GUEST COLUMN: Hey Everyone… Be On High Alert For New York Football Giants Nation

With the John Harbaugh Era officially underway in New York, the Giants have seriously taken a step forward in resurrecting their organization.

The resurgence of the franchise began this past Sunday night on Sunday Night Football in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where Big Blue laid an imprint on the NFL world by notching a season-opening home victory over their archrival Dallas Cowboys, 28-20, at MetLife Stadium.

On September 13, 2026, second-year starting quarterback Jaxson Dart had a strong, economical performance, connecting on 23 of 29 of his passes, good for 230 passing yards, 3 touchdown passes and 0 interceptions.

In fact, the only real blemish on the Giants’ game in the opener was the penalty bug, as the team committed 10 penalties and allowed 114 penalty yards in their Week 1 season- and home-opening 28-20 win over Dallas.

Despite the fact that the Giants committed one more penalty and 24 more penalty yards than Dallas, the G-Men still won by eight points.

If you look at the offense, running back Cam Skattebo had a 3-yard rushing touchdown to start the game and gave the Giants an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Complemented by this, tight end Isaiah Likely recorded two touchdown receptions, one for 15 yards and another for 2 yards. The third of Dart’s 3 touchdown passes was credited to running back Devin Singletary, as he recorded a 9-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, giving Big Blue a 28-14 lead at the time.

Singletary’s 9-yard touchdown reception proved to be enough for the Giants to march to victory over their hated rival, the Dallas Cowboys.

Maybe, just maybe, this victory not only starts the commencement of something new in terms of a new identity for this Giants franchise, but also ends a multi-year, decade-long drought of struggles against Dallas. During the Eli Manning years, the rivalry was dominated by the Giants over the Cowboys when Tony Romo was at the helm for Dallas.

The Giants look to return to the glory days of their football franchise, reminiscent of 2007-2008, 2011-2012 and even before that era, dating back to the Phil Simms and Jeff Hostetler years of the mid-to-late 1980s.

Big Blue’s defense looked pretty stout considering the impressive offense featured by Dallas, led by Giant-killer quarterback Dak Prescott.

The Giants limited the Dallas offense to 244 total yards and only 69 rushing yards. Stopping the run was a major weakness of the Giants last season, and even in prior years, and they surely stopped the run successfully in this one.

Moreover, the Giants’ ball possession was clearly in their control, as Big Blue dominated in that area of the game as well, controlling possession for 36:40 of the entire 60-minute game.

One defensive weakness and area to look out for in terms of improvement for the G-Men is their third-down defense, where the Giants allowed Dallas to convert 8 of 11. So, the Giants have to improve, at least against Dallas moving forward, in getting off the field once a third-down defensive situation presents itself so that the offense can get back onto the field to produce points.

If from here on out, the Giants play a version and brand of football like we saw this past Sunday night, the NFL better be on high alert and watch out, because Odell Beckham Jr. and other star acquisitions that the Giants received in the offseason through Harbaugh’s intuition haven’t even unleashed their talents as of yet.

OBJ will be looking to show his Super Bowl-impact play, along with fullback/tight end Patrick Ricard’s colossal stature and bulldozer “ground and pound” offensive mentality, reminiscent of running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw.