NEW YORK - The New York Giants went 0-6 in the NFC East last season. They’re 0-2 against Washington Commanders MVP candidate Jayden Daniels. And they’ve lost 15 of their last 16 games against the Dallas Cowboys, including the last eight meetings.
But Washington and Dallas could be vulnerable to Giants road upsets in Weeks 1 and 2 of the regular season after stumbling this summer.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has ostracized star pass rusher Micah Parsons, who requested a trade during his holdout. And Commanders GM Adam Peters has let receiver Terry McLaurin’s holdout and trade request drag toward Labor Day.
On top of that, Washington just traded bruising back Brian Robinson Jr. to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Giants lost twice to the Commanders last season, once with Robinson in the lineup and once without him. But he gashed New York on the ground when he played, rumbling 17 times for 133 yards in a crushing Week 2 road loss in Maryland.
Washington, which will host the Giants in the Sept. 7 season opener, is high on rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt. And Deebo Samuel’s addition to the receiving corps gives them another punishing ball carrier if needed.
Still, the Commanders just dealt away the player who might have been their best counter to the Giants’ pass rush of Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence, Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
The best way for Washington to neutralize the Giants’ rush likely will be to run straight at them. If coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s backs are more finesse than power, though, that could play into the Giants’ hands.
And that might open more chances for New York to pin its ears back and pressure Daniels before he can beat them with his arm and legs.
Then there are the Cowboys. The Parsons drama is ugly.
There’s a chance he doesn’t play in Week 2. There’s even a chance he’s not on the Cowboys’ roster at all by then.
Dallas also is dealing with several injuries to key players.
Linebacker Demarvion Overshown will be out while rehabbing a late-season ACL tear, despite encouraging progress.
Top corner Trevon Diggs might miss the game as he recovers from December knee surgery. And left tackle Tyler Guyton (fractured bone, sprained knee) is no guarantee to suit up, either.
Diggs sitting would be significant.
Giants receiver Malik Nabers caught 12 passes on Diggs and the Cowboys’ defense in his first meeting with them as a rookie in September 2024.
But Diggs held him to 9.6 yards per catch. The Giants didn’t score a touchdown, and an overworked Nabers was concussed in the fourth quarter as Diggs hounded him.
Dallas also has a new defensive coordinator in Matt Eberflus, the former Chicago Bears head coach. Maybe that opens opportunities the Giants didn’t find against Dan Quinn in 2023 and Mike Zimmer in 2024.
The Giants, though, have their own concerns - from left tackle Andrew Thomas’ foot to Nabers’ rest for a back issue to Lawrence’s steady build-up toward a full workload.
They’re also breaking in a new offense with quarterback Russell Wilson and playcaller Mike Kafka. It’s rarely easy to come out firing with new leadership and wrinkles to iron out.
Still, for all the talk about the Giants’ brutal schedule, there may be more opportunity in the early games than expected.
They avoided Saquon Barkley and the reigning champion Philadelphia Eagles in those weeks.
Instead, they drew a Washington team they would have beaten in Week 2 last season if not for Nabers’ late fourth-down drop and the mismanagement of injured kicker Graham Gano.
And the schedule makers placed them in Arlington, Texas, for Brian Schottenheimer’s first home game as an NFL head coach in Week 2 against the Cowboys.
Meanwhile, the Commanders and Cowboys have struggled to get out of their own way, at least in the front office.
And soon that business could spill onto the field in September - when the Giants will be waiting to try to take advantage and steal some unexpected wins.