The Cowboys have played back-to-back Thursday games several times in team history, following their Thanksgiving Day game with Thursday Night Football the following week.
They do that again this season and also have two other Thursday games, becoming the first team in NFL history with four Thursday games in a single season.
The Cowboys open the season on Thursday, Sept. 4 at Philadelphia against the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles.
They host the Chiefs in their annual Thanksgiving Day game on Thursday, Nov. 27, and follow that the next week with a trip to the Lions for Thursday Night Football on Dec. 4.
Dallas also plays on Christmas Day, a Thursday, at the Commanders.
The Chiefs and Cowboys are ratings draws. That’s why they play on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day this season.
It also is why they both have so many standalone games.
The Chiefs will play eight standalone games, including seven primetime games. Five of their primetime games come in the first eight weeks.
The Cowboys also have eight standalone games, including six primetime games.
The teams play each other on Thanksgiving Day at AT&T Stadium in Arlington in Patrick Mahomes’ first NFL game where he makes his offseason home. On Christmas Day, the Chiefs host the Broncos, and the Cowboys travel to the Commanders.
The Dolphins, Falcons, Lions, Eagles, Commanders, Bills, Chargers and 49ers each have five primetime games.
The Ravens, Bengals, Steelers, Texans, Broncos, Packers, Vikings, Bucs, Rams and Seahawks each got four.
The Giants, Raiders, Patriots and Bears will be on primetime three times each.
The Jets and Cardinals have two primetime appearances each, and the Colts, Jaguars and Panthers each received one primetime game.
The Browns, Saints and Titans are not scheduled to play in primetime.
The full NFL schedule for Christmas Day has been released.
The NFL and Netflix announced that the Cowboys will visit the Commanders at 1 p.m. ET and that the Lions will be in Minnesota at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, December 25. The league announced that that the Broncos will be in Kansas City for the nightcap earlier this week.
Wednesday’s announcement means that the Cowboys and Lions will be doubling up on Thanksgiving and Christmas this season, although, as tradition dictates, they will be at home for the prior holiday. The Chiefs will also be playing on both holidays as they’ve been announced as the Cowboys’ guest in November.
The Commanders are one of four teams set for a Week 16 Saturday doubleheader and there was some thought that they could double up as Christmas participants because they’d have an extra day of rest before the Week 17 action. The Eagles, Packers, and Bears will be playing later during Christmas week, however.
For the various captive audience games to be played in each NFL season, the league has a decision to make: Use a so-so game that will generate much higher ratings than it would on a normal Sunday, or peel off a game that would otherwise be destined for prime time and generate massive numbers.
This year, the NFL opted to go very big for the late-afternoon Thanksgiving game.
Chiefs at Cowboys will move the needle until it uncontrollably vibrates and shatters. It’ll generate the biggest audience for any regular-season game in league history.
The current record was set on Thanksgiving Day in 2022, when 42.1 million watched the Cowboys beat the Giants, 28-20. That game bested the epic Monday night game from 1990 between the 10-1 Giants and 10-1 49ers, which attracted 41.5 million. (The 49ers won, 7-3.)
Seven of the top nine games happened on Thanksgiving. The other one happened in 1985, when the Dolphins handed the Bears their only loss of the season on a Monday night in December.
The Chiefs are currently the top draw in all of American sports. The Cowboys are still clinging to the “America’s Team” moniker, even if they haven’t played in an NFC Championship in 30 years.
It’s the perfect spot for a game between the two NFL teams that draw the most interest. In most households, the food has been eaten. The Tryptophan is sinking in. The television provides a much-needed respite from the awkward conversation.
Anything under 45 million will be a disappointment. Fifty million isn’t out of the question.
Whatever the final number may be, it’s safe to say it will be the biggest regular-season audience the league has ever attracted.
Wide receiver George Pickens expressed excitement about playing with quarterback Dak Prescott after last week’s trade brought him to the Cowboys and Prescott had an opportunity to do the same on Wednesday.
Prescott discussed the Pickens acquisition during an appearance on 96.7 The Ticket and said that he’s connected with Pickens to start building up a relationship the Cowboys hope translates into fireworks on the field. Prescott made it clear that he believes Pickens has the skills to create that kind of production on the field this fall.
“You turn on the tape, you see a guy that can catch the football,” Prescott said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “You put the football anywhere in his vicinity, very strong hands. More than a 50/50 catcher. He thinks it’s his ball when it’s in the air. I’m excited for him. I know we needed some help at that position.”
Prescott said he thinks the Cowboys are putting together “a nice group of weapons” headed up by Pickens and CeeDee Lamb. He echoed Pickens’s belief that defenses can’t double both of their top wideouts, which should give Prescott a lot of opportunities to make plays down the field if everything comes together by September.
