3 potential trap games on the Cowboys 2023 schedule

On Thursday night, the 2023 NFL Schedule was released and while the Dallas Cowboys already knew who they would face this season, they now know when they will see each opponent.

As is often the case, the Cowboys schedule is full of national games. They start Week 1 on Sunday Night Football against the Giants and will again be on SNF in Week 5 against the 49ers and Week 14 against the Eagles. They also have two Thursday games — against Washington in Week 12 (Thanksgiving) and Seattle in Week 13.

Throw in a Week 6 Monday Night Football showdown with the Chargers and we'll see a lot of Dallas in the bright lights.

What we hopefully won't see is the Cowboys looking past any of their opponents. If they do, these three could be trap games where they're handed a loss they shouldn't have to deal with.

3 potential trap games on Cowboys 2023 schedule

Cowboys at Patriots, Week 4

The Cowboys have faced the New England Patriots just 14 times in their existence and they lead the overall series 8-6. However, there was a stretch of seven wins in a row for New England with Tom Brady under center for six of those.

Dallas finally exercised their demons against Brady in the 2022 NFL Playoffs and in 2021, they also ended the Pats winning streak as well with a 35-29 overtime win — with Mc Jones under center for New England.

This year, they face the Patriots in Week 4, and considering their struggles in 2022, it might be easy to overlook them. That's even more likely with a re-match with the San Francisco 49ers on the agenda in Week 5.

The Niners have been the team that keeps knocking Dallas out of the playoffs, so they're going to want a win there in a bad way. Hopefully, that doesn't come at the expense of Week 4. Because Bill Belichick is still one of the best NFL coaches ever and if he has any advantage, he will use it.