
The Dallas Cowboys land a favorable 2026 NFL schedule draw—can Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb spark a late-season surge? Despite early worries about a brutal lineup, the Cowboys dodge a dreaded early bye, instead benefiting from a Week 14 break and advantageous rest before crucial matchups against NFC contenders like the Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, and Los Angeles Rams.
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Marcus Mosher
It's the locked on podcast network.
Landon McCool
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Marcus Mosher
The Dallas Cowboys schedule is out for the 2026 season and it's not as bad as we thought. We'll break it down next.
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Marcus Mosher
Welcome back. I am your host Marcus Mosher. He is Lana McCool. And on today's show, we are breaking down the 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule. We've already known who they're going to play for the last several months. That's not a surprise. The only thing that we found out on Thursday was when and where our win and what time these games will be played. Yeah, we're gonna go through the schedule kind of game by game. But just what are your general thoughts, Landon, here on this schedule for the Cowboys?
Landon McCool
I mean, I want to preface my comments by first saying that I still think this is a tough schedule because of all the reasons that we talked about when we talk broke down the teams that the Cowboys were playing because what we, the information we got like you mentioned was who the Cowboys are playing and whether it were they were home or away games. And then on top of that, we also were aware that the Cowboys were playing one international game. Right. So I think knowing all those elements, this was going to be a difficult schedule. However, the information that we learned today to me feels like almost best case scenario to be honest, because of all the inputs that we have on the information of it, the arrangement of the way this, the situation went, I think is best case scenario and I'll just quickly point out a couple different things really. We knew that they were have they were going to play Baltimore in, in Brazil in week three. The concern that I think you and I both had was that the, the NFL was going to use this as a means to, to award the Cowboys the Earliest possible bye week in the schedule, which is week four. Right. Which would be the following week. So that was the main fear.
Marcus Mosher
And real quick, why, why is that such a big deal having an early bi week? Because I know a lot of teams do not prefer it.
Landon McCool
I think for me it's this. These seasons are incredibly long and when you add in the postseason of it all too, if you're, if you have those aspirations, I think having an early buy means that you end up playing something in the area of almost an entire regular season if you make it all the way through the playoffs without a break. And I just think that it's better for your football team to get an extra week later in the season as you gear up for the most difficult part of the season, which is the end. So having an early bye week to me is, is just not ideal.
Marcus Mosher
I will say that in the reason that you're saying that assuming like the Cowboys make the playoffs are not the number one seed, you'd play three games to start the season and then it would be 17 straight weeks of football without a break if you would happen to get to the Super Bowl. And that's just really hard to do now. Are the Cowboys super bowl contenders? We can debate that, but I think the, the point stands. Like not having that break early in the year is honestly, I think it's beneficial. You, you would like to have it in the second half of the year. But it's interesting. Week 14, I don't ever remember the Cowboys having a bye week that late in the season. And we'll talk about this in a little bit, but they've got a bye week and then they've got four games to end the season and that's it.
Landon McCool
It's. It really is best case scenario in that specific sense. And I'll, I'll add up just two more things really quickly that really stuck out is that you have one of the things that we were, you know, not complaining about, but we were most leery leery about was the fact that they were going to have to play the NFC west. Right. And it's obviously one of the toughest divisions, if not the toughest division of football the super bowl champs are playing in that the, the Rams obviously made it far in the playoffs as well. Two of the best teams in football and you get to play both, both of those two teams with extended weeks because of the fact that you play Philadelphia the week on Thanksgiving, the week before that, you play Seattle on the following Sunday, you get 10 extra days and then the Rams you get after the bye week, which is the game which is the week after Seattle. So if you had told me that the, the Cowboys in the span of four weeks are having to play Philadelphia, Seattle and the Rams in three of those four weeks, I would have been like, oh, my gosh, that's a brutal stretch. If you had told me that it was arranged this particular way, I would have felt a whole lot better about it.
Marcus Mosher
Yeah. A couple other things that we should point out. I always like to look at the potential bad weather games just because the Cowboys are not accustomed to playing it. Now, you and I have had the debate before. Like we kind of wanted them to have more bad weather games so they could get used to playing in the elements and getting a little bit tougher. But I think you look at this schedule, there's really only two games where I think weather could be an issue, and that's the December 6th game against the Seahawks in Seattle. Now it's a 425 Eastern start. And then in week 18 against Washington, that one could be some bad weather. But honestly, that's about it for, in terms of weather, it's about as easy as it's going to get.
