The Dallas Cowboys schedule is out and it is an absolute gauntlet. That was the expectation coming in, but it somehow exceeded fans' fears.
Once again, Dallas will feature heavily in primetime. We knew ahead of time that they would play the Eagles on Thursday Night Football in Week 1, the Chiefs on Thanksgiving, and the Commanders on Christmas, marking their first Christmas Day game in 15 years.
For whatever reason, the NFL decided to make Thursday night the new home of the Cowboys. So much so that they will make history. Per Todd Archer of ESPN, Dallas is the first team to have four Thursday games in one season: at Philly in Week 1, Week 13 vs. the Chiefs, Week 14 at the Lions and Week 17 at the Commanders.
Cowboys become first team in NFL history with four Thursday games
The Cowboys will have a total of six primetime games this season. Despite some national media members claiming the Chiefs have supplanted them as America's Team, Dallas still carries that torch with pride.
That does not include their national games on Thanksgiving and Christmas, so they will have a grand total of eight games with the entire country watching.
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That was the expectation, but four Thursday games? That is pure insanity. If anything, the NFL should be deprioritizing short weeks. While the Cowboys will only have one short week, it is criminal to pigeonhole a ratings powerhouse like Dallas into Thursday night.
Football diehards eat up Thursday Night Football because they love the sport. Many of those matchups rarely live up to their billing. The ratings have been fine. The league is seemingly trying to give those a bump by giving Dallas a quartet of mid-week matchups.
Is it the end of the world? Far from it, but no team should have to play four Thursday games. Football was meant to be played on Sunday. Monday Night Football is tradition. That is obviously an exception, but Thursday? The majority of football fans wouldn't care if the NFL nixed them entirely.