Cowboys get a crown they didn't earn at the Commanders' expense

The NFL announced its matchup for opening night of the 2025 NFL regular season, hosted by the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday, September 4. The obvious candidate, one would think, had to be the Washington Commanders.

That wasn't the case.

Washington was the league's biggest story last season. NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels led a turnaround in which the Commanders went from winning four games in 2023 to going 12-5 and making the NFC Championship game.

They also happen to be the Eagles' division rivals, and that rivalry was renewed in a major way. Washington was responsible for Philadelphia's only loss of the campaign after September, winning 36-33 in Week 16. Of course, the two teams would later meet in the playoffs with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

Naturally, the NFL decided that the best matchup for Philadelphia — and the football world — to kick off 2025 against would be... the Dallas Cowboys.

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It's so disappointing, and yet so predictable.

After all, it wouldn't be an NFL season without "America's Team" getting shoehorned into prime-time television slots left and right, regardless of how good they are.

Last season, the Cowboys went 7-10. While some of that can be explained by quarterback Dak Prescott suffering a season-ending injury in early November, they were 3-5 before that. They don't figure to be much better this year, either.

None of that matters when your owner is the most powerful person in the NFL. Roger Goodell may hold the official title as league commissioner, but Jerry Jones pulls the strings and has for decades. The Cowboys are American football's most valuable franchise, listed at worth just over $10 billion as of August 2024, and money talks.

For the Commanders, it's a brutal reminder of what they're up against.

Josh Harris has done nearly everything right since becoming Washington's majority owner in 2023 following Dan Snyder's ousting. In only two years, he's made considerable ground in completing what seemed like an impossible task to restore honor and respectability to this once-proud franchise. Both on and off the field, this organization could not fathomably have more momentum on its side.

But it's still no match for the power of the Cowboys brand.

What Jerry wants, Jerry gets. And evidently, he wanted his team to be in the spotlight on opening night against a division rival.

Unfortunately, it had to come at not only the expense of the Commanders but also the expense of what could have been a much better quality football game for NFL fans across the country to kick off the campaign.

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