All will be made clear this week.
The NFL will, as had been widely predicted, release the 2023 regular-season schedule on Thursday, May 11. The full slate for all 32 teams will be made public with a TV special airing on NFL Network and the league’s various platforms at 8 p.m. ET.
As has become customary, some details for a few select games will trickle out ahead of time, starting on Wednesday. So there’s a good chance that Cowboys Nation will be able to put at least one of the team’s matchups on a calendar prior to Thursday night.
Here are the games that will be announced ahead of time:
- International Games: Wednesday, on NFL Network and ESPN
- “Black Friday” game: Wednesday, via Amazon
- Select individual games: Wednesday, on Fox & Friends and CBS Mornings
- Select individual games: Thursday, on TODAY and Good Morning America
- One Monday Night Football game: Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, on ESPN
While the assembling of the 272-game schedule is a massive enough task on its own, there are some new wrinkles this year. Network affiliations are gone for Sunday-afternoon broadcasts, meaning every matchup is up for grabs between CBS and Fox. Teams may play more than one Thursday night game over the course of the season, and some teams won’t play any. Also, a team can be scheduled for up to six primetime games, with the league reserving the option of flexing them into a seventh. Finally, there will be a Christmas Day tripleheader in 2023, with three games on that Monday.
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While every date of the 18-week slate will get intense and careful analysis from every angle, there are a few specifics that Cowboys fans in particular will be eager to learn.
The Week 1 season opener, of course, is huge; what we know for sure is that this year, Dallas will kick things off against someone other than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the first time since 2020.
The team’s traditional Thanksgiving Day home game always draws special attention. While the opponent isn’t yet known, the Cowboys are scheduled to host the New York Jets and their new quarterback, a guy named Aaron Rodgers, at some point this season. The drama of that rematch on the most American of holidays may be just too much for the schedule-makers to resist.
Dallas could also play one of their away games on foreign soil. Buffalo is already confirmed to play a “home” date in London this year (the Tottenham Hotspur stadium website reportedly lists Oct. 8), and the Cowboys know they will travel to play the Bills. Add to that the fact that the Cowboys haven’t played internationally since 2014; it’s their only appearance ever in the International Series, and only the Steelers have gone longer without playing overseas. America’s Team may be due for a trip abroad.
Of course, there’s also a visit to former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore (now with the Chargers in Los Angeles), the welcoming of onetime Cowboys tight end Dan Campbell back to town as head coach of the Lions, and the rematch in San Francisco against the 49ers, the team that ended the Cowboys’ past two postseason runs.
The answers to those questions and more will be revealed in full Thursday night.
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