2026 Week 1 rooting guide for Cowboys fans

We’re so back! And so are you, no doubt delirious with excitement about the start of the 2026 NFL season. As we do annually here at Blogging The Boys, we’ll be helping you prepare for each week with the complete lineup of games and which outcomes you should be rooting for as a Dallas Cowboys fan.

The further along we get into the season, the clearer certain scenarios and impacts from each game will be. But even in Week 1, there are teams we expect to threaten Dallas’ ultimate goals more than others. Some of them will fall flat, and some surprising contenders will emerge. But for now, here’s our take on Week 1 and who can most help the Cowboys by winning (or losing).

Obviously, we’re all rooting for Dallas to start the season right with a win over the division-rival Giants. What else would help us get this season off to a good start?

NFC East teams

• Commanders d. Eagles

Predictions on who will win the NFC East still come down to Philadelphia or Dallas for most, with the Commanders and Giants well behind them. There’s a lot of angst in Washington right now over some ugly preseason ball, with long-term concerns about their offensive line and defense. So if they go hang a home loss on Philly, that would be a huge gift to the Cowboys.

NFC vs. NFC

• 49ers d. Rams
• Saints d. Lions
• Panthers d. Bears
• Vikings d. Packers

These four games all come down to the same thing: which teams are more likely to be in the playoff hunt? Granted, those preseason projections can quickly go out the window. But each of these desired winners is considered an NFC underdog compared to Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, and Green Bay.

Think of the full course of a season like a road being paved in front of the Cowboys. The less 13 and 12-win teams are out there clogging up the top seeds and playoff spots, the smoother and more open that road becomes for Dallas. We’ve seen the years where winning the NFC East was the only path to the postseason, because too many teams with high win totals were in the wild cards.

Naturally, one of those four assumed contenders will probably be thinking about 2027 sooner than we expect. But for now, until we know more about who these teams really are this season, we’re going with the chalk.

NFC vs. AFC

• Patriots d. Seahawks
• Bengals d. Bucs
• Falcons d. Steelers
• Chargers d. Cardinals

Generally, we’re going to favor AFC teams to win as they don’t affect the Cowboys’ playoff chances. But sometimes a game comes around, like Atlanta-Pittsburgh, where other factors are at work.

Dallas owns the Steelers’ fourth-round pick in 2027 as part of the recent Broderick Jones trade. And the Falcons may be in the NFC, but they’re generally considered one of the least likely teams to contend. We’re almost always going to take a Steelers loss this season, unless they’re playing against a legitimate NFC threat. Right now, Atlanta doesn’t qualify.

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The rest of the Week 1 games are all AFC vs. AFC matchups with no tangible implications for the Cowboys. Pittsburgh is the only team that owes us a draft pick next year. We’ll likely have more skin in those games at various points in the season, but for now they’re just random contests that will help shape the eventual AFC Champion.

For now, we can root for the Cowboys to be among the 1-0 teams next Tuesday, and for other perceived NFC contenders to have less enjoyable starts to their seasons.