Giants Aren’t The Pushovers They Were Expected To Be

The Los Angeles Rams were supposed to get a soft landing when they returned from Australia with a Week 2 home game against the New York Giants, but if Week 1 is any indication then John Harbaugh’s new look G-Men are anything but an “easy win”. The Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys 28-20 on Sunday Night Football, as Jaxson Dart threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns in his first game with offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, and Malik Nabers returned from a torn ACL to catch six passes for 69 yards.

New York may have been even more impressive defensively, holding Dak Prescott to just 175 yards on 34 pass attempts and containing receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens to a combined 76 yards on the night.

It’s only been one week, but the Giants have not had a top-10 offense and top-10 defense since 2008, and this is easily their most complete team since the days of Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning. Will the Rams be able to get their rebound win in Week 2 or will the travel and the loss of Myles Garrett prove to be their undoing?

Giants offense

The Giants scored one touchdown in each of their four quarters against the Cowboys, a defense that was supposed to be vastly improved from last season under the guidance of first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker. We even saw in L.A.’s joint practice against Dallas this year that the Cowboys looked far more competent on defense than they did in the joint practice in 2025.

However, was that just because of who the Cowboys were facing?

Giants running back Cam Skattebo had 18 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown against Dallas, the second-highest rushing yards total of his young career. Harbaugh brings that “rushing mentality” from the Baltimore Ravens to New York and instantly there’s a difference in the mentality and violence that the Giants have as a rushing team.

The Rams opened up some gaping running lanes for Christian McCaffrey and Kaelon Black in Week 1. That won’t be good enough in Week 2 against Skattebo, Devin Singletary, and Tyrone Tracy.

But the most success part of New York’s passing game was Dart to tight end Isaiah Likely, a free agent who followed Harbaugh from Baltimore to the Giants on a three-year, $40 million contract:

• 8 targets
• 8 catches
• 78 yards
• 2 TDs
• 1 fumble (recovered)

That’s largely how Dart was able to complete so many of his passes and be so efficient on Sunday. Nabers did what he did, but Odell Beckham Jr had zero targets on 11 snaps in his return to New York. Darnell Mooney, Malachi Fields, and Theo Johnson make up the rest of the weapons, but Singletary also caught a touchdown and is a threat in the passing game.

The Giants faced 11 third downs and converted nine of them.

Giants defense

The Cowboys were supposed to be this offensive “juggernaut” with Dak as an MVP candidate, but they basically looked terrible.

The fact that Dak has the third-HIGHEST QBR after Week 1 shows just how bad stats can be. Most of his yards (52%) came after the catch and he didn’t even have that many yards.

Superstar receiver Lamb (5 catches for 44 yards and a TD on eight targets) and Pickens (three catches for 28 yards on six targets) were insignificant against New York’s secondary. Despite not having the biggest names back there — reclamation projects like Deonte Banks (2 pass breakups) and Greg Newsome II at corner — the Giants weren’t afraid of the Cowboys receivers. Safety Jevon Holland had an interception.

The Giants ranked dead last in yards per carry allowed last season, but held Javonte Williams to 41 yards on 12 carries and Dallas as a whole to 69 yards on 18 carries.

Rookie fifth overall pick Arvell Reese got no sacks, nor did anyone else on New York’s defense, but he had a TFL and a QB hit. The Giants front-seven includes Reese, Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, Tremaine Edmunds, D.J. Reader, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Shelby Harris. It could be a murderer’s row with Harbaugh and defensive coordinator and Dennard Wilson, considering what he was able to build on the Ravens.

Giants special teams

There’s not a lot to mention from Week 1, but just a reminder that Harbaugh is a former special teams coordinator who prides himself in the third phase. He brought punter Jordan Stout with him to New York after he had an All-Pro season in Baltimore in 2025. Rookie kicker Dominic Zvada went 4-of-4 on extra points and didn’t get any field goal attempts.

There were no punt returns in the game for either team.

Rams-Giants

The Rams do not face a “do or die” in Week 2, but a loss to the Giants on Sunday would divide the fanbase by as much distance as there is from here to Melbourne.

Some will say that it’s the end of the season if L.A. drops to 0-2.

Others will say there’s a lot of football left.

(Mostly people will probably be devastated though, if we’re being honest.)

Well, the Rams are hardly underdogs in Week 2 against the Giants. In fact, the Rams are 8.5 point favorites at FanDuel which is fairly massive.

However, what’s clear is that these aren’t the Giants most expected them to be. The Cowboys were popular preseason picks to win the NFC East, if not go to the Super Bowl, and they looked far outmatched by Harbaugh’s Giants in his New York debut. Between the new looks on offense, and the potential to be vastly improved on defense and special teams, the Giants are heading to SoFi this week with the intention to send a message:

“We aren’t the same Giants.“

Is that true? We’ll find out in less than a week.