Landon McCool
Yeah, honestly, I mean, you certainly have, I mean, you play in the NFC east, so you're playing teams at the end of the year especially that are going to have potential bad weather if you go play them depending on where, where it is.
Marcus Mosher
You're playing the Giants in Week one, so you don't have to worry about it.
Landon McCool
That's right. And the Philadelphia games are, are early enough that, I mean, you, you play a late November one, but it's not the same as playing them in early January or late December where the weather really gets bad. So. Yeah, honestly. And again, you play Philadelphia at home in that, in that game, so that
Marcus Mosher
doesn't, it's October 26th is when they play in Philadelphia.
Landon McCool
Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. I'm. Yeah.
Marcus Mosher
Yeah. So, I mean, even then, I mean, it could be cold, it could be rainy, but the odds of it snowing or anything like that are pretty low.
Landon McCool
Yeah. And again, it's in Dallas, so it's, it's, it's not even a concern. So. Yeah, you're, you know, just looking at the schedule. It's, there's a lot of things. Look, it's going to be a tough schedule and we're certainly going to talk about some of the tough parts of this schedule. But again, like, they get so many gifts in this schedule by the placement of the buy by the, by the amount of days that they have in front of some of the tougher teams that they play. I just. And, you know, and early. Just like the early, the early schedule, too. Like the fact that you get, yeah, they're two NFC east teams, but they're the two weakest NSC east teams that you're playing up front, and then you play two AFC games, and that kind of really kind of at least gives you a buffer to kind of get this offense of this team going in the early part of the season before you get into the meat of your schedule.
Marcus Mosher
One more little scheduling quirk here that I wanted to mention. The Cowboys do play the Packers. It is a Sunday Night Football game in Week 6. You knew the NFL was going to do everything possible to make sure it wasn't in the first four weeks of the season because the expectation is that Micah Parsons likely to go in the PUP list will be ready by week five at the very latest. It seems like, however, it's not a November or December game in Lambeau. And the other part of it is there's a chance that Micah's not 100% healthy. I think that's very realistic. I, he, he will be, I think, 11 months removed from the torn ACL. It could have been worse is all I'm saying.
Landon McCool
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, the chances that he is completely healthy are extremely low. Like, I mean, honestly, like, it takes, you know, I mean, what is it, 18 months to truly hate, really.
Marcus Mosher
To be back to yourself? Yes.
Landon McCool
Yeah. So, so, I mean, look, you're still playing Micah Parsons, and I'm not, not to take away from that at all, but I do think that, you know, he. Getting them early not only helps for the fact, for, for travel and for, for also playing the game outside in, in Wisconsin, but it also helps, like, like you said, in kind of lining up, you know, the timelines for Parsons, but not only Parsons, but Tyler Craft as well. Because, yeah, Craft, I'm sorry, I have the Tylers in my mind from that, from the. Yeah, so I, I think that's the other. I mean, I, I, I think he should be back at that point, but again, getting them early in the season, I, I think it's, it's, it just gets them when they're maybe still working their way back to full health, so maybe that team is not quite at full strength the way it would be later in the season.
Marcus Mosher
Two more notes I wanted to mention. Like, these are positives for the Cowboys Giants commanders, as you mentioned at the top you start out 20 in those games and Cowboys will be favored in both those games. I know on Fiendula right now they are two and a half point road favorites against the Giants. If both those games to start the season, you're just going to be sitting in a really good spot. And then at the end of the year, it's the exact same thing. It's Giants, Washington. So even if you happen to be, you know, I'm trying to think eight and seven going into the last two games, there's a way where you could win those final two, get to 10 and 7 and have a bunch of tiebreakers go your way. It's that stretch is going to be, it's going to tell us a lot about the Cowboys. But also there's a stretch here. Cardinals, Colts, 49ers, Titans.
Landon McCool
Yes,
Marcus Mosher
I hesitate to always count the Cardinals as a win because for my entire lifetime the Cowboys have lost the Cardinals even when they've been the better team. But you would think that stretch, Cardinals, Colts, 49ers, Titans, you go 3 and 1 in that stretch and you're going to be sitting really good kind of going into Thanksgiving weekend.
Landon McCool
Yeah. And look, I'm not, I have not. I got to admit that I'm not fully up to speed on what the Daniel Jones timeline is.
