As the NFL kicks off its 107th season on September 9, 2026, with a Super Bowl rematch between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, the voice of Sunday Night Football, Mike Tirico, returns to the booth for his fifth season as the lead play-by-play announcer. But beyond the marquee matchups and the glitz of prime-time football, Tirico has his eyes on a team that most pundits have overlooked: the Dallas Cowboys.
A Quiet Offseason in Dallas
Fresh off a 7-9-1 campaign in 2025 that saw them miss the playoffs for a second straight year, the Cowboys have been conspicuously absent from the national conversation. While the Seahawks defend their title and the Los Angeles Rams made waves by acquiring defensive player of the year Myles Garrett and eight-time All-Pro Aaron Donald, Dallas has flown under the radar. Tirico, who has covered the league for nearly three decades, believes this silence is a positive sign.
“If you think about it, what was the controversy with Dallas this year? None. It was a quiet offseason. No big holdout, no big contract question that we're going to go to the 11th hour to get a deal done with the quarterback. If their defense is good, this team has a chance to be very good,” Tirico told Vulius Sports.
The Cowboys' offense was potent in 2025, ranking second in yards and seventh in points scored. However, their scoring defense was the league's worst, surrendering 511 points. The offseason focus has been on shoring up that unit, and with a healthy roster and a chip on their shoulder, Tirico sees a team poised for a resurgence.
The Evolution of Broadcasting
Tirico, who turns 60 in December, has had a whirlwind year, from calling Super Bowl 60 to hosting the Winter Olympics in Milan and the Kentucky Derby. He even served as a spotter in Bryson DeChambeau's group at The Open Championship. His versatility was rewarded in May when he won the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality in the play-by-play category. As he prepares for the 21st season of Sunday Night Football on NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo, Tirico emphasizes the need to evolve with the audience.
“I think it evolves. I don't think it necessarily drastically changes,” Tirico said. “I think over time, you know, where you don't need to spend time and places where you'd like to spend more time. So I think you learn over time through the people you get to meet and know and the places you go, what it takes to do the job. And you always want to reinvent.”
That reinvention includes balancing deep analytics with personal storytelling. “Fans want more off-the-field stuff about players within a broadcast, or do they want more analytics, or what's the balance between the two? Yeah, that's what I love about our show is that we can give you something really deep analytically and explain it to a more casual audience or at the same time give you about a player and what they're doing away from football or what has made their journey to this point so special,” he explained.
A Loaded League
While Tirico is high on the Cowboys, he acknowledges the NFL is stacked with contenders. The Seahawks are defending champions, the Rams have bolstered their defense with Garrett and Donald, and the Philadelphia Eagles made headlines with the A.J. Brown trade. “You throw in all those teams and the Eagles and the A.J. Brown trade. There’s been less talk about Dallas than I can remember going into a season over the last decade, and I think they are positioned really well to have a terrific season,” Tirico said.
As the season unfolds, all eyes will be on Dallas to see if Tirico's under-the-radar prediction comes to fruition. For fans, the 2026 NFL season promises to be one of the most unpredictable and thrilling in recent memory, and with Tirico's veteran insight, Sunday nights will be must-watch television.
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