Cowboys simply must take advantage of their remaining schedule

With Week 7 of this 2026 NFL regular season on the horizon, we're somehow already officially through the first third of the campaign, and things obviously haven't gone the way the Dallas Cowboys (or their fans) had hoped.

After splitting the first four games of the year, taking losses to the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens while earning victories over the Washington Commanders and Houston Texans, America's Team has looked absolutely awful over the last two weeks.

First, of course, there was the embarrassing 24-16 defeat to the then-winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers to kick off Week 5 on Thursday Night Football, which was followed by another anemic performance this past Sunday night in a 23-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Even at 2-4, however, the Cowboys can at least be thankful that the NFC East is one of the weakest divisions in football at the moment, as they're not far behind the first-place Giants, who sit at 3-2-1 after taking a Week 6 loss to the New Orleans Saints and will be starting a backup quarterback for the remainder of the year, as will the Philadelphia Eagles.

And with all due respect, while Washington fought hard on Monday night against the undefeated San Francisco 49ers, Dan Quinn's crew just isn't that good from an overall standpoint. So, the division is certainly there for the taking.

And given how the slate plays out, Dallas will have no excuse to miss the playoffs for a third straight year, as Brian Schottenheimer's squad has the third-easiest remaining strength of schedule over the final 12 weeks of the season. Here's how things shake out for the Cowboys.

• Week 7: at Philadelphia Eagles (Monday Night Football)
• Week 8: vs. Arizona Cardinals
• Week 9: at Indianapolis Colts
• Week 10: vs. San Francisco 49ers
• Week 11: vs. Tennessee Titans
• Week 12: vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Thanksgiving)
• Week 13: at Seattle Seahawks (Monday Night Football)
• Week 14: BYE
• Week 15: at Los Angeles Rams
• Week 16: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (Sunday Night Football)
• Week 17: vs. New York Giants
• Week 18: at Washington Commanders

The Dallas Cowboys only have three remaining games against teams who are currently over .500

Here's a quick look at the remaining strength of schedule for all 32 teams heading into Week 7.

As mentioned, and as you can clearly see, the Cowboys have the third-easiest slate the rest of the way based on current records, as their remaining opponents currently have a combined winning percentage of just .439.

And of those remaining opponents, only three are over .500 at this point, those being the San Francisco 49ers (6-0), the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2), and, of course, the aforementioned New York Giants (3-2-1).

That said, though, the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, who currently sit at 3-3, certainly can't be overlooked, especially with Dallas having to go into Lumen Field for that matchup on Monday Night Football in Week 13. And one has to assume that the Los Angeles Rams will be better come Week 15 than the 2-4 team we've seen thus far, given all the talent on that roster.

If the Cowboys can win even just two of those games against those five opponents and then somehow sweep the other six, a 10-7 record would likely be enough to win the NFC East. Honestly, even 9-8 might get it done. But if offense can't wake up and the defense continues to struggle, the schedule's simply not going to matter.

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