NFL schedule 2026: John Harbaugh’s first Giants opponent revealed

John Harbaugh’s first game as the Giants’ coach should be a fascinating one.

Harbaugh and the Giants will open the 2026 season with a Sunday night nationally televised game on NBC — Sept. 13 against the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. The game will kick off at 8:20, of course.

The full NFL regular season schedule will be released Thursday night.

But as usual, matchups will trickle out — via reports or official releases — in the days leading up to that.

And sure enough, the Giants on Monday announced their Week 1 game.

The Giants and every other NFL team have known their home-and-road opponents since last season ended. This week is just about learning the order of those games — and when they will happen.

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Other than the Cowboys, Commanders and Eagles, the Giants will face these teams at home in 2026: Cardinals, Browns, Jaguars, Saints, 49ers and Titans.

And other than those three NFC East opponents, the Giants will travel to play these teams: Lions, Texans, Colts, Rams and Seahawks.

In 2025, the Giants opened the season with a 21-6 loss at Washington. In 2024, they began with a 28-6 home loss to the Vikings. In 2023, the Giants got smoked 40-0 by the Cowboys at home in Week 1.

So Harbaugh will be trying to reverse the Giants’ recent terrible Week 1 fortunes when he squares off against Dak Prescott and Co. in this year’s lid-lifter — in front of what should be a raucous crowd in East Rutherford.

The Giants’ most recent Week 1 victory came in 2022, when they beat the Titans 21-20 in Nashville — coach Brian Daboll’s debut.

Will Daboll’s replacement, Harbaugh, also get a win in his Giants debut?

Cowboys-Giants in Week 1 this year marks the eighth time in a 15-season stretch that the teams have opened the season against each other.

The Giants closed their miserable 4-13 season in 2025 with a Week 18 home win over Dallas. Before that, they had lost nine straight games (and 16 of their previous of 17) to the Cowboys.

The Giants have dropped nine straight games in Dallas since their last win there in 2016 (when they swept the Cowboys). That’s their lone win in Dallas since 2012. The Giants are 1-12 in Dallas since then.

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