DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys' 2022 schedule release is May 12, the same as the rest of the NFL, but the distance the reigning NFC East champions will have to travel has already been determined.
The Cowboys' home and away opponents were settled with the conclusion of the 2021 season. With Dallas' same-place finishers identified in the NFC South, NFC West, and AFC North, the scheduled combatants are locked into place as it was already in the formula for the Cowboys to face the AFC South and NFC North.
According to Bookies.com, the Cowboys will have the 12th-most travel miles in 2022 as they will log 19,566 miles covering 14 time zones.
The furthest the Cowboys will travel is to California when they take on the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Dallas' shortest distance road game will be when they take on the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
The Cowboys also have the benefit of going on the road three times in the Central Time Zone — Green Bay, Minnesota, Tennessee. In 2021, the Cowboys also had three games in the Central Time Zone as they played in Minnesota, Kansas City, and New Orleans.
What the NFL schedule will reveal for the Cowboys is how much of that distance they get to nibble and which parts they have to lump. Going out to Los Angeles isn't so bad if Dallas is coming off a home game. If Dallas has to play the Rams just after a visit to the East Coast to play the Jacksonville Jaguars, it could be a difficult stretch.
In 2011, the Cowboys opened up on Sunday Night Football at the New York Jets and then played the San Francisco 49ers on the road in week two. The Cowboys repeated the feat in 2012 when they played the New York Giants home in the Thursday night opener and then headed off to play the Seattle Seahawks in week two 11 days later.
The Seahawks top the list with a whopping 29,446 travel miles and 34 time zones visited. The Seahawks routinely are in the top-five annually due to their location in the Pacific Northwest.
The shortest distance will be enjoyed by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are also generally in the bottom-5 due to their divisional opponents being in relative driving distance in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Baltimore. All of the Steelers' road games in 2022 will be in the Eastern Time Zone, the same time zone as the Steel City.
Do you think the Cowboys have an advantage or disadvantage when it comes to travel wear and tear? Share your thoughts with Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.