Normally when the Cowboys schedule gets released, there’s a ton of concern over stretches of tough games, back-to-back-to-back road contests or stressful traveling or a schedule backloaded with a ton of tough games. In 2023, Dallas ran through a gauntlet to end the season and it literally ended their season as they played five straight playoff or playoff-contending teams before finishing the year in Washington against the lowly Commanders.
This year, things are much different. The 2024 schedule is now out and here are our initial reactions to the quirks of this year’s schedule.
A few years ago, the NFL lifted the Sunday moratorium on Fox getting all NFC-NFC matchups and CBS getting all the AFC-AFC tilts. This year, the top broadcast team for the AFC side gets a chance to call the biggest NFC rivalry of recent years, Dallas and Philadelphia.
The two NFC East teams split their matchups in 2023, with the Cowboys blowing Philly out as they spiraled down the regular season stretch to a 9-8 finish.
The Cowboys start the season with a road trip to the Dawg Pound and with it they’ll usher in the Tom Brady broadcasting era. The greatest QB of all-time supplants Gregg Olsen (not without disdain) as part of the No. 1 FOX booth aside Kevin Burkhardt.
The addition of a 17th game a few years ago means teams alternate between eight and nine home games each season. This year is Dallas’ turn for more contests at AT&T Stadium and the schedule makers boosted this advantage.
Dallas starts their season on the road and after back-to-back home games against the Saints and Ravens in Week 2 and Week 3, they then play four out of their next five games on the road. Fortunately it’s a back-to-back, then a home game and a bye week before another back-to-back.
But what that means is that the back half of the season is littered with home games as Dallas closes out with six of their final nine contests in their friendly confines.
Remember, Dallas has won 16 straight regular season games at AT&T, so if they are close to playoff positioning, the last half of the schedule seems favorable.
Dallas’ hardest stretch of their schedule, based on how their opponents finished 2023, is definitely in the middle. Starting in Week 5, the Cowboys play Pittsburgh, Detroit, San Francisco, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Houston. All but Atlanta made the playoffs last season, and now they have Kirk Cousins under center instead of Desmond Ridder.
They’re called America’s Team for a reason. No club brings the eyeballs to TV sets like the Dallas Cowboys and once again the NFL is looking to leverage the popularity and the hate views. Dallas has six primetime games on the slate, including three Sunday Night Football matchups (Wk 5 @ PIT, Wk 10 @ SF, Wk 16 vs TB) and two games on ESPN with Monday Night Football (Wk 11 vs HOU, Wk 14 vs CIN).
It’s not etched in stone, but more often than not the NFL schedules Dallas to play on back-to-back Thursdays. Dallas, along with Detroit, have been grandfathered into home games on Thanksgiving. To answer complaints by other teams who wanted to host, the league added a Thanksgiving night game and also forced Dallas to play a game just seven games after a short week.
Fans complain about three games in 12 days, but almost all teams do that with the addtion of TNF. But Dallas is often forced to play four games in 19 days, and that can do serious damage.
Not only does Dallas not have to do that, but they follow their Thanksgiving matchup against the New York Giants with a Monday night game against Cincinnati.
Strength of schedule really doesn’t mean much beyond conversations in the offseason, but hey, this is an offseason conversation.
Dallas not only gets a lot of home cooking down the stretch, there’s not a lot of playoff teams on the back end of the schedule, either. After facing the Texans on MNF in Week 11, Dallas only faces two playoff teams in their final seven contests of the year, Week 16 against Tampa Bay and Week 17 when they visit the Philadelphia Eagles. Sprinkled in are the Cincinnati Bengals and a returning Joe Burrow, two games against Dan Quinn’s Commanders and Daniel Jones’ Giants.