Giants fans have plenty of reasons to feel good entering Week 1, but there’s a real path to this opener turning ugly fast against the Cowboys.
The concern starts with the run game. New York poured real resources into repairing a defense that was one of the worst against the run in 2025, bringing in DJ Reader and Tremaine Edmunds and using a top-five draft pick on Arvell Reese.
That investment will get stress-tested right away, because Dallas finished last season with one of the NFL’s most efficient rushing attacks and ranked in the top ten in rushing yards. If the Cowboys can control the ground game from the jump, the Giants could lose any shot at dictating tempo.
There’s also the matter of the passing game, and this is where things can get messy in a hurry. Dallas is built around CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, a receiver duo that can overwhelm defenses when both are healthy.
New York’s unofficial Week 1 depth chart has Deonte Banks and Greg Newsome II as the starting corners, and that group may be the weakest on the roster, even with Newsome saying it’s the best cornerback group in the league. If Lamb and Pickens find space early, the Cowboys could put the game out of reach quickly.
And then there’s the history. Harbaugh is 4-1 against the Cowboys, but the Giants have not had much success against Dallas lately.
They’ve dropped nine of their last ten meetings with their NFC East rival, and before last season’s Week 18 win - a game that didn’t mean much for either side - they hadn’t beaten the Cowboys since January of 2021. That’s a rough run in a division matchup, and it’s part of why this opener carries so much anxiety.
The Giants need a different kind of start this season. Another year of chasing Dallas would leave fans with the same old feeling.
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Former Giants RB At Center Of Sickening Off-Field Case
LeShon Johnson, a former Giants running back, is back in the news for all the wrong reasons after being sentenced to five years in prison and fined $30,000 for operating an illegal dogfighting ring. The case ended with convictions on six felony counts tied to possession, selling and trafficking animals used for fighting, a grim chapter that adds another dark footnote to the post-football life of a player once known for his time in the league.
The scope of the operation is what made the case stand out even more. After his arrest, Johnson surrendered 190 dogs, the largest number ever seized from one person in a federal dogfighting case, underscoring just how extensive the investigation became. It is a disturbing reminder that headlines involving former players can sometimes stretch far beyond the field and into crimes that carry both legal and moral weight. [Read more 🡒]
Odell Beckham Jr. Suddenly Carries More Weight In Giants Opener
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Beckham is expected to get meaningful snaps right away, which gives the Giants more than just another body at the position. His presence now matters both for what he can still do on the field and for the veteran steadiness he can bring to a group that may need it early. How much bigger that role becomes could depend on the health and availability of the receivers around him, and that makes Sunday feel like more than a routine opener. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Suddenly Need Theo Johnson For More Than They Planned
With Malik Nabers' availability still in question and Darius Slayton gone, the Giants are heading toward Week 1 against the Cowboys with less certainty at receiver than they probably wanted. That puts a different kind of spotlight on Theo Johnson, the tight end who led the team in receiving touchdowns last season and now looks poised to matter even more in the passing game.
Johnson was already part of the plan, but the shrinking margin for error around him changes the scale of the assignment. If the wideout group remains thin, the Giants may have to lean on him not just as a red-zone option, but as one of the more reliable ways to keep the offense moving while they sort out who is actually available and how much they can trust the rest of the passing game. [Read more 🡒]