Last season, the Giants finished 0–6 in the NFC East. They are 0–2 versus Jayden Daniels, the Commanders’ MVP candidate. Additionally, considering their last eight meetings, they have lost 15 of their last 16 games versus the Cowboys.
However, after hurting their toes this summer, Washington and Dallas may be at risk of Giants road upsets in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively, of 2017 regular season.
Star pass rusher Micah Parsons, who asked for a trade out of town during his holdout, has been shunned by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Additionally, Commanders general manager Adam Peters has allowed Terry McLaurin’s trade request and resistance to continue until Labor Day.
In addition, the San Francisco 49ers recently acquired Brian Robinson Jr. from Washington.
Last season, both with and without Robinson on the field, the Giants suffered two defeats against the Commanders. But in a devastating Week 2 Giants away loss in Maryland, he rumbled 17 times for 133 yards, killing New York on the ground when he faced them.
Washington is very high on rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who will host the Giants in their season opener on September 7. Additionally, they now have a punishing ballcarrier in case they need one thanks to Deebo Samuel’s acquisition to the receiving corps.
However, the player who might have been the Commanders’ strongest defense against the Giants’ pass rush of Kayvon Thibodeaux, Abdul Carter, Dexter Lawrence, and Brian Burns was just moved away.
Running directly at the Giants’ pass rush is probably the greatest strategy Washington can use to neutralize them. However, the Giants defense may benefit if Commanders coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s rushing back corps is more skillful than strong.
The Giants might then have more chances to pin their ears back and pursue Daniels before he can defeat them with both arms and legs.
The Cowboys are another. It’s ugly, the Parsons drama.
He might not play in the Week 2 matchup against the Giants. It’s even possible that he wasn’t even on the Cowboys roster at that time.
Dallas also has a number of important players injured.
Despite good recovery progress, linebacker Demarvion Overshown will miss time due to a late-season ACL tear.
Trevon Diggs, the starting corner, may miss that game as he recovers from knee surgery in December. Additionally, left tackle Tyler Guyton is not guaranteed to play against the Giants due to a fractured bone and a sprained knee.
Diggs’ absence would be significant.
In his first encounter with Diggs and the Dallas defense as a rookie in September 2024, top Giants receiver Malik Nabers did manage to grab 12 passes.
However, Diggs held Nabers to 9.6 yards per catch, the Giants failed to score a touchdown, and Nabers suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter as a result of Diggs’ relentless pursuit of him.
Matt Eberflus, the former head coach of the Chicago Bears, is currently the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys. Therefore, it is possible that the Giants may discover more opportunities than they did in 2023 and 2024 to counter the strategies of Mike Zimmer and Dan Quinn.
Not that the Giants don’t have their own worries, from Lawrence’s gradual transition to a full football workload to the uncertainty surrounding left tackle Andrew Thomas’ foot and Naber’s prolonged absence due to a back injury.
Additionally, they are launching a new offense with offensive coordinator Mike Kafka as the playcaller and quarterback Russell Wilson. Therefore, leaving the gates on fire without having to smooth out a few kinks is never easy.
Despite all of the discussion about the Giants’ challenging schedule, these early games offer more opportunities than they otherwise could have.
During these initial weeks, the Giants stayed away from Saquon Barkley and the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Instead, they drew a Washington squad that, but for a poor fourth-down play by the Nabers and the Giants’ poor handling of injured kicker Graham Gano, they would have defeated in Week 2 of the previous campaign.
Then, in Week 2 against the Cowboys in Arlington, Texas, the league’s schedule makers put them as the visiting team in Brian Schottenheimer’s first-ever home game as an NFL head coach.
Furthermore, at least in terms of commerce, it appears that the Commanders and Cowboys have recently been unable to move out of their own way.
And the moment is drawing near when that company will put the product on the field in September, when the Giants will be waiting to try to capitalize and grab some unanticipated victories.