Marcus Mosher
He, he should be ready by that game. But it's again, it's a quarterback coming off a torn Achilles.
Landon McCool
It's always scary close. And even if it's close, like that's, that's, that's dangerous for them. So, yeah, again, another situation where you kind of get a break in the timeline of, of guys coming back to full health and maybe facing a little bit of a weakened team.
Marcus Mosher
All right, let's talk about the parts of the schedule that are going to be absolutely brutal for Dallas. We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by Kalshi. The 2026 NFL Schedule release is here and now. You can trade every game on Kalsi. Schedule release always sparks debate. Who's overrated? Who's got a brutal stretch? We're going to talk about the Cowboys here in a second and which teams are actual playoff contenders. Kalshee lets you trade on those predictions in a live market, from total wins to playoff chances and championship futures. On Cal State, you can trade on real NFL questions like which team will make the playoffs or which team will reach a certain win total. And it's available in all 50 states, so it's easy to jump in and follow along throughout the season. On Kalshee, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position, trade the draft, pick, the game and more on Kalshi. For a limited time, download the Kalshi app and use promo code locked on to get $10. When you trade 10, that's K A L S H I Kalshi Trade on anything.
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Marcus Mosher
Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club to get ad free episodes and access to a discord chat with Landon and I and other listeners of the show. Tap the link in the show notes or go to lockdown cowboys.supercast.com to learn more. All right, Landon, let's talk about the parts of the schedule that are going to be very tough for the Cowboys. And I wanted to start really in week three, it's the Ravens in Brazil. And then that's a 325 Eastern game. You're traveling all those miles to play a road game against the Houston Texans, a very physical team in week four. And then in week five, you've got a night game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, followed by two more night games, Green Bay and Philadelphia. That is a tough, tough stretch.
Landon McCool
Well, that, that Tampa Bay games, the Thursday night game, if I'm not mistaken as well. So. Yeah, and which again point out another advantage. You get 10 days to get ready for Green Bay for that travel as well. But I, you know, on the flip side of that, you're coming back from Brazil, obviously it is beneficial that you're only getting like a 30 minute flight to Houston. Like Dallas to Houston is obviously not serious travel. That does help. But after playing a very physical team, you've got a short week to play Tampa on Thursday and Tampa's not going to be a slouch, you know, so it's, it's a tough game. So I think that is certainly one of the more difficult situations. I would say that, you know, playing Green Bay and Philadelphia back to back is, is pretty tough as well. I mean, honestly, even though it's laid out really well and in the time that you get between all of them to go to from playing Arizona, Indiana, San Francisco, who's tough, obviously, Indianapolis. Oh, sorry, Arizona, in Indianapolis, San Francisco, who's tough, obviously tennis. But in the Tennessee to, from that to Philadelphia, Seattle and then the Rams.
Marcus Mosher
Yeah.
Landon McCool
And frankly in the Jacksonville after that, like, that's a kind of going to be a real herky jerky situation. You're going to obviously learn a lot about your football team during that stretch.
Marcus Mosher
There's just a couple of these stretches and I'll go through them right now, like Ravens, Texans, you need to split those. At least split those right. If you can beat the Ravens and then you lose to the Texans, okay, you're okay. Theoretically, you should be three and one after those four games. And I feel the same way about Green Bay, Philadelphia, you split that one. Given kind of the early part of the schedule and some of the scheduling quirks, you'll be okay. And then, and we talked about it, this week 8 through week 11 stretch is really where the Cowboys need to go on a run. And you mentioned it. Cardinals, Colts, 49ers, Titans. The only game they won't be favored in is the game against the 49ers. You go 3 and 1, stack up some wins. It puts you in a really good position going into that Thanksgiving game because again, you met Eagles, Seahawks, Rams. Those are three of the best five teams in the nfc and you play them all right in a row. Now, there are some rest advantages for the Cowboys that some of these other teams won't get, but I think they need to be at least. I think they need to have at least eight wins going into that Jacksonville game in Week 16.
