The Cowboys have a unique twist to their 2025 schedule.
There’s no more speculation about when and where the Dallas Cowboys will play their 2025 opponents. On Wednesday, their full schedule was released. Dallas begins the season with two games in the NFC East, allowing them to establish themselves early within their division. They will have one of the toughest stretches to end the season as six of their last eight games are against playoff teams from 2024. However, the Cowboys will play four of those games at home.
There is one unique aspect of the Cowboys’ upcoming schedule. No, it’s not the fact that they’ll play six primetime games with multiple Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football matchups. It’s the fact that Dallas will be the first team to play four Thursday night games in one season.
The Cowboys are the first team to have four Thursday games, according to ESPN Research. Week 1 at Philly, Week 13 vs. KC, Week 14 at Detroit, Week 17 at Washington.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) May 15, 2025
It begins with their season-opener against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Nothing would be sweeter for the Cowboys than to get a victory on the road against the Eagles on the night that they raise the banner on their second championship. History says they’ll have a great chance to do that with Dak Prescott on the field. He’s 9-4 for his career as a starter against the Eagles, including three wins in Philadelphia.
The second Thursday night game for Dallas is when they host the three-time defending AFC champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, in Week 13 on Thanksgiving. This will undoubtedly be one of the highest-rated games of the season with Patrick Mahomes, a Texas native, making his first appearance inside AT&T Stadium. When these teams last met in 2021 at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs won 19-9. Hopefully, the Cowboys will be in playoff contention when this game takes place, which will make the matchup even bigger.
Things don’t get any easier for the Cowboys a week later. They will travel to the Motor City to take on the Detroit Lions, marking the third consecutive season the two teams will meet. In 2023, the Cowboys won a 20-19 thriller at home that came down to the final moments. Last season, the Lions steamrolled the Cowboys 47-9. This will be one of the games that says a lot about who Dallas is as a team in 2025.
The Cowboys’ last game on Thursday will be in Week 17 when they travel to play the Washington Commanders. When talking about old NFC East football, the rivalry with Dallas and Washington laid the groundwork. Despite Prescott not playing in either game against Washington in 2024, the Cowboys were able to split the season series. With how tight the division has the potential to be, this matchup could make or break either team’s playoff chances.
