The Dallas Cowboys‘ opening the 2026 NFL season on the road against the New York Giants may seem like a normal NFC East rivalry game, but there’s more behind the decision. The Week 1 matchup was placed in the national spotlight on “Sunday Night Football,” and according to a national reporter, the NFL had a specific reason that it chose to send Dak Prescott and the Cowboys into a tough road environment to begin their season.

“Upset that the Cowboys are on the road again to start 2026? Blame Usher and Chris Brown. Their joint concert is stopping at AT&T Stadium on Thursday, Saturday, & Sunday of Week 1. A potential Monday night opener would have been tough considering the travel to Brazil in Week 3,” Nick Harris posted on X.

This year will mark the ninth time in the last 20 seasons that the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants will meet in a season opener, with the Cowboys traveling to New York for a Sunday Night Football matchup in Week 1. The game will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on September 13 at 8:20 p.m. ET. One of the biggest reasons the Cowboys are starting the season on the road has nothing to do with football.

AT&T Stadium in Arlington will already be busy that weekend with concerts from R&B stars Usher and Chris Brown. The pair is bringing their 2026 “The R&B Tour” to the stadium on Thursday, September 10, and a second concert date was later added for Saturday, September 12. Owing to those events, Dallas could not host a Sunday home game in Week 1.

The scheduling issues may not stop there for the Cowboys. Singer Ed Sheeran is also set to perform at AT&T Stadium later in the season during Week 7. That could force Dallas to play on the road again that week or possibly move their game to Thursday night or Monday night, unless the team has its bye week.

The Cowboys will also travel to face teams including the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers, and Seattle Seahawks. There are more potential conflicts as well. Reports suggest Tampa Bay’s stadium may also be unavailable during Week 9 because of a concert, which could affect Dallas’ matchup with the Buccaneers. However, there are no details available about the concert as of now.

In addition, Usher and Chris Brown are scheduled to perform at SoFi Stadium in Week 10, making it unlikely the Cowboys will face the Rams in Los Angeles that Sunday unless the game is moved to another day.

For Dallas, the 2026 season schedule is already becoming more complicated than expected.

The Dallas Cowboys face a brutal 2026 start

The Dallas Cowboys are heading into one of the toughest starts of the 2026 NFL season. After opening the year on the road against the New York Giants, Dallas will travel to Rio de Janeiro on September 27 for a high-profile matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.

Traveling to Brazil will not be an easy task for either of the two franchises. There will be long flights of almost twelve hours, along with the significant time difference, which affects preparation and rest periods. Moreover, the Cowboys are expected to play away from their home crowd.

What complicates matters further is that this is taking place during a critical time in the schedule. The NFL bye weeks begin only after Week 5, meaning that after coming back from Brazil, Dallas will face an even harder challenge when preparing for the Week 4 game.

In previous seasons, games in Brazil were played on Friday nights, which gave teams more time to rest before the next match. However, this season, the Brazil game is set for Sunday afternoon, creating concerns that one or both teams could face a short turnaround.

Speaking of the Cowboys-Ravens matchup, this game would mark the third consecutive regular-season game in Brazil for the NFL, after matches held in São Paulo in 2024 and 2025. Besides this, the league has planned a record nine international matches in 2026, in locations like London, Madrid, Paris, Munich, Melbourne, Mexico City, and Rio de Janeiro, as it continues its global push.