Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer celebrates with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) after their 31-28 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day at AT&T Stadium, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Arlington.
Chitose Suzuki/Staff Photographer
FRISCO — The Cowboys‘ early schedule is daunting. There’s no getting around it. They’ll travel to New York, Houston and Rio de Janeiro in their first four weeks, finishing up with a stretch of three games in 11 days.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said last week they’ll “manage” that stretch. But will they also be rewarded for it?
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Despite how the Cowboys’ schedule looks on the surface, it appears the scheduling wizards at the NFL did give the Cowboys a subtle advantage in their 2026 slate. The Cowboys will have 14 extra days of rest compared to their opponents this season, according to research from The Dallas Morning News.
The Cowboys only have a rest disadvantage in one game this season. The Arizona Cardinals — the team with the lowest odds to win the Super Bowl, according to DraftKings — have a one-day rest advantage against the Cowboys, though they do travel to AT&T Stadium.
Conversely, the Cowboys will have five games where they have a rest advantage against their opponents, including three games where they’ll have at least three days of more rest than their opponent. The added benefit: those three games are all against potential NFC playoff teams. The Cowboys will have three days of rest before a road game against the Green Bay Packers and and four days of rest before a Monday Night Football road game against the Seattle Seahawks, the defending Super Bowl champions. They’ll have also six days of rest after their bye week before playing on the road against the Los Angeles Rams, the other team in the NFC Championship Game last season.
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The Cowboys will also have one day of extra rest before playing at Philadelphia on Monday Night Football in Week 7 and before they host the New York Giants in Week 17.
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In total, the Cowboys’ net-rest advantage is the thirst most in the NFL behind the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills, according to Arif Hasan of Wide Left. The Cowboys will have substantially more rest than some other teams. The Eagles, for example, have the second worst net-rest advantage in the NFL. The Chargers have the worst, totaling 24 less days of rest than their opponents this season.
There are plenty of factors in determining who wins, including how travel can affect a team’s rest level, but days between games compared to an opponent is certainly a factor. The Cowboys went 2-2 in games where they had a rest disadvantage last season, including a disappointing 10-point loss at home to the Arizona Cardinals, who were coming off a bye and had the edge of a week of rest. On the other hand, the Cowboys went 4-1 in games where they had a rest advantage. Their only loss came at home to the Minnesota Vikings, who didn’t need any more time to generate a game plan that befuddled Prescott and Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s offense all night. Minnesota cruised to a 34-26 victory.
Whether the Cowboys can use the edge in rest days to their advantage remains to be seen. Each team handles things differently, as does each position group.
“I think for everyone who’s playing you have to budget for it,” Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey said last week about the team’s schedule overall. “You have to take it week by week. If you have a short week, kickers and punters will take a day off from a kicking schedule. if you have a long week, maybe do a half day of extra kicking or just slide it back. Just like everyone else, we’re modifying our week.”
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The Cowboys coaching staff and trainers will have an overall plan in place for the year based on their schedule. Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson said last week that he isn’t looking that far ahead.
“Honestly, I’m just really thinking about the first one,” he said.
The Cowboys will have plenty of time to prepare for that game. So will the Giants. New Giants head coach John Harbaugh made that clear earlier this week at a team town hall.
“All I care about is tomorrow’s practice,” he told fans. “Because if tomorrow’s practice is the way it’s supposed to be, that’ll be one more step in the direction of being a good enough football team to kick the Cowboys’ ass.”
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That game will be the start of a difficult stretch for the Cowboys. They’ll then head home to play Washington before traveling to Brazil to face a tough Ravens team. They’ll then head to Houston to take on the Texans before hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football.
“If you can get on top and win those games, it happens fast,” Prescott said last week about the early part of the schedule. “You have to make sure you’re locked in and don’t let those games get by you.”
And if they can take advantage, an edge in rest is awaiting them the rest of the season.