The New York Giants will face a familiar foe in Jim Harbaugh’s first regular-season game as head coach.
The Giants will host the rival Dallas Cowboys in Week 1 on Sunday Night Football, in news that dropped Monday ahead of the league’s schedule reveal Thursday.
The Giants and Cowboys are no strangers to squaring off in Week 1, since they have met in the season opener in five of the past 10 seasons. The Giants only won one of the previous five season-opening, head-to-head games, in 2016 when they defeated Dallas 20-19.
The Giants have only hosted one of those five games too, the most recent season opener between the teams in 2023. Dallas rolled 40-0, in a game made memorable by its defensive dominance in which its defense scored a pair of touchdowns.
The Giants Will Host the Cowboys in Week 1
That the Giants are playing a showcase game in Week 1 is no surprise, and the Cowboys were always likely to be their Week 1 opponent.
Yet, the Giants have opened their season so many times in Dallas, it seems almost surprising that the teams will meet at MetLife Stadium in Week 1 on Sept. 13.
This will be the teams’ eighth Week 1 head-to-head game in the past 20 seasons — by far the most of any Giants season-opening opponent. Only two of the previous seven were in East Rutherford, the 2023 season and the season opener in 2012, which previously was the last time the NFL season opened on a Wednesday.
It will be the 10th time they will square off in the franchises’ legendary history and the eighth time the game will be played in primetime. This will be the Giants’ fifth time opening the year against the Cowboys in primetime since 2007.
The Giants are 1-8 in the previous nine Week 1 meetings and have never defeated the Cowboys in Week 1 at home. The have only scored points in one of their previous three Week 1 games in East Rutherford — Dallas’ 24-17 win over Big Blue in the banner-raising opener in 2012.
Dallas also defeated the Giants 35-0 in Week 1 on Monday Night Football in 1995.
On the plus side for Giants fans, they have twice opened a Super Bowl championship season with a Week 1 loss to the Cowboys. They lost in both 1986 (31-28) and 2007 (45-35).
The Rest of the Giants’ Schedule Will be Revealed Throughout the Week
We know Week 1 will be one of the Giants’ nine home games, and we already know their opponents this season. So even though the official schedule won’t be revealed until late Thursday night, the full slate of games could be made public before then.
One of the Giants’ games is likely to be revealed Wednesday when “Good Morning Football” unveils the full slate of international games.
New York is likely to play in Munich, Germany at some point during the season, since it has exclusive marketing rights in that city through 2029 and did not play a regular-season international game in 2025.
But the fact the Giants’ Week 1 game was unveiled this early in the week bodes well for fans who are chomping at the bit to know the full slate before Thursday.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Giants to Face Rival on SNF in Jim Harbaugh’s First Regular-Season Game appeared first on HEAVY.