Michael Irvin Gives Game-By-Game & Final Record Predictions For Cowboys' 2026 Season

Here's a full rundown of Irvin's predictions:

Week 1 at New York Giants: W
Week 2 vs. Washington Commanders: W
Week 3 vs. Baltimore Ravens: W
Week 4 at Houston Texans: L
Week 5 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: W
Week 6 at Green Bay Packers: W
Week 7 at Philadelphia Eagles: L
Week 8 vs. Arizona Cardinals: W
Week 9 at Indianapolis Colts: W
Week 10 vs. San Francisco 49ers: W
Week 11 vs. Tennessee Titans: W
Week 12 vs. Philadelphia Eagles: W
Week 13 at Seattle Seahawks: L
Week 14: BYE
Week 15 at Los Angeles Rams: W
Week 16 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: W
Week 17 vs. New York Giants: L
Week 18 at Washington Commanders: W
Final record: 13-4

Irvin's reason for the Cowboys not sweeping the Giants is based on his belief that head coach John Harbaugh will have New York playing at a higher level late in the season, which leads to a Big Blue win over Dallas in Week 17.

"That New York team will be vastly different than the one (Dallas) played in the beginning of the year," Irvin said. By the end of the year, that (John) Harbaugh stuff will have taken root and they got the talent and they got the mentality in New York, so by the end of the year, that's going to be a whole different team."

When it comes to the season finale, Irvin's decision is based on if the Cowboys actually need that game. At 12-4 they might not, but Rich Eisen predicted they would, so Irvin gives Dallas a "W" there over the Commanders to complete the season sweep.

"I didn't just just throw wins in there, I gave you how this thing would play out and you gonna know," Irvin said.

Irvin did not provide a playoff prediction here, but he did note that the Cowboys will be walking into Seattle in Week 13 and the conversation will be about that game being a potential NFC Championship Game preview with Dallas sitting at 10-2.

However, because the bye is the following week, Irvin thinks the Cowboys will be looking ahead to that and will drop the contest against the reigning Super Bowl champions.

"In Seattle and everybody's going to be talking about, 'Is this the NFC Championship Game matchup,'" Irvin said. "And here's going to be the problem right here: Everything's going good, but they got a bye week after this and this is what Jimmy Johnson always worried about. You start thinking about the bye week before it's time to go goodbye. And Dallas loses it."

Can the Cowboys pull this off?

Considering how difficult Dallas' schedule is shaping up to be, it would be amazing if this prediction comes through.

According to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis, Dallas has the fifth-toughest schedule in the NFL based on projected win totals from Vegas oddsmakers.

Navigating a schedule like that en route to a 13-win season would have Cowboys fans rightly dreaming of a Super Bowl going into the postseason.

Knowing how tough the Cowboys' schedule is, it's going to be very tough to pull that off. Dallas will probably need its defense to finish top 10 while also getting an elite performance from the offense in order to get to 13 wins.

A more realistic outlook is Dallas' defense improving to around the league average and the offense finishing as a top-five unit. In the event that happens, a 10- or 11-win season is likely and will be good enough to get the Cowboys back to the playoffs.