Dallas Cowboys — 2026 season outlook, updated Oct 12, 2026.
Dallas Cowboys finished the 2026 season 2-3.
Dallas Cowboys: 7-9 regular season.
Based on verified play-by-play data (nflverse).
By the numbers — 2026
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2026 schedule
- Bye week 14 — see all 2026 byes.
- 7th-hardest schedule — opponents average 8.73 projected wins.
- Cowboys backfield and handcuffs — depth chart, refreshed daily.
Cowboys players we cover
Cowboys 16, Buccaneers 24 — Week 5: Six Drops, Two Picks
Dallas lost 24-16 at home to Tampa Bay on Thursday night after Dak Prescott threw for 316 yards and two interceptions, both on throws the charters did not mark interception-worthy, while his receivers dropped 6 catchable balls; Bucky Irving ran for 165 yards against a defense that played light boxes on half of Tampa Bay's designed runs.
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More episodes
- Camp · Sep 3, 2026
Cowboys Camp — Sep 3: Milton Cut Monday, Back Wednesday
The backup quarterback question our last episode left open was answered the next afternoon, against the direction it leaned: Dallas waived Joe Milton on Monday to claim running back Emari Demercado, named Sam Howell the backup, watched Milton clear waivers Tuesday, and signed him back to the practice squad Wednesday. Broderick Jones is competing at right tackle only, and seven former Cowboys have landed elsewhere.
- Camp · Aug 31, 2026
Cowboys Camp — Aug 31: Howell's Comeback Makes It Three Quarterbacks
The backup-quarterback race Dallas spent August running ended with no loser: Sam Howell's fourth-quarter comeback in the preseason finale flipped a competition that had leaned Joe Milton's way, and the initial 53 carries both of them behind Dak Prescott with no depth chart announced. The rest of cut day cut against pedigree — edge rusher Sam Williams released on a guaranteed deal, three drafted running backs waived, and the tackle depth churned in a two-trade weekend.
- Camp · Aug 23, 2026
Cowboys Camp — Aug 23: Milton Outplays Howell in Glendale
Joe Milton took the backup-quarterback start in Arizona and went 9-of-13 for 176 yards with two touchdowns and a rushing score in a 34 to 13 win, while Sam Howell's half ended with an end-zone interception. Von Miller signed a one-year deal to join the pass rush, Shavon Revel supplied the summer's first live-game takeaway, and the Saints joint practice dissolved into fights.
- Camp · Aug 16, 2026
Dallas Cowboys Camp Update — August 16: Three Picks Off Stafford in One Practice
Christian Parker's defense dominated the Rams joint practice — three Justin Barron interceptions, five-plus would-be sacks — then held Seattle to 156 yards in a 17-7 win. The one missing item is the July stat itself: the stops came all week, but the game produced no actual takeaways.
- Camp · Aug 9, 2026
Dallas Cowboys Camp Update — August 9: PJ Locke Picked Off Dak Prescott in the Red Zone Today
The bought defense keeps taking the ball away from the offense that funded it — Locke's end-zone pick today, Durant's goal-line undercut, Downs everywhere. Eleven takeaways was last year's indictment; the renovation is producing them daily, in practice, against a top-five offense.
- 2026 Preview
Dallas Cowboys 2026 Season Preview — They Bought a Whole Defense
Dallas had the widest offense-defense gap in football — a top-five offense welded to the most generous defense in the league — then spent everything, including Micah Parsons' ghost, rebuilding one side; the offense's floor is real, the fix is unproven.
- Season Review
7-9 regular season
- Draft Recap
7 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft
- Week 4
Cowboys 34, Texans 30 — Week 4: Lamb's 21 Targets, Winner With :43 Left
Dallas won 34-30 at Houston on CeeDee Lamb's 12-yard touchdown with 43 seconds left, after a fourth-and-4 conversion on the drive; Lamb caught 17 of 21 targets for 189 yards, Javonte Williams ran for three touchdowns, and the run defense held 19 Houston rush plays to minus 3.1 expected points.
- Week 3
Cowboys 31, Ravens 34 — Week 3: Four Short-Yardage Stops, Still Lost
Dallas lost 34-31 to Baltimore in Rio de Janeiro on a 56-yard field goal with one second left, after its run defense held 38 Ravens rush plays to minus 4.2 expected points with four short-yardage stops, while its pass defense allowed plus 11.9 on 20 pass plays.
- Week 2
Cowboys 37, Commanders 20 — Week 2: Seven Scores on Eight Drives
Dallas beat Washington 37-20 at home behind a passing game worth 15.1 expected points on 33 pass plays with four touchdowns, scores on seven of eight drives, a goal-line stand to end the first half, and a pass defense that went from 31st of 32 in Week 1 to the middle of the league.
- Week 1
Cowboys 20, Giants 28 — Week 1: One Stop on Ten Third Downs
Dallas lost 28-20 at the Giants on Sunday night after its defense stopped one of ten third downs, the worst rate of any team that played in Week 1, and after a ninety-five-second stretch before halftime in which the defense's only takeaway was followed by an interception and a Giants touchdown.
- Week 3 · What Repeats
Cowboys, Week 3 — What Repeats: Williams Answered the Notebook
Dallas's designed run game jumped from 27th to 6th in yards per carry — 26 runs for 129 yards, 5.0 a run, with Javonte Williams at 19 for 98 — while Baltimore sent five or more rushers on 20 of 45 dropbacks (44%) and Dak Prescott's catchable rate fell to 68% after 79% and 87%.
- Week 2 · What Repeats
Cowboys, Week 2 — What Repeats: Play-Action Came Back in Dallas
Dallas ran play-action on 13 of 36 dropbacks (36%, 5th of 32) a week after 14% and 28th, against 27% in 2025, while Dak Prescott's throws were catchable on 27 of 31 (87%, 3rd) and the designed run game ranked 27th in yards per carry for the second straight week against opposite boxes.
- Week 1 · What Repeats
Cowboys, Week 1 — What Repeats: Light Boxes, and Dallas Passed
New York showed a light box on 13 of Dallas's 16 designed runs, 81 percent, the third-highest rate any offense saw in Week 1, and Dallas ran those 16 for 55 yards while dropping back 36 times and calling play-action on 5 of those dropbacks — 14 percent, fifth-lowest in the league and about half its 2025 rate. Dak Prescott's receivers dropped 3 of his 27 catchable throws.
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From The Muffed Read
- Which records are telling the truth? Minnesota's 5-0 with the 28th-ranked offense, San Francisco's win in Seattle, Houston's first win, Atlanta's fifth game and the ten 3-2 teams, run through a ruler built for five games.
At five games, a team's record, its point differential and how well it plays snap to snap predict the rest of its season about equally well. When they disagree, believe the play: 3-2 teams ranked top ten by net EPA per play reached the playoffs 25 times in 39 over the last ten seasons, and 3-2 teams in the bottom half 12 times in 33.
- How are NFL games actually won? The sport under the sport, in 19,811 charted dropbacks.
Pressure turned the league's best passer into a below-average one. Blitzing didn't buy what fans think. And the best pass in football came dressed as a run. The hidden layer of 2025.
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