THE OPPONENT
The Commanders, led by coach Dan Quinn, ended some notable droughts in 2024: NFC Championship Game appearance (32 seasons), postseason victory (18), 10+ win season (11), and winning season (seven).
Washington averaged the most points per game (28.5) by any team with a rookie quarterback as its leading passer in NFL history. Of course, that would be Jayden Daniels, the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and former LSU teammate of Malik Nabers.
Daniels set the all-time rookie records for completion percentage (69.0), rush yards by a quarterback (891), and total offensive yards, including postseason (5,416).
The Commanders traded for wide receiver Deebo Samuel in March, sending a 2025 fifth-round draft pick to the 49ers. According to NFL Research, Samuel is one of four players in NFL history with 4,000+ receiving yards and 1,000+ rush yards through their first six career seasons. The others are all in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Charley Taylor, Lenny Moore, Bobby Mitchell).
Wide receiver Terry McLaurin, who signed a contract extension in August, set the franchise record for most touchdown catches (13) last season. This will be the first time in McClaurin's career that he will play with the same primary starting quarterback from the year before (Daniels in 2024, Sam Howell in 2023, Carson Wentz in 2022, Taylor Heinicke in 2021, Alex Smith in 2020, Case Keenum in 2019).
That's good news for the Commanders after McLaurin and Daniels boasted the second-highest passer rating (130.4) among QB-WR duos in 2024, with a minimum of 75 targets. Only Detroit's Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown (134.5) were better.
The Giants held McClaurin to 41 receiving yards in two games last season, but he did have two touchdowns (on two catches) in the second leg of the series.
Washington is projected to have a different starting offensive lineman at four positions in 2024, including left tackle Laremy Tunsil (acquired via trade) and rookie right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. (drafted 29th overall).
Defensively, the Commanders improved from last to third in fewest passing yards allowed (189.5) in the NFL last season. It only got better when they traded with the Saints in early November for four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore. Including the postseason, the Commanders had more interceptions (six) in Lattimore's five games than they did without him (five in other 15 games) while going 4-1.
NO TWO SEASONS ARE ALIKE…
The Giants play 10 regular-season games against teams who made the postseason in 2024 – Eagles twice, Commanders twice, Packers, Vikings, Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, and Lions – which is tied for third-most in the league. The Eagles and Lions have the most with 11 apiece.
The Giants' 2025 opponents went 166-123 in 2024, good for a .574 winning percentage, the highest in the NFL. Looking at their NFC East foes, the Eagles have the fourth-toughest schedule in terms of winning percentage (.561); the Cowboys are tied for fifth (.557); and the Commanders are eighth (.550). The San Francisco 49ers, meanwhile, have the "easiest" road in the NFL at .415.
But no two seasons are ever the same, a sentiment that defines the NFL more than any other sports league.
According to NFL Research, four of the past five teams with the "easiest" strength of schedule missed the postseason (2024 Saints and Falcons were tied, 2023 Falcons, 2022 Commanders). Conversely, two of the past four teams with the "hardest" schedule made the postseason (2023 Eagles, 2021 Steelers).
Furthermore, the NFL boasts a streak of 35 consecutive seasons with at least four teams qualifying for the playoffs after missing out the year before. And at least one team has won its division the season after missing the playoffs in 53 of 55 seasons since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The outliers were 2024 and 1976, the only years in which the division winners were all in the playoffs the prior season.
MILESTONE TRACKER
The Giants are one win away from 750 in franchise history, including postseason. They are 749-689-34 in 100 seasons.
IMPORTANCE OF WEEK 1
In 2024, nine of the 14 playoff teams won their matchup in Week 1. The other five were defeated by a team that went on to make the postseason (KC over BAL, PHI over GB, TB over WAS, DET over LAR).
DID YOU KNOW?
There are 15 Super Bowl rematches on the 2025 NFL regular-season schedule. The Giants, who embark on their 101st season, account for two of them, both of which will be played on the road. They face the Broncos (XXI) in Week 7 at Empower Field at Mile High and the Patriots (XLII and XLVI) in a Week 13 Monday night game in Foxborough, where coach Brian Daboll won five Super Bowls as an assistant with New England. The Giants will then go on their bye in Week 14, the latest possible slot in the NFL.