Seth Rollins Wants Seahawks-Bears, Week 1

Seth Rollins sits down with Rich and lobbies for the schedule he wants. Bears versus Seahawks. Week one. Opening night. No other game does it for him.

Rich lays out the contenders for the Thursday night kickoff slot. The Rams and 49ers are playing in Melbourne the following day, so they're off the table. The Cowboys opened last year, so they're probably not repeating. The Chiefs are in play, but in May when the schedule comes out, whether Patrick Mahomes is available is a jump ball.

The Patriots in Seattle would work as a Super Bowl rematch format. That hasn't happened since Panthers-Broncos in 2015, more than a decade ago. They could also put Jim Harbaugh in the opener with the Giants on the docket as a storyline.

Seth Rollins doesn't care about any of it. He wants the Bears.

His pitch is clean. Chicago was last year's sexy team. They were the best story in the playoffs in his opinion, given the comebacks, the Ice Man moments, the big plays, Ben Johnson arriving as head coach with a Matt LaFleur-tree pedigree. The whole year pointed toward something. He wants to know immediately whether it's the real thing.

The reference point scares him a little. Last time the Bears had an incredible winning season, what followed was straight downhill under Matt Nagy. Rollins wants to see year two of Ben Johnson tested against the best defense in the NFL. Caleb Williams against Seattle's front. Right away. Biggest night. No ramp.

Rich thinks Rollins already knows the answer. It feels different this time around. He hates giving Mitchell Trubisky the credit by contrast, but this isn't the double-doink Trubisky-Nagy era. The playoff loss was unfortunate, but the whole season was house money. Year two is supposed to be the confirmation.

The other reason Bears-Seahawks makes sense is the narrative weight. That would have been the NFC Championship Game if the Bears had beaten the Rams. Seattle would have been playing for the Super Bowl. Chicago was that close. Opening the season with the game that almost was has its own gravity.

Rollins keeps pushing. He wants ratings night one. He wants the biggest story tested against real defense on the biggest stage. Rich agrees the Bears are jumping off the page of any schedule-maker's spreadsheet.

The ask from Rollins is simple. Give it to him. Give it to the league. Open with the team that made the NFC interesting again, and find out if Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams are a one-year story or a multi-year threat.

Let's go, Rollins says. The name of the game is ratings, and Bears-Seahawks is the name on the marquee.