Cowboys-Giants on SNF opens Harbaugh's Giants era — SkimNews
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- Dallas Cowboys visit the New York Giants on Sept. 13 at 8:20 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium for the first Sunday Night Football game of the 2026 NFL season — their ninth Week 1 meeting in 20 years, with Dallas a perfect 8-0 all-time in Week 1 primetime games against New York.
- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and coach Brian Schottenheimer rebuilt the league's worst scoring defense (30.1 PPG in 2025) by hiring coordinator Christian Parker from Philadelphia and adding Pro Bowl edge rusher Rashan Gary, Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller, and first-round safety Caleb Downs — replacing 46.2% of last year's defensive snaps.
- John Harbaugh becomes the Giants' first Super Bowl-winning head coach since Tom Coughlin's 2015 finale, bringing Ravens veterans Patrick Ricard, Isaiah Likely, and Jordan Stout while drafting linebacker Arvell Reese (5th overall) and offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa (10th).
- Caleb Downs, the Ohio State All-American safety Dallas grabbed at No. 11 after the Giants' Mauigoa pick pushed him down, drew rave reviews — coach Schottenheimer said the rookie "cannot get coached enough," while CeeDee Lamb told him directly: "they got you in this position."
- Malik Nabers remains officially questionable for the Giants despite practicing fully all week, telling reporters "I can't put my career at risk" as he weighs returning from a torn ACL.
- Dak Prescott has won 14 of 17 career starts against the Giants per the source, and the model's prediction pegs Dallas 31-17, with Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and George Pickens exploiting New York's inconsistent cornerbacks.
Why it matters: Dallas opens as a 3-point favorite despite finishing last in scoring defense last season because the offseason overhaul on that side of the ball — 46.2% of snaps gone plus a top coordinator hire — has Cowboys veterans bullish, with Pro Bowl DT Quinnen Williams saying the "mindset... drastically changed." For New York, the Harbaugh era opens against a division rival that has outscored them 59-3 across the last two Week 1 meetings, and Nabers' ACL recovery will determine whether the Giants can keep this competitive.
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