Landon McCool
And keep in mind, you know, that it sounds daunting, but one or two of these really good teams is going to fall off or missing a quarterback that week. You know, like, there's gonna be a situation that, in which, you know, they're not at ideal strength and it gives you a little bit either equal footing or maybe even an advantage, depending on who it is. So, you know, none of these things are always as difficult or always as easy as they seem. Right. Like, think about how we felt about that stretch of the Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs last season. Right. And the Cowboys was in there. Yeah, yeah. Like three of the four of those games. Right. So I, I do think that, that a lot of these games we try to pontificate right now based on death charts and, and who's on this, on the team in May. But, but the truth of the matter is, is that circumstance of the Season happens and changes the angles as we go. So it'll be interesting to see which one of these teams is the one that doesn't live up to expectations and which team explodes. Like, maybe imagine playing Indianapolis last.
Marcus Mosher
Oh, I know.
Landon McCool
Early in the season and be like, who is this? Like, you know what I'm saying?
Marcus Mosher
Like, well, I mean, you shouldn't stress out about the schedule because I'm sure you and I sat here last year and we looked at the schedule. It's like, okay, Carolina, Washington, Denver, Arizona, okay, they're going to win at least two of those games, probably three. Nope. They lose to Carolina, they beat Washington, they get killed by Denver, and then they lose to Arizona. Like, weird things happen, Right? And then you look at that. As you mentioned, that Eagles, Chiefs, Lions, part of the schedule, it felt like, okay, if you get one win there, you're lucky they got two and one in that stretch. So weird things happen. It's. It's. Inevitably, you're right. Two or three of these teams are just not going to be as good as we thought. And maybe the Cowboys are way better than what we think. And then you. You're looking at the schedule, and all of a sudden Houston and Tampa Bay just don't look all that daunting. Or maybe they're way worse than we think. And before you even get to Thanksgiving, kind of like last year, you're already out of it, so it's just not worth stressing out over in.
Landon McCool
Maybe it's the Cowboys is the team that takes a step back. You know, it certainly is possible. Like, you know, you've got a new defensive coordinator, you're installing a new defense. We have faith in him, but. But, you know, maybe it's one of those things where it takes a year and. And you're really, really bad early in the season, and you're kind of limping your way to the end of the year as you're trying to figure it out. That certainly is in the realm of possibility. I don't think that that's going to happen, but, I mean, look, lots of things that we don't think happen all the time.
Marcus Mosher
Especially all the time.
Landon McCool
Yeah.
Marcus Mosher
Yeah. Never mind. It's gonna make a joke about their schedule. Let's talk about our predictions. Now that the schedule is out, how many wins do we see the Cowboys getting? We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are here, and every possession matters. And if you're looking to get even closer to the action, FanDuel has a great offer to get you started right Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get 150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. That's right, turn 5 bucks into 150 in bonus bets just for getting started. I like using FanDuel during the playoffs because they have everything I need to get into the action. The playoffs have been unbelievable and now we're getting closer to the semifinals. It's going to be unbelievable. It's really easy to navigate the app, and it makes playoff basketball more engaging from start to finish. So head over to FanDuel.com to get started. FanDuel play your game. This episode is brought to you by Rocket Money. Have you ever opened your bank account and thought, where did all my money go? You're not alone. Keeping track of your subscriptions. Your spending and bills can get overwhelming fast. And that's where Rocket Money comes in, helping you take control of your finances all in one place. It tracks all of your subscriptions in one spot and can help you cancel the ones that you don't need. With just a few taps, it automatically categories categorizes your spending so you can actually see where your money is going. And you could set budgets, get alerts, and stay on top of your upcoming bills. It just makes everything feel more organized and gives you a clear picture of your finances and day to day. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps you find and cancel unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps you lower your bills so that you can actually grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join@RocketMoney.com LockedOn that's RocketMoney.com LockedOn welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. All right, Landon, now that you've seen the schedule, I'm gonna have you give us our way too. Early predictions now fanduel has the Cowboys win total set at eight and a half. Are you going higher or lower than that?
Landon McCool
Wow. It's only eight and a half. Really?
Marcus Mosher
Only eight and a half?
Landon McCool
I'm going higher than that. I mean, I, I, I, I, I counted like 10 wins. I, I, I, that's, that's where I, I view it. I mean, just, I mean, again, these things don't mean anything right now. Like, we don't have all the information. But I think if we're just talking about, you know, playing at the location that we're talking, that we see, see, and then with the Full health of team playing each other. Roster wise. I. I could see 10 lines here.
Marcus Mosher
Okay, so I need to amend something. When I checked it last week, it was eight and a half. Since the schedule has been released, it's now at nine and a half.
Landon McCool
Okay.
Marcus Mosher
I was gonna say plus 115 to take the over under my. Has a little bit of juice at minus 135 at nine and a half. So a lot of people are betting the under here in terms of the win total, but nine and a half is where it's set.
Landon McCool
Well, that is interesting data point, to be honest. So you said you checked it last week and it was last week.
Marcus Mosher
Yes, yes.
Landon McCool
That's significant. Right. Like. And honestly, the only data. That's the only thing that's changed in the last week. We haven't signed anybody, nothing. Like, the only thing that's changed is the schedule being released itself, Right? Correct. So that means that we at least Vegas or, you know, some group representing Vegas fanduel thinks that. That the schedule and the way it was arranged is a game's worth of. Of benefit, potentially. Right. I mean, that's one way to interpret it.
Marcus Mosher
Yeah. Here's the other part of it that we should mention. There's really no incentive for the Cowboys to lose games. Now, I'm not saying that they try to lose games last year, although you watch week 18 and I don't know, man. Well, yeah, the good thing is that that. That ended up helping them get Caleb down. So that's why you do that. At the end of the season, they don't own their pick. Excuse me. They don't have the rights to their pick. So there's really no benefit of them, like, going 6 and 10 or. Sorry, of 6 and 11 or 7 and 10. Brian Schottenheimer is going to want to win these games every single week. That's obviously been the goal. So I think you look at those last two games of the season, even if. Even if they're, you know, 8 and 7 and they're not, you know, they're out of the playoff picture, I still think they're going to want to try to win just because that's the culture. So I can see it. I. I think nine and a half is a really good number. I have a hard time seeing them going way over that total, but I do think that's. That's right in the range. And here's the thing I'm hoping for. I just want this team to be competitive coming out of that Seahawks game, because last year Honestly, Lana, they were kind of dead coming out of Halloween. Only after that Chiefs and Eagles game did they have a little bit of hope. And then it was completely gone after the Detroit game for sure. I just want them to be in the hunt when we get to the later part of the schedule.
Landon McCool
Yeah. I mean, it, it felt like that, that what happened at Thanksgiving was kind of like the, you thought was like the shot in the arm that you were hoping would lead you into the playoffs. And it was just like a, it was fun.
Marcus Mosher
It was still a really fun game.
Landon McCool
It was fun.
Marcus Mosher
It didn't, it didn't set off a run, like. No, it happened in 2018.
Landon McCool
No, the Lions pretty much killed that momentum pretty quickly when we played them. Yeah. So, yeah, I do agree. Like, I think that's, and again, I think when you look at the way that these games are laid out, like, it does help the Cowboys that they're going to play all these good teams with extra rest, but it's still a very difficult schedule. It's still very difficult. Teams that they're gonna have to play. I, I, but I, yeah, I think as I started counting through it, I mean, honestly, I had a hard time. I mean, maybe I'm crazy, but I really had a hard time getting under nine wins.
Marcus Mosher
Like, well, let me throw a little bit of water on the fight.
Landon McCool
Yeah, let's do the cold water. Let's get it.
Marcus Mosher
You really can't afford to lose the first two games. And that's like, if you happen to slip up against the Giants in week one or if you, worst case scenario, you go Owen two against the commanders. It is just going to be such an uphill battle to get to like 10 and 5 the rest of the season. Given their schedule. It's really important. This team starts off fast, and this has been an issue for the Cowboys in previous years. They've got to hit the ground running early in the season.
Landon McCool
If you've got to find, look, I mean, if you can't find a way to win those one of those two of those games, I mean, one at least. Right?
Marcus Mosher
But you have to win at least one.
Landon McCool
Yeah, but if you, if you can't find a way to win both of them, honestly, you probably didn't have a chance here. I, I, I think that, look, not, that's not a slight against the Giants or Washington or anything, but the Giants especially, like, they've got a new head coach. Everything's brand new there. I understand that they, they've got, they're excited. They're a talented team. But, but like the Cowboys are this superior, talented team in both of those matchups and they need to they and with there's a lot of chaos early in these, in these September games. I understand that. But at the same time, talent usually wins out in those games and it really needs to kind of find a way to win out in those two games. It's to especially since they are conference games. I mean division games.
Marcus Mosher
Division. I'm curious to see how Brian Schottenheimer manages the team and the roster considering that they they have such a late buy. Does he try to ease some of these players early in the season like Javante Williams so they don't put a million miles on him?
Landon McCool
Yeah.
