Hogs Haven
The 5 o’clock club is published from time to time during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.
In 2026, the Commanders will, like every other team in the NFL, play 17 games against 14 opponents. With the amount of roster change that NFL teams undergo annually along with the unusually large number of head coach and coordinator changes in 2026, it seems useful to spend some time to review each of Washington’s regular season opponents.
Dan Quinn and his Commanders will follow up the opening week game against the Eagles with another road trip and another long-time NFC East rival, the Dallas Cowboys.
Date: September 20, 2026, 4:25 p.m. ET
Location: AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX
(The two teams close the season when they play again at Northwest Stadium in Landover in Week 18)
The Dallas Cowboys host the Washington Commanders in Week 2, on September 20, 2026, bringing a fierce and longstanding NFC East rivalry back to AT&T Stadium. Dallas enters the divisional game as a preseason 4.5-point home favorite, but both teams look different than they did last season due to changes in personnel and coaching staff.
Dallas holds a clear lead in the historic series between the two franchises. Entering this game, the Cowboys have an 81-49-2 all-time record against Washington. Recent history also favors Dallas, as the Cowboys have won 12 of the last 16 matchups.
Washington has historically struggled when traveling to Texas. The Commanders are 17-43-2 all-time on the road against the Cowboys, though four of those Washington wins have come since 2014.
The Cowboys overhauled their defensive coaching staff during the offseason. After finishing with the worst defense in 2025 as measured by points surrendered, team owner Jerry Jones and head coach Brian Schottenheimer replaced the previous defensive coordinator, Matt Eberflus, with a new hire from another division rival.
Christian Parker is the new defensive play-caller. He previously worked as the passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. A former defensive backs coach under Fangio in Denver (2021) and passing game coordinator in Philadelphia (2024–2025), Parker will likely use foundational Fangio concepts to build his modern defensive schemes that rely on pre-snap 2-high safety alignments to obscure coverage intentions and limit big plays.
Similar to Fangio, Parker’s defense is expected to focus on manipulating offenses by shifting coverages after the snap to confuse quarterbacks. He will probably utilize lighter boxes against the run in favor of coverage strength in the secondary, deploying both 3-4 and 4-2-5...
