Cowboys schedule
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
The Dallas Cowboys' 2026 schedule has 17 games, six in prime time, and a Rio game.
A rough road start and a likely meaningless Week 18 shape the season.
Background
The Cowboys' 2026 season follows an offseason of roster and coaching changes, notably on defense after poor play there last year, with Christian Parker in as the new coordinator and Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence headlining the draft class. On offense Dallas returns Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, but the line is without Tyler Smith. The NFL's full 2026-27 schedule release put the Cowboys in six prime-time windows and sent them to Brazil in Week 3, which is why schedule breakdowns and game-by-game predictions are circulating now.
How it unfolded
- Jan 9, 2026 or 10, 2027Week 18: Cowboys at Washington Commanders, date, time and TV listed as TBD.
- Sep 6, 2026Dallas Morning News publishes its Cowboys 2026 season preview with the full schedule, listing Week 18 as Saturday or Sunday, Jan. 9 or 10, against Washington, TBD.
- Sep 8, 2026SI's Cowboys site reports the 2026-27 NFL schedule includes two ManningCast appearances; Blogging The Boys posts a game-by-game win/loss prediction.
- Sep 10, 2026El Paso Times publishes the Cowboys' 17-game schedule with six prime-time games and the Brazil opener; Roundtable previews the season game by game; DallasCowboys.com's 'Mick Shots' calls it an 'inexplicably rough 2026 road start.'
- Sep 13, 2026Week 1: Cowboys at New York Giants, 7:20 p.m. CT, NBC (Sunday Night Football).
- Sep 27, 2026Week 3: Cowboys vs. Baltimore Ravens in Rio de Janeiro, 3:25 p.m. CT, CBS — the NFL's first-ever game in Brazil.
- Oct 26, 2026Week 7: Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles, 7:15 p.m. CT, ESPN/ABC, followed by a projected 4 a.m. Tuesday return to DFW and another short week.
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- Roundtable's Nathan Karseno frames the slate as a grueling run for Dak Prescott, with high-stakes divisional rivalries and a historic international showdown.
- Caution
- DallasCowboys.com's 'Mick Shots' says the schedule makers did the Cowboys no favors, citing the Rio game's home-team label and a short week after the Monday night game at Philadelphia.
- Bears
- Blogging The Boys' Matthew Holleran predicts a 12-5 record and calls the Week 18 game more than likely meaningless, with most starters possibly resting before the playoffs.
Still unverified
Malik Nabers is 'expected' to return from injury in time for Week 1 [3]. The Week 18 game is 'more than likely' to be meaningless and the majority of Cowboys starters 'could' sit out before the playoffs [6]. Week 18 date, time and TV are listed as TBD [1][4].