Marcus Mosher
Did they use more of a heavy rotation on defense? We'll see. But it's, it's vital if this team wants to have any chance of making the playoffs, it's vital that they win those first two games against the Giants and the Commanders. That is it for today's show. We'd like to thank you for making Lockdown Cowboys your first listen every single day. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast follow wherever you can so you get all of the latest episodes. And if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you. Get locked on Cowboys ad free members only discord access and so much more than head over to locon cowboys supercast.com to join the club. And for those of you on video, we can send you the first ever 24.7national NBA YouTube channel and on audio, make your second listen the lock on NFL Draft podcast. Follow landon on Twitter McCool BCB. I'm @Marcus Moer. Enjoy your weekend. We'll see you right back here on Monday.
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Hosts: Marcus Mosher & Landon McCool
Date: May 15, 2026
In this episode, Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool break down the newly released 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule. They explore not just the opponents, but crucial details: rest advantages, travel quirks, bi-week placement, and stretches that could define Dallas’ season. The hosts dive into the tangible effects of the schedule’s structure, discuss potential win totals, highlight both favorable and challenging aspects, and end with their early predictions and expectations for how Dallas might fare.
“The arrangement of the way this...situation went, I think is best case scenario.” – Landon (02:22)
“Having an early bye means that you end up playing something in the area of almost an entire regular season if you make it all the way through the playoffs without a break. And I just think that it's better for your football team to get an extra week later...” – Landon (03:25)
“If you had told me it was Philadelphia, Seattle, and the Rams in three of four weeks, I would have been like, oh, my gosh, that's a brutal stretch...if it was arranged this particular way, I would have felt a whole lot better about it.” – Landon (05:14)
“NFL was going to do everything possible to make sure it wasn’t in the first four weeks of the season because...Micah Parsons [is] likely to go on the PUP list, will be ready by week five at the very latest.” – Marcus (08:06)
Start and Finish vs. NFC East’s Weaklings:
"If both those games [are won], you're just going to be sitting in a really good spot." – Marcus (09:55)
Middle "Must-Win” Stretch:
"If you go 3 and 1 in that stretch, you're going to be sitting really good kind of going into Thanksgiving weekend." – Marcus (10:41)
Post-Brazil Stretch: Ravens in Brazil, then short road trip to Houston (Texans), followed by three night games: Buccaneers (TNF), Packers (SNF), Eagles (likely prime time). (13:07–15:27)
Thanksgiving and After:
“They get so many gifts in this schedule by the placement of the bye...by the amount of days that they have in front of some of the tougher teams that they play.” – Landon (07:18)
"You really can't afford to lose the first two games...If you happen to slip up against the Giants in week one or...go 0-2 against the Commanders, it is going to be such an uphill battle." – Marcus (25:53)
FanDuel’s Opening Number:
"Since the schedule has been released, it's now at nine and a half.” – Marcus (22:25)
Vegas Outlook: The manner in which games are spaced out is valued as a tangible benefit:
“That’s significant...the only thing that's changed is the schedule being released...the way it was arranged is a game's worth of benefit, potentially." – Landon (22:48)
“It really is best case scenario in that specific sense.” – Landon (04:45)
“They get so many gifts in this schedule by the placement of the bye...by the amount of days that they have in front of some of the tougher teams that they play.” – Landon (07:18)
“I'm going higher than that...I counted like 10 wins.” – Landon (21:57) “If you happen to slip up against the Giants in week one or...go 0-2 against the Commanders, it is just going to be such an uphill battle to get to like 10 and 5 the rest of the season...” – Marcus (25:53)
“Weird things happen, right? ... Inevitably...two or three of these teams are just not going to be as good as we thought. And maybe the Cowboys are way better than what we think.” – Marcus (17:49)
The 2026 Cowboys schedule, while inherently difficult, is arranged in a way that the hosts argue gives Dallas real competitive advantages—most notably a late bye and strategic rest before key games. They believe the schedule’s structure alone boosts the Cowboys' win odds and makes 10 wins plausible, but stress that a fast start and smart player management will be crucial. Even with challenges, Dallas avoids typical pitfalls (few bad-weather games, tough opponents paired with extra rest), positioning the team for a potential playoff run if they capitalize on these quirks.
Summary compiled in the candid, conversational tone of Marcus & Landon, with all key insights, highlights, and practical takeaways for Cowboys fans and NFL schedule-watchers alike.