Cowboys Kick Off NFL Season Against Defending Super Bowl Champions

DALLAS, TX— The Dallas Cowboys get a formidable foe to open the 2025 NFL season.

The 2025 NFL schedule has not fully been released, but the first game of the season is set as Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys will play the defending Super Bowl champions and division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Cowboys will head into enemy territory and take on Jalen Hurts and the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Sept 4, 2025, to kick off the NFL season. This is the first time since 2000 that the Cowboys will play the Eagles in the opening week.

The matchup will be the third time Dallas has opened the season against the defending champs as they played the New York Giants in 2012 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021.

It will also be Brian Schottenheimer’s first game as a head coach.

While it might have been a … surprising hire, Schottenheimer has made it known through hiring his staff, free agency, and the NFL Draft, that the Cowboys will focus on running the football.

After Schottenheimer was hired as head coach, he brought in former Arizona Cardinal offensive line coach Klayton Adams and Kansas State’s offensive coach Conor Riley, who is one of the more respected offensive line coaches in college football.

To solidify this new mindset, the Cowboys picked up running backs Miles Sanders and Javonte Williams in free agency and drafted two offensive linemen in the 2025 NFL Draft, Tyler Booker at 12th overall, and Ajani Cornelius in the sixth round. They also drafted Texas running back Jaydon Blue and Clemson back Phil Mafah.

Booker was widely regarded as the best guard in the draft and, with future Hall of Fame guard Zack Martin’s retirement this offseason, Booker fills a huge need. Cornelius has an intriguing set of tools and could be the future swing tackle for the Cowboys.

In 2024, Blue had 730 yards on 134 carries for a 5.4 yard average and crossed the endzone eight times. He brings one thing the Cowboys have lacked, which is super speed as he runs 4.38 second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. Blue split carries for the Longhorns with Quintrevion Wisner and should do the same in Dallas.

The Cowboys picked up some lightning in Blue and added the complementary thunder in the seventh round with Clemson’s Mafah.

Mafah was the Tigers' leading back with 216 carries for 1,115 yards (5.2 average), and eight touchdowns as well. While he did not run at the NFL Combine, Mafah’s 40 time is in the 4.5 range. At 6-foot-1 and 234 pounds, his running style will be a much-needed change to Blue’s blazing speed.

Also, this isn’t even considering Sanders and Williams.

Heading into his seventh year, Sanders has 923 carries for 4,345 yards giving him an average of 4.7 yards per attempt. The past two seasons, Sanders has been in Carolina where he only put up 637 yards and three scores.

Javonte Williams entered the league in 2021 and had 903 yards. In 2022, Williams tore his ACL and last season while splitting carries, he had 513 yards. A fresh start was probably needed.

One position the Cowboys did not address in free agency or the NFL Draft was wide receiver. That was rectified last week when they traded for Pittsburgh’s George Pickens, who will open things up in the passing game for CeeDee Lamb.

Even with all the additions to the offensive front, slowing down the Eagle’s pass rush will still be key. That front seven gave Kansas City fits in the Super Bowl, sacking Patrick Mahomes six time and making him throw two interceptions, one of which was returned by Eagle cornerback Cooper DeJean for a touchdown.

The Cowboys have their work cut out for them this season as both the Washington Commanders and Eagles played in the NFC Championship game last season. The other division rival, the New York Giants, added probably the best player in the NFL Draft in edge rusher Abdul Carter and will have a new quarterback in rookie Jaxson Dart.

The NFL schedule release is slated for May 15, 2025.