How the NFL has failed the Dallas Cowboys

The release of the 2016 schedule showed the NFL has little creativity or forward thinking when choosing the order and dates of the Dallas Cowboys opponents.

This past Thursday was the last thing football fans had to look forward to before next week’s NFL Draft.

As is customary, before teams get a chance to choose from the dozens and dozens of collegiate players ready to become the next batch of professional starts, the league released the schedule for the upcoming season.

All of us are guilty of aiding the machine that is the National Football League in making something so necessary, yet trivial as finding out the exact order in which our favorite team will face their opponents such a big deal.

We’re all junkies who just need our next fix and the league, not to mention the networks like ESPN and the NFL Network can’t wait to be our main supplier. So, millions of fans flock to the news, immediately prognosticating wins and losses before a helmet and pads is ever put on a player.

This article isn’t about hypothetical records however.

This article is about how the NFL has failed the Dallas Cowboys with their logistical stupidity. This is about the lack of imagination those who are responsible for putting the schedule together have exercised.

Let’s start with the first major gripe regarding the schedule.

Opening night.

For the third time in the last four seasons the Cowboys start the season on Sunday Night Football on NBC against the New York Giants. It’s also the fifth time in the last six seasons the Cowboys and Giants have opened a season against each other.

How very predictable and boring.

We have to play the Giants twice given that they are a divisional opponent. Why do we have to continually start the season with them? This has nothing to do with being afraid of them or anything remotely close. It’s purely about starting the season with any other opponent besides them.

Please, save the excuse that it’s generally always an interesting game. It’s a divisional game. That, in of itself, lends to enough drama and intrigue that it’s bound to be interesting.

More from The Landry Hat

Also, for the second straight season, Dallas has to play back-to-back divisional games. After that however, the Cowboys only have one divisional game between week two and Thanksgiving. That means there are three left to jam into the last six weeks.

Why wouldn’t you space that out a bit? Just one divisional game in a nine week period seems more than odd.

The biggest issue I have with the schedule though is how the league has decided to give Dallas a huge obstacle to overcome.

For someone who claims to have interest in player safety, Commissioner Roger Goodell sure doesn’t put his money where his mouth is so to speak.

The Cowboys are slated to play three games within a twelve day period, including back to back Thursday games which is almost unprecedented.

I don’t have a problem so much with the idea of back-to-back Thursday games. It’s actually a great idea for the Cowboys… if one of them was before Thanksgiving. Instead, Dallas will play on the Sunday before the holiday, then fulfill their regular holiday appearance just four days later before going back out the very next Thursday.

Giving the Cowboys a Thursday game before Thanksgiving would allow for quarterback Tony Romo to have an entire week to be ready to go. One would think this might interest the league given that Dallas games are usually always amongst the highest rated of all available television viewing options, not just football games. Don’t you want the best players to be at their best when all eyes are on your product?

Next: 2016 Dallas Cowboys Full Mock Draft

The Thanksgiving Day opponent is also another boring choice. Once again, it’s the Washington Redskins who come to town. The 2016 game will be the eighth time overall the two have met on this day. Sliding a team with a bigger national fan base such as the Chicago Bears or an intriguing non-conference option like the Cincinnati Bengals seems much more interesting.

Like I said before, it’s a very trivial thing. If the schedule is the biggest problem this team has this season, all fans of this team will gladly accept that deal in a heartbeat.

A little creativity and forward thinking would have been nice however. Maybe next year…

Home/Cowboys News