3 Things the NFL Got Wrong with Cowboys 2026 Schedule: Dallas is paying for postponing international game as much as it could
· Yahoo Sports
The Dallas Cowboys postponed playing abroad as much as they could. Now it feels like the NFL is making them pay for it, as the early schedule is brutal with no rest in sight.
So far, I’ve written my initial takeaways to the full 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule, three things I believe the NFL nailed about it, and now, we’re looking at where they got things wrong.
Let’s start with the… well, the start. Because the Cowboys are getting an awful thank you note for going abroad.
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1. Brutal situation following Rio game
It’s been well-documented the Cowboys avoided an international game for as long as they could. The last time they played outside the US was in 2014. And now, it sure feels like the NFL is making them pay for it.
Dallas has a Week 3 showdown in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, against Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens. What happens after it is the real concern. One week later, they’ll visit the stingy Houston Texans defense on a Sunday, so they won’t have a long week or anything of the sort. And it doesn’t stop there.
What’s worse is all that is followed by a short week game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And to pile on, the Cowboys visit the Packers and Eagles the following two weeks. Ouch.
2. Bye week is quite late
All that travel earns the Cowboys a bye until Week 14, which is a shocker to me.
Though the timing of it is beneficial as it splits up games against the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams, it is much later than I would have expected for a team with all those miles on its track record.
Hopefully, the Cowboys don’t suffer a lot of early-season injuries or the prolonged wait will hurt a lot.
3. Week 1 opener at Giants
I’m not going to complain a whole lot about this one but looking at the NFL’s primetime slate, I think they did a great job setting up bangers. This isn’t that. At least not on paper.
It’s the most “meh” of the Cowboys’ primetime showdowns this year and considering the Rams, 49ers, and Texans are non-primetime games, it had to go on the list. Then again, I understand the league seeing this as an opportunity to get two rivals on the national stage while the John Harbaugh hype is at its highest in New York.