The 2024 NFL schedule is expected to be released either this Thursday evening or on the 16th at the latest. The NFL has always released the schedule on a Thursday.
A few years ago it switched for releasing the schedule in April to early May.
There will be a schedule release show on the NFL Network, likely starting at 7 p.m. on whichever Thursday the league does decide to release it on.
UPDATE: Several hours after this post published, per an article on Sports Business Journal, the NFL apparently sent out a memo pushing the release date back to Wednesday night, May 15th.
No reason was given for the delay, but most teams had been expecting the release on May 9th.
The complete week-by-week schedule, and all 32 teams’ schedules as well, should be released that same night.
What We Know So Far
The defending champion Kansas City Chiefs will host the first game of the season on Thursday, September 5th. We won’t know who they will play until the official schedule releases.
The following evening, the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers will play in Brazil.
That game will be televised exclusively on Peacock. Which means the NFL learned nothing from its playoff game fiasco last year.
Seeing how little Cowboys’ fans like either the Eagles or Packers, this news probably comes as no great disappointment.
We also know who the home teams will be for the NFL’s other international games in 2024 – while Dallas is not a home team, they still could be a visiting team.
The Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings will all serve as the home team for games played in London in 2024.
The Carolina Panthers will play a home game in Germany. The Cowboys are scheduled to play a road game against Carolina this fall.
Whether or not the Panthers-Cowboys game is the one slated for overseas remains to be seen.
The playoffs are set for the weekend of Jan. 11-13, 2025, this year. The Conference championship games would be played on Jan. 26th.
Super Bowl LIX will be played on Feb. 9th at the Superdome in New Orleans.
The rest of the blank spaces between Sept. 5th and Feb. 9th will be filled in soon – hopefully by this Thursday.
A Strong AFC North Awaits
The Cowboys draw the AFC North again for four of its 2024 contests.
In the 2020 season, Dallas finished 1-3 against those four teams. The Cowboys lost to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore before downing Cincinnati.
In 2016, Dallas swept the four teams by a combined 54-point margin of victory.
In 2023, all four AFC North teams finished the season with a winning record as the division went 43-25 combined for the year.
The Cowboys 2024 Opponents
We won’t know if Dallas starts the season at home or on the road until the official release.
One hopes its not another Sunday night season opener against the Giants.
Dallas plays its annual home and away series of six games against its’ three NFC East rivals. The Cowboys went 5-1 against those teams last year.
The Eagles finished 11-6 on the season in 2023, followed by the Giants at 6-11, and the Commanders at 4-13.
Dallas will also host the Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the NFC. AFC visitors to Arlington will be the Ravens, Bengals, and Houston Texans.
The Lions will no doubt be looking to avenge a bitter loss at AT&T Stadium back in December.
In addition to the Carolina game that may or may not be played in the U.S – the Cowboys travel to Atlanta and San Francisco for NFC games.
The 49ers game will be an important test for the Cowboys, who have lost their last three games against San Francisco – including two close playoff losses in the last two seasons.
They will play AFC road games against the Steelers and the Browns.
A full breakdown of each opponent, the Cowboys’ all-time record against each team, as well as their weekly record will follow later this month.
Cowboys’ 2024 Outlook
While we still have free agents to be signed, as well as a summer of training camps and pre-season games yet to be played, the Cowboys have a tough road ahead.
Their opponents combined record for the 2023 season was 125-113. That includes a 2-15 Panthers team that is much improved over last year.
If the Cowboys are going to repeat as NFC East champions – and advance further in the playoffs than the divisional round – they are going to have to earn it in 2024.