Cowboys open at Carolina, meet Redskins on Thanksgiving

Published 3:55 am Friday, April 20, 2018

The Dallas Cowboys will open on the road for the first time in six years and play rival Washington on Thanksgiving during the 2018 NFL season, the league announced Thursday.

The Cowboys visit Charlotte, North Carolina, to play the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Sept. 9 in a 3:30 p.m. game to kick off the season.

That same day, the Houston Texans open with the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Kickoff is set for noon.

The Cowboys meet the Red-Redskins in their traditional Thanksgiving Day game Nov. 22 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.

Dallas and Houston meet for the first time in four years when the Cowboys visit NRG Stadium on Oct. 7 in a Sunday Night Game. Kickoff is slated for 7:20 p.m.

The Cowboys’ home opener is Sept. 16 against the New York Giants. It is a Sunday Night Game set for a 7:10 p.m. start.

Along with Sunday night games with the Giants and Texans, the Cowboys play Super Bowl champion Philadelphia on Nov. 11 in the City of Brotherly Love in prime time. Kickoff is 7:20 p.m.

Also, the Cowboys play a Monday Night game Nov. 5 against the Tennessee Titans in Arlington. Kickoff is 7:15 p.m.

Other Cowboys’ home games include: vs. Detroit Lions, noon, Sunday, Sept. 30; vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, 3:25 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14; vs. New Orleans Saints, 7:20 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29; vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 3:25 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9; and vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, noon Sunday, Dec. 23.

Other Cowboys’ road games include: at Seattle Seahawks, 3:25 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 23; at Washington Redskins, 3:25 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21; at Atlanta Falcons, noon Sunday, Nov. 18; at Indianapolis Colts, noon Sunday, Dec. 16; and at New York Giants, noon Sunday, Dec. 30.

The Cowboys’ bye is during Week Eight on Oct. 28.

The Texans will also host a Thursday Night Game (vs. Miami Dolphins, 7:20 p.m. Oct. 25) and a Monday Night Game (vs. Tennessee Titans, 7:20 p.m., Nov. 26).

Other Texans’ home games include: vs. New York Giants, noon, Sunday, Sept. 23; vs. Buffalo Bills,

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noon Sunday, Oct. 14; vs. Cleveland Browns, noon Sunday, Dec. 2; vs. Indianapolis Colts, noon Sunday, Dec. 9; and vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, noon Sunday, Dec. 30.

Other Texans’ road games include: at Tennessee Titans, noon Sunday, Sept. 16; at Indianapolis Colts, noon Sunday, Sept. 30; at Jacksonville Jaguars, noon Sunday, Oct. 21; at Denver Broncos, 3:05 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4; at Washington Redskins, noon Sunday, Nov. 18; at New York Jets, TBD Saturday, Dec. 15; and at Philadelphia Eagles, noon, Sunday, Dec. 23.

The Texans’ bye is during Week 10 on Nov. 11.

Elsewhere, Philadelphia will host Atlanta to kick off the 2018 NFL season on Thursday night, Sept. 6.

Green Bay hosts Chicago in the first Sunday night matchup on Sept. 9, while the Monday nighters on opening weekend feature the New York Jets at Detroit, followed by the Los Angeles Rams at Oakland.

The Eagles also will play at England’s home of soccer when they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 8 at Wembley Stadium in London.

That’s one of four international games. The other match at Wembley will be the previous week with the Los Angeles Chargers hosting the Tennessee Titans. Tottenham Hotspurs’ new stadium, also in London, will be the site for a Raiders home game Oct. 14 against Seattle.

For the third straight year, the NFL will stage a game in Mexico City: the Rams will host Kansas City and Whitehouse native and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in a Week 11 Monday night game.

Thanksgiving will provide a feast of divisional games. The traditional double-header in Detroit and Dallas has the lions playing the Bears, followed by the Redskins at the Cowboys. At night, it will be Atlanta visiting New Orleans.

Other intriguing matchups include Cleveland, which lost all 16 games last season, hosting archrival Pittsburgh on opening day; New England at Jacksonville in a rematch of the AFC title game in Week 2; the Eagles and Vikings in an NFC championship game redux in Philly on Oct. 7; and the Steelers vs. Patriots in Pittsburgh in Week 15.

Fox, which will do 11 Thursday night games, begins its package in Week 4 with the Vikings at the Rams. Those contests also will be televised by NFL Network and in Spanish on Fox Deportes. NFL Network has seven exclusive broadcasts.

Flexible scheduling in which a Sunday afternoon game can be switched to the evening because it is a better matchup than the previously planned game will be in use for Weeks 11-17. But two Sundays in Weeks 5-10 also can have a game flexed to night.

In a new twist, flex scheduling will be used for Saturday games in Weeks 15 and 16. In Week 15, two games will be played on Saturday, Dec. 15: Houston at the New York Jets and Cleveland at Denver, with game times of 3:30 p.m. CST and 7:20 p.m. CST to be determined. In Week 16, two of four possible matchups will be scheduled for Saturday: Baltimore at the Chargers, Jacksonville at Miami, the New York Giants at Indianapolis, or Washington at Tennessee. Start times for Saturday games for Week 15 and 16 will be announced no later than following Week 8, with the contests not chosen for Saturday to be played on Sunday on the 16th weekend.

No Sunday night game has been scheduled for the last day of the season, Dec. 30. That will be chosen after Week 16 games conclude.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.