Not all schedules are created equally. The New York Giants will almost certainly be up against it this NFL season. They may be playing a fourth-place schedule, but also draw the AFC West and the NFC North in its entirety. The NFC East sent two of its teams to the playoffs last year. Keep in mind that this is the NFC's year to play nine road games, as the AFC teams had to do it only a season ago, too.
Although other teams may have to travel more than the Giants do, they are not going to be favored in most of the games they play. Their pathway forward as a franchise is to get utterly tenacious on defense with Abdul Carter coming aboard from Penn State. They also need to figure out what they are doing at quarterback. It will be Russell Wilson for now, but Jaxson Dart looms large as a rookie.
Here is what Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com has for us when it comes to Giants scheduling leaks.
- Week 1: at Washington Commanders
- Week 2: at Dallas Cowboys
- Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
- Week 4: vs. Los Angeles Chargers
That is just the first four weeks of the season... New York also has two other confirmed primetime games besides the Monday Night Football date at home vs. Kansas City in Week 3 for their home opener. That would be a Monday Night Football date at the New England Patriots in December, as well as a Thursday Night Football date home vs. the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
I am really struggling to see how Brian Daboll keeps his job after this season after a brutal first month.
NY Giants schedule is not for the faint of heart with a brutal first month
Outside of the Dallas Cowboys, the three other teams New York will play in the first month of the season all made the playoffs last year. The Washington Commanders faced Philadelphia in the NFC championship. The Kansas City Chiefs came up one game short of pulling off an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat. Even the Los Angeles Chargers were able to qualify for the NFL postseason.
Even though every year is different, I would be stunned if the Giants came out of the first month of the season with a .500 record. That would almost certainly require them beating the Cowboys in Jerryworld, as well as taking advantage of the Chargers having to travel across the country for what will probably be an early kick in my estimation. Beating Washington and Kansas City seems unlikely.
If there is any saving grace, take a look at Washington. The Commanders picked second in the 2024 NFL Draft for a reason. The team stunk to high heaven, but wisely hired Adam Peters and Dan Quinn to call the shots for new owner Josh Harris. Together, they came to the right decision to take Jayden Daniels out of LSU. Dart is a fine player, but he is not in the same stratosphere as this LSU legend.
If New York wants to make serious headway this year, the Giants must punch up in winnable games.