FRISCO, Texas – The second year of the Brian Schottenheimer era of Cowboys football is just around the corner, as Dallas prepares to embark on the 2026 regular season.
Following a 7-9-1 finish in 2025, the Cowboys are looking for a better result in 2026, with a new defensive staff led by defensive coordinator Christian Parker and nearly all of the offensive talent returning.
Alongside traveling the fourth-most miles in the NFL this season, the Cowboys will also face seven teams that reached the playoffs in 2025. Dallas will have plenty of opportunities to prove itself as a contender in 2026, especially during tough stretches with limited rest throughout the season.
Let's break down how the 2026 schedule shapes up for the Cowboys, continuing with their NFC East opponents. Up first are the New York Giants:
Biggest Overall Change
In one of the wildest coaching carousels of any offseason, ever, the Giants landed John Harbaugh almost immediately after he and the Baltimore Ravens shockingly parted ways. This implies a massive culture change to come for Big Blue, and Harbaugh is being tested early with locker room issues that have already spilled out into the public's very watchful eye. How he handles it, and other challenges of varying sorts that will inevitably crop up going forward, will determine if he can make the Giants a problem again in the NFC and NFC East.
Biggest Roster Addition
I am admittedly slightly torn on this one because, on one hand, I do believe the acquisition of former Ravens (purely coincidence, amirite?) tight end Isaiah Likely will help Jaxson Dart and the offense get going in 2026, my mind continually circles back to the NFL Draft, because that's when New York added Ohio State dynamo Arvell Reese — the league's fifth-overall pick — to their already fearsome defensive line. So, let's see: Reese joins a D-line that also features Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and the 2025 third-overall pick Abdul Carter? The Cowboys' offensive line questions better get answered, and before they face the Giants.
Biggest Roster Loss
For all of the rightful pointing at their defensive line here, the receiving corps is in trouble in New York. Wan'Dale Robinson chose to leave in free agency, and that's a 1,000-yard receiver (in 2025) whose production must now be replaced somehow. Eyes immediately go to Malik Nabers here, except for the fact that Nabers is recovering from a knee injury that Harbaugh hinted recently at being fairly significant and, as such, it is entirely unknown at this moment when Nabers will be able to take the field in 2026. That is two 1,000-yard receivers gone — one for good, one likely to begin the season — putting a lot of pressure on Harbaugh and Dart to stretch the field without them.
When Do They Play?
Stop me if you've heard this before: the Cowboys and the Giants will square off in the regular season opener of an NFL season (Sept. 13 at MetLife Stadium). The opening day clash has happened so frequently over the years that, hey, it's starting to feel like a tradition of sorts. They won't get another crack at each other until Week 17 at AT&T Stadium (Jan. 3), and a lot will be known about both clubs at that point, including if both are heading to the playoffs, if one is playing spoiler of some sort to the other, if it's win-and-get-in for either, etc. One thing is historically true here, and that's the fact New York hasn't defeated Dak Prescott since his rookie season in 2016, and the All-Pro fully intends on keeping that legendary streak alive, beginning Week 1.
