 schedule was released along with the rest of the NFL slate on Wednesday.

Mike Macdonald will make his head-coaching debut when the Seahawks host Denver in Week 1. Assuming Bo Nix wins the Broncos' starting job, he'll be the first of several rookie quarterbacks Seattle faces this season. It's scheduled to play five of the six teams who drafted a QB in the first round last month, though at least one of them -- the Atlanta Falcons' Michael Penix Jr. -- won't start barring injury.

The Seahawks also play the New England Patriots (Drake Maye) in Week 2, the Minnesota Vikings (J.J. McCarthy) in Week 16 and the Chicago Bears (Caleb Williams) four days later.

The Bears game is one of four that Seattle will play in prime time, which means the Seahawks still have plenty of national appeal in the eyes of the NFL's schedule-makers even with Russell Wilson long gone and Pete Carroll no longer there, either.

Here's what's in store for the Seahawks:

Week 1: Sept. 8 vs. Denver

Week 2: Sept. 15 at New England

Week 3: Sept. 22 vs. Miami

Week 4: Sept. 30 at Detroit (MNF)

Week 5: Oct. 6 vs. N.Y. Giants

Week 6: Oct. 10 vs. San Francisco (TNF)

Week 7: Oct. 20 at Atlanta

Week 8: Oct. 27 vs. Buffalo

Week 9: Nov. 3 vs. L.A. Rams

Week 10: BYE

Week 11: Nov. 17 at San Francisco

Week 12: Nov. 24 vs. Arizona

Week 13: Dec. 1 at N.Y. Jets

Week 14: Dec. 8 at Arizona

Week 15: Dec. 15 vs. Green Bay (SNF)

Week 16: Dec. 22 vs. Minnesota

Week 17: Dec. 26 at Chicago (TNF)

Week 18: Jan. 4 or 5 at L.A. Rams

Strength of schedule: .488 (tied for seventh-easiest) Over/under: 7.5 wins

NFL schedules have a way of looking much different during the season than they did in the spring, but based on the available evidence, this is a manageable slate. It's eighth-easiest based on opponent winning percentage from last season, and, as mentioned, it'll likely be dotted with rookie quarterbacks. The Seahawks will make four trips to the Eastern Time Zone, but only three of them are the 10 a.m. PT kickoffs that have historically given West Coast teams trouble, and Seattle has an extra home game. The Week 10 bye isn't as late as the Seahawks might prefer, but it's much better than their Week 5 one last season. According to betting analyst Bill Speros, the 25,797 miles the Seahawks will travel this season is third-most, but they're often atop the NFL in that metric due to their geographic isolation relative to the rest of the league, so this represents a bit of a reprieve.

There isn't an obvious one in the traditional sense, but the two matchups with San Francisco are worth highlighting. The first one is at home and in prime time, a combo that usually made Seattle tough to beat under Carroll (except in recent seasons against ... the 49ers). The second meeting comes after the bye, so the Seahawks should be well-rested when they head to the Bay Area. The 49ers have had their number in a big way over the last two seasons, winning five straight games (including one in the 2022 wild-card round) by a combined score of 148-72. Now they'll have Macdonald matching wits with Kyle Shanahan.

The Seahawks will go 4-0 against Denver, New England, Minnesota and Chicago. All four teams have a chance to be much improved after finishing below .500 last season. But all four will likely be starting rookie quarterbacks. With a defensive mastermind in Macdonald, Seattle should have an advantage.