We have known the 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule for some time now, long enough to draw legitimate pros and cons from what it has in store for the team.
Looking forward is a lot of fun. Everything is unknown. The possibilities are endless. Anything is possible.
Looking backwards isn’t representative of anything necessarily. It can be helpful and offer some sense of guidance, but who anybody was in the past is in no way representative of who they will be in the future.
How Dallas did last time they played each of their opponents
In the interest of discussion, today
we are looking at how the Cowboys fared against each of their opponents last time they faced them.
For the record we are going to be specific here. By that I mean that if the Cowboys are hosting or visiting a team then the result listed will be the last time they hosted or visited the team in question. As an example the Cowboys will visit the Houston Texans in 2026, so for the purposes of this conversation we are interested in when they did so back in 2018 and not when they last hosted them in 2024.
- at NYG (Loss, 34-17): This was the final game of the regular season last year when both teams were mathematically eliminated. It marked Dak Prescott’s first loss, it does count in a technical sense, against the Giants since his rookie season.
- WAS (Win, 44-22): Last season was a disaster on many levels, but this was certainly a bright spot.
- BAL (Loss, 28-25): The Ravens visited the Cowboys early in 2024 and Derrick Henry, fresh into his Ravens tenure, absolutely destroyed the Cowboys and all of the narratives around Dallas not being interested in him the offseason prior were thrust center stage.
- at HOU (Loss, 19-16): This happened early in the 2018 season and was played on a Sunday night. Dallas and Houston actually went to overtime and DeAndre Hopkins had his way with the defense. Many thought it might mark the end of the Jason Garrett era, but the Amari Cooper trade shortly after saved the season.
- TB (Win, 26-24): Dallas hosted the Buccaneers on a Sunday night late in 2024. The win helped keep very slim hope alive that the season could be salvaged, but as we know it certainly could not.
- at GB (Loss, 31-28): It has been four years since the Cowboys last visited Lambeau Field and the last time they did was wild as it marked Mike McCarthy’s return there. This time will mark a visit against Micah Parsons… somehow there are always narratives between these two groups.
- at PHI (Loss, 24-20): This was the season-opener last year when the Cowboys gave it all they had and just couldn’t grab the win.
- ARI (Loss, 27-17): It felt much worse than this when the Cardinals destroyed the Cowboys on a Monday night right before the bye last season.
- at IND (Loss, 23-0): The Cowboys were putting things together late in 2018 and then got skunked in Indianapolis. I was actually at this game. They turned it around and won the NFC East a week later, though.
- SF (Loss, 23-17 in Wild Card Round): This is the only playoff game on this list, but it was the last time that the 49ers were in town. Jimmy Garoppolo. The quarterback draw. Good times.
- TEN (Loss, 28-14): This was a unique game as it marked a lot of things. It was Amari Cooper’s debut with the team, but it took place on a Monday night in 2018 which meant that Jason Witten was on the call.
- PHI (Win, 24-21): Who could forget the Eagles blowing a 21-0 lead?
- at SEA (Loss, 38-31): The last Dallas visit to Seattle was in 2020 when the Cowboys offense did all they could and the horrible defense just let them down. Brian Schottenheimer was there, by the way! Just on the Seattle side of things.
- at LAR (Win, 22-10): The Cowboys went to Los Angeles to play the Rams early in 2022 and did so with Dak Prescott sidelined. It was one of the more impressive wins of the Mike McCarthy era as it showed how the team could rally around Cooper Rush.
- JAX (Win, 40-7): This happened early in 2018 and came before the Amari Cooper trade. Dallas exploded on offense (obviously), so much so that Tyrone Crawford said while entering the locker room for people to stop talking stuff (he used another word) about the offense given its inconsistencies prior. The team wound up trading for Amari just over a week later after losing at Washington.
- NYG (Win, 40-37): Brandon Aubrey’s boot at the end. Russell Wilson and the Giants offense having fun. What a weird time.
- at WAS (Win, 30-23): It was a Christmas Day present that we all enjoyed.
If you amass a record out of this, that is hardly the appropriate word, then the Cowboys would be 7-10. Again that is a weird way to put it, but you get the picture.
Hopefully all of these wins can be defended and the losses can be avenged in 2026.
