The National Football League made its master schedule for all 32 franchises official on Thursday night.
The defending NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles begin their slate on Sept. 13, Week 1 — vs. Washington Commanders at 4:25 PM.
Week 2 — at Tennessee Titans (September 20)
Week 3 — at Chicago Bears (September 28, ESPN) Monday Night Football
Week 4 — vs. Los Angeles Rams (October 4)
Week 5 — at Jacksonville Jaguars in London(October 11)
Week 6 — vs. Carolina Panthers (October 18)
Week 7 — vs. Dallas Cowboys (October 26, ESPN) Monday Night Football
Week 8 — at Washington Commanders (November 1, 8:20 PM, NBC) Sunday Night Football
Week 9 — vs. New York Giants (November 8)
Week 10 — Bye
Week 11 — vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (November 22)
Week 12 — at Dallas Cowboys (November 26, 4:30 PM, FOX) Thanksgiving
Week 13 — vs. Indianapolis Colts (December 6)
Week 14 — at Arizona
Week 15 — vs. Seattle Seahawks
Week 16 — vs. Houston Texans (December 24, 8:15 PM, Prime Video) Thursday Night Football
Week 17 — at San Francisco 49ers (January 3, 8:20 PM, NBC) Sunday Night Football
Week 18 — at New York Giants (TBD)
Some #Eagles schedule notes: There are five scheduled primetime games for the fifth straight year. They have appeared in the third-most primetime games (114) in the NFL since 2000.
-The Birds are slated for two Monday night games (at Chicago in Week 3 and vs. Dallas in Week 7) for the second consecutive season. Since 2000, the Eagles have played in the most Monday Night Football games (44) in the NFL.
-The Midnight Green marauders travel to London for their third international regular-season game in Week 5 against Jacksonville at Tottenham Stadium. The Eagles previously defeated the Jaguars 24-18 on Oct. 28, 2018, at Wembley Stadium in London.
-The Eagles will play on Thanksgiving Day for the eighth time in franchise history, last doing so in 2015. Overall, Philadelphia is 6-1 on Thanksgiving all-time. The .857 winning percentage on the uniquely American holiday is the highest of any team that has played at least 7 games.
Facing a second consecutive death struggle in their second consecutive playoff series against a team from the Sunshine State, the Philadelphia Flyers had a prime chance to wrest control of their best–of-seven set against the Florida Panthers during a Game 5 Sunday matinee at the Spectrum.
From the drop, despite drawing even with a controversial overtime win less than 72 hours earlier, the Panthers did everything they could to give their hosts an advantage.
And unlike Cup challenging and Cup winning teams before them in the building, the Flyers never really took it.
Just 147 seconds after the opening faceoff, Panthers defenseman Paul Laus injected his elbow firmly into the mush of Flyers winger Pat Falloon, drawing a major penalty. The Flyers, who became flustered with Florida’s series-long commitment to perfect positional hockey in all three zones and in all situations, could only muster 2 shots on Panthers goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck.
It took two more calls 27 seconds apart in the first 6 minutes of the second period for the Orange and Black to punch through. The Big Guy.
Stranger still, they were unable to build on that slender advantage by playing hesitantly.
Stu Barnes managed to slip a squeaker home early in the third period to dampen any thoughts of extending that slim 1-goal edge. Second-year defenseman Chris Therien had to think quickly and clear a Tom Fitzgerald chance off the goal line early in the first OT.
And when journeyman grinder Mike Hough finally ended things before the midway point of the fifth period for a 2-1 result, as it was portrayed on all the TV stations, it looked like the hosts, nestled in the safety of their lockers, were tired and filled with relief they didn’t have to carry the anvil on their backs any longer.
“We were scared to make a mistake instead of going at them in overtime,” Dale Hawerchuk said later to Jay Greenberg of the Daily News.
Hawerchuk, having just completed his 15th NHL season and long since eclipsed the 1,000-game mark, still had yet to advance past the second round in 14 tries with either the Jets, Sabres or Philadelphia.
After beginning the 1995 summer playoff session with a 5-0 home record, they finished up a dismal 3-6 through the next 3 rounds. The Panthers limited the Flyers to just 11 goals across 6 games, their lowest total for a best-of-seven series which lasted at least that long since the Canadiens held them to 8 scores in a 6-game Wales Conference final in 1989.
So May 12, 1996 officially stands as the last meaningful Flyers game contested in the Spectrum, even though captain Eric Lindros put on his Mark Messier mask in the postgame and half-assedly assured a road win and Game 7 on home ice.
