The Dallas Cowboys are already feeling the heat, and the 2026 season hasn't even kicked off yet. With the NFL set to release the full regular-season schedule on Thursday, May 14, all eyes are on America's Team—and not necessarily for the right reasons.

For the second year in a row, the Cowboys are being floated as the prime candidate to open the season in the NFL Kickoff Game. While being chosen for the league's marquee showcase is a testament to their massive fanbase and sky-high TV ratings, it also comes with a heavy price: starting the season on the road against a championship-caliber opponent under the brightest lights in football.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Dallas already knows it will face the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3—but not at AT&T Stadium. Instead, the Cowboys will travel roughly 5,300 miles to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for a September 27 showdown that is technically a home game but feels anything but.

That kind of transcontinental travel is a beast of its own. Unlike the NFL's European games in London or Germany, which typically involve a manageable five-to-six-hour time difference and are often paired with a bye week, this trip to South America presents unique logistical hurdles. A 2016 Boston College study on NFL travel found that every additional 1,000 miles traveled can significantly decrease a team's chances of winning, thanks to disrupted circadian rhythms and sheer physical exhaustion.

And if that wasn't enough, the opponent waiting at the end of that long flight is the Baltimore Ravens—a team built to punish any sign of fatigue. For the Cowboys, the 2026 season hasn't even started, and they're already buried under a mountain of pressure.