The Giants will start the season with something old and something new.
The John Harbaugh Era will begin on “Sunday Night Football” with the Giants hosting the Cowboys at 8:20 p.m. on Sept. 13.
Giants-Cowboys season openers are something of an unofficial tradition, though the game is played in Dallas more often than in East Rutherford.
The Giants and Cowboys met in Week 1 in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2023. Five of those seven games were at AT&T Stadium.
Even when they don’t meet in Week 1, Giants-Cowboys has been a September staple in 2022, 2024 and 2025.
Giants fans are still recovering from the 2023 season-opening primetime nightmare.
Coming off of a playoff appearance, the Giants, with high expectations, lost 40-0 at home to the Cowboys. To add injury to insult, stud left tackle Andrew Thomas strained his hamstring while chasing a blocked field goal and wound up sidelined for months while the season fell apart due to a failing offensive line.
The Giants did not request to be home in Week 1 but they will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of their Super Bowl 21 team this year.
The rivalry game also marks the NFL debuts (barring injury) of former Ohio State teammates and first-round picks Arvell Reese (Giants) and Caleb Downs (Cowboys).
They could’ve been teammates in New York, but the Giants selected right guard Francis Mauigoa at No. 10 — after doing plenty of homework on Downs — before the Cowboys got Downs to play safety at No. 11.
The Giants last started 1-0 in 2022 with a win over the Titans, who were thought to be a logical Week 1 opponent in 2026 given the storyline of former head coach Brian Daboll’s return as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator. The Titans also signed four former Giants to be possible starters during free agency.
Harbaugh will be trying to reverse a couple of negative trends.
First, the Giants are 2-13 in their last 15 season-openers, including 1-8 since 2017.
Second, the Giants are 7-22-1 within the NFC East over the last five seasons.
The bulk of the NFL schedule will be released Thursday, though there is a possibility the Giants could be part of more one-off games primetime and international games announced before then.
It sets up a fun New York sports doubleheader (and maybe tripleheader) for fans. The Mets visit Yankee Stadium in the Subway Series at 1:35 p.m. on Sept. 13 and the time for the Jets’ season-opener remains unknown.
