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NFL schedule-makers certainly didn’t take it easy on the New York Giants.
Big Blue already faced the NFL’s third-toughest slate (by win percentage) heading into May 11th’s schedule release. Then the league saddled them with seven road games in their first 10 contests.
No team had faced such a heavy road schedule since the league added bye week in 1990, according to NFL analytics guru Warren Sharp.
New York’s schedule gets tougher, somehow.
They’ll face five playoff teams in those first 10 games. Their bye week doesn’t come until Week 13. And if New York survives all that with any postseason odds, they play the NFC Champion Eagles twice in the season’s final three weeks — including a game on Christmas Day.
It’ll be tough sledding for the 2023 Giants. But if they win these five games, their odds of mounting back-to-back playoff runs since 2007-08 should exponentially increase.
Week 1: Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants (SNF)
The Giants and Cowboys have started five seasons together dating back to 2013.
Only one of those openers ended in a Giants win. In fact, Big Blue has only beaten Dallas four times — four times! — in the last 10 years.
A win against Dallas would do more than just break a losing streak, though.
It’d prove New York can sustain its success from last year’s playoff run, especially within a beefed up NFC East. And it’d also add the same kind of spark head coach Brian Daboll gave last year’s team by going for two in the season opener against the Titans.
That win set the tone for an unexpected run. Can Daboll and the Giants do it again?
Week 4: Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants (MNF)
The Giants suffered a reality-checking road loss to the Seahawks last season.
They’ll host this season’s showdown in MetLife Stadium. After a Thursday Night game in Week 3, Big Blue has another day added to its mini-bye week to prepare.
Expect the new-look secondary to be tested early. Seattle receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett helped break New York’s four-game win streak last year. This year, rookie wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba — a prospect the Giants scouted heavily — joins the opposition.
So does safety Julian Love, a Giants team captain last year. How will New York adjust if Love spills all the team’s defensive signals to his new Seahawks teammates?
Week 6: New York Giants at Buffalo Bills (SNF)
No one knows Josh Allen like his former offensive coordinator does.
To win this game, Daboll and his offensive staff will need to duplicate the job they did with Allen. If Giants-Bills turns into a shootout, Big Blue’s newly-extended quarterback must keep pace. If it doesn’t, Daboll’s defensive staff needs to keep Allen in check.
Either type of game should be enlightening for Giants fans. Does the team have the kind of offense or defense to go toe-to-toe with one of the AFC’s biggest powers?
Week 14: Green Bay Packers at New York Giants (MNF)
Aaron Rodgers ain’t walking through that door.
The Giants need to act like it in their first game back from their Week 13 bye. Green