The NFL schedule release is upon us and the league is teasing some of the upcoming matchups before the actual announcement. At the center of these schedule teases in the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs.
Certain games have already been revealed, including a November 16, 2025 matchup in Madrid, Spain between the Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders. This marks the first-ever NFL game in Spain.
There will also be an NFL game in Ireland as the Minnesota Vikings take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 28. London, England will once again play host to the NFL with three upcoming matchups in 2025. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will host two games, while Wembley Stadium was awarded one contest.
The NFL also announced that the Dallas Cowboys will host the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day. Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott will square off on Thursday, November 27 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on CBS.
Why Do the Cowboys Always Play on Thanksgiving Day?
The Cowboys along with the Detroit Lions have the annual tradition of hosting Thanksgiving Day matchups each year. Dallas’ annual place on the holiday started in the 1960s when former Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm volunteered for the franchise to play on the holiday.
“As laid out in a 2021 Dallas Morning News post, Schramm volunteered his team for a second Thanksgiving Day game,” Newsweek’s Joe Kozlowski detailed in a November 27, 2024, story titled, “Why Do the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions Always Play on Thanksgiving?” “… The offer, however, came on one condition: the Cowboys would play that contest at home.
“The gambit promptly paid off. Dallas took to the field on Thanksgiving 1966 and beat the visiting Cleveland Browns 26-14. To make things even sweeter for Schramm, more than 82,000 fans piled into the Cotton Bowl to watch the game. The Cowboys have played away from home twice, in 1975 and 1977, but those games were outliers.”
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes Grew Up a ‘Die-hard Cowboys Fan’
The upcoming Thanksgiving Day showdown has added meaning as Mahomes previously described himself as a “die-hard Cowboys fan” when he was young. Mahomes is a native of Tyler, Texas, making the Cowboys his hometown team.
“I grew up a Cowboys fan,” Mahomes explained to Forbes’ Jeff Fedotin during a November 16, 2021, story titled, “Kansas City Chiefs Star Patrick Mahomes Grew Up A ‘Die-Hard Cowboys Fan.’” “… I was more (a fan of Tony) Romo. (Troy) Aikman was right before me. So I got a lot of close playoff games but not a lot of wins. I was still a die-hard Cowboys fan growing up.”
The Cowboys Schedule Includes Teams From the NFC North & AFC West
The Cowboys are no stranger to primetime, and the 2025 season will be no different. Dallas will also open up the NFL season on Thursday, September 4, against the Philadelphia Eagles at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.
In addition to playing all the NFC East teams two times, the Cowboys schedule includes road matchups against the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets. Aside from the Chiefs game, the Cowboys will also host the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers
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