“We’re coming back home,” he said. “We’re going to win.”
(Narrator voice) They did not, in fact, win.
Two nights later in Miami, the Panthers closed out the series thanks to 4 separate episodes of rat droppings. Less than one calendar year after so much emotion fueled a surprise run to the Eastern finals, Philly GM Bob Clarke was mystified at his team’s maddening fluctuations.
“Keeping our emotional level up has been a constant battle right from the beginning (of the playoffs), Clarke was quoted in Full Spectrum. “How can you be so high one game and so low the next?”
Over their 29-year tenure in the brown sardine can, the Orange and Black finished 79-52 in the postseason with two Stanley Cup championships, six trips to the Finals and 11 entries into the semifinal round.
The Flyers moved into the new building across the parking lot and the NHL schedule makers crafted a cruel reunion between the teams, with the first regular-season home date for Terry Murray’s club was a rematch with Doug MacLean’s defending Eastern Conference champions.
Florida went ahead and won that one, too, by a 3-1 count. And then won the second meeting in Philly a little over 3 weeks later, 3-2. The Panthers challenged the Oilers’ record of 15 games from the start of a season without a loss, but the Flyers rose to the challenge and won, 3-2, on Nov. 2, ending Florida’s run at 8-0-4.
“I’ve been around this game too damn long and I’m getting sick of this,” goaltender Ron Hextall said after the Game 6 defeat. “I want to win the last game, not lose.”
Hextall lost the last game in ‘96, then the last game in ‘97 in Detroit. He also lost the last game he ever started, Apr. 5, 1999, a 5-1 home defeat to the New York Rangers where he gave up a center-ice goal to hot-shooting Chris Tamer.
Ed Snider boldly predicted the Flyers would win the Stanley Cup during the first year in the CoreStates Center, and they at least reached the final round, without having to plow through the Panthers or New Jersey Devils. To this day, these franchises have not enjoyed a postseason rematch.
To review the previous editions of Spectrum Memories which recalled the Flyers' final season in the Spectrum 30 years ago, hit the links below.
In advance of the release of the National Football League's master schedule for the 2026 season, anticipated to occur on Thursday night, certain matchups have already been leaked.
One of those made known to the public late Monday afternoon, is the Dallas Cowboys' opponent on Thanksgiving.
This year, it will be the defending NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles.
The Cowboys have hosted the late afternoon start on the 4th Thursday in November almost every year since 1966, excepting 1975 and 1977.
Philadelphia has been chosen as their foe twice previously, in 1989 and 2014, winning both.
The Cowboys have won each of their last four Thanksgiving matchups. Last season, it was a 31-28 triumph over the three-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. The Las Vegas Raiders were the last club to top America's Team on America's holiday, a 36-33 overtime decision on Nov. 25, 2021.
Distaste between the two NFC East franchises, simmering for decades, reached a boiling point at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX on Nov. 23, 1989. Retroactively nicknamed "Bounty Bowl I" for Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan instructing several Cowboys players to be targeted, including former kicker Luis Zendejas, the Birds won, 27-0. That marked the first time Dallas was shutout on the holiday.
In that blowout victory, Eagles QB Randall Cunningham finished 21-of-33 for 234 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Cris Carter. The visitors' defense forced 5 Cowboys turnovers and held rookie QB Troy Aikman to 54 yards through the air on 7-of-21 completions.
Flash forward to 25 years later, Nov. 27, 2014 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Embattled signal-caller Mark Sanchez -- who infamously was victimized by the "Butt Fumble" two years prior while playing for the New York Jets against the New England Patriots -- led the Birds to a rousing 33-10 victory.
Sanchez ended the day 20-of-29 for 217 yards, one score through the air and another on a rush. LeSean McCoy rolled for 159 yards on 25 carries and another ground TD. Conversely, Dallas QB Tony Romo was picked off twice and sacked 4 times and the hosts committed three turnovers.
For the Eagles, this will mark the eighth time the bellwether franchise has been selected to play on Thanksgiving, having gone 6-1 previously. Their only defeat came in their last Thanksgiving matchup, in Detroit, a 45-14 walloping by the Lions in 2015. Between 1968 and 2014, they bested the Pittsburgh Pirates (1939, 1940), the Lions (1968), Cowboys and Cardinals (2008).
The remainder of the 2026 schedule for all NFL teams is expected to be revealed this Thursday, May 14, at 8 pm on NFL Network.
