The last time the Dallas Cowboys played at the New York Giants in Week 1 to begin a new season, and on Sunday Night Football just like they will this upcoming Sunday, they had a new offensive coordinator in his first year in that role named Brian Schottenheimer. The Cowboys won this game 40-0, returning a blocked field goal for a touchdown on the opening possession for the Giants and never looking back.
This was the fifth straight win for the Cowboys against the Giants, a streak that would reach eight
games under Mike McCarthy through the 2024 season. Fast forward to 2025, and that OC from the 2023 matchup is now the head coach of America’s Team, and extended the win streak against the Giants to nine games in Week 2 of his debut season.
Something was different about this win though, as the Cowboys went from beating the Giants by an average of 21 points from the 40-0 game on to needing a dramatic overtime back and forth to beat a Russell Wilson-led New York team 40-37 on a Brandon Aubrey field goal with four seconds left. This game was in week two, and it wasn’t too long after this when Cowboys fans could put their finger directly on what was actually “different” about this game and many others that followed – the Dallas defense was as far away from being competitive as entire generations of fans had ever seen.
By Week 18 and the conclusion of the season, the Cowboys defense had the team eliminated from playoff contention, playing on the road at a Giants team that was also eliminated. The game meant nothing, other than the Cowboys keeping their win streak against the Giants alive, but ultimately this didn’t matter in the big picture to coach Schottenheimer. Quarterback Dak Prescott played just the first half, replaced by Joe Milton in the second half. The Giants got their first win against the Cowboys since January of 2021, and a second straight win to end the 2025 campaign with some things to feel good about with rookie Jaxson Dart at the helm.
Call it artificial billboard material, a nothingburger, or whatever you want, but Schottenheimer and the Cowboys look to start a new chapter in 2026 at the scene of where the book closed on both the 2025 season and streak against the Giants ended. If this isn’t enough spice from the Dallas side of this matchup to be “waiting all day for Sunday night”, the New York side really kicks things up.
Their new chapter for 2026 begins with a new head coach who was the biggest fish in the coaching market pond this offseason, John Harbaugh. After a remarkable 18 years as the head man for the Ravens, Harbaugh has brought an instant dose of confidence to a fanbase that hasn’t had many reasons at all to be excited for far too long. Given the lopsided recent history between these teams, a debut win in primetime against the Cowboys to make it two in a row on home turf for Big Blue is about the best way imaginable for the Harbaugh era to begin if you’re a Giants believer.
Both of these teams come into Week 1 with remade defenses and new defensive coordinators, high expectations that continuity at quarterback and running back will carry them, but also concerns on the offensive line. For the Giants, it’s a defense with a flock of former Ravens brought in by Harbaugh, as well as the Ohio State draft pick that started a run on Buckeyes defenders landing in the NFC East, Arvell Reese at fifth overall. Their new defensive coordinator is Dennard Wilson, who spent just one season with the Ravens as defensive backs coach in 2023 and most recently was the Titans defensive coordinator from 2024-25.
Dart and Cam Skattebo are the Giants’ battery on offense, and how both players mature within a locker room where the addition of Harbaugh is expected to make a huge cultural difference compared to years past will be interesting. The first thing they can do to help this cause is consistently play well from the jump of this season, and getting to attack a Cowboys defense in game one for Christian Parker as coordinator where the scheme is still new is a golden opportunity for the Giants offense to make a statement.
Of course, the offensive scheme for the Giants is totally new as well, going from Brian Daboll as an offensive-minded head coach to former Bears head coach Matt Nagy as OC now. This is Nagy’s first job away from the Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes environment in Kansas City since being the Bears head coach from 2018-21.
The question mark spot on the Giants offensive line that will have a huge say in how this approach will go for them is rookie starter Francis Mauigoa at right guard. Mauigoa was the second of two first-round picks the Giants spent to get better along the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball in April’s draft. No matter who the Cowboys line up against Mauigoa, they’ll have their choice of experienced players to try and win this matchup decisively with Kenny Clark, Quinnen Williams, Otito Ogbonnia, or even Von Miller and Rashan Gary as pass rushers.
The primary buzz around this game has gone far away from the trenches, mainly out to the receiving units for both teams and the potential for big plays on both sides. This was partially the case for the first primetime game of this season as well though, Patriots at Seahawks, yet that game proved again that it all starts up front in this sport. The next primetime game featuring the Cowboys and Giants could be no different, and the road team should be excited they have more than just coaching aura and lip service to be excited about when it comes to how they’ll set the tone at the line of scrimmage.
The Cowboys offensive line concern for this game is at the other guard spot, where T.J. Bass starts the season in place of the injured Tyler Smith. Paired with concerns at tackle against a Giants pass rush unit that’s been trying to play up to their expectations forever now, and it’s fair to expect both quarterbacks to be under some heat throughout this game. Which passer can make the right decisions under pressure between Prescott and Dart, and which receivers can help their QBs with run-after-the-catch efforts, will also go a long way in deciding this one.
In the Week 2 Cowboys win last year, their defense became the first to allow a pair of Giants receivers to both get over 100 yards since the Falcons in 2018. CeeDee Lamb was the only receiver over 100 yards in the game for the Cowboys.
For these two fanbases, it is really, really, really, really hard to make a Week 1 game feel like anything different than what it is – a sequel to a sequel that’s been running forever now. Somehow though, with the coaching matchup at the forefront, Caleb Downs versus Arvell Reese, and so on, this Cowboys-Giants chapter to start 2026 feels refreshed and most importantly, more even-sided than a lot of previous ones.
Dallas has not lost two in a row against New York since a three game losing streak between Week 7 of 2015, Week 1 of 2016, and Week 14 of that same season. The Giants have not started a season 1-0 since 2022, and haven’t started off with a divisional win since that 2016 season. Something has to give at the conclusion of the first football Sunday of this new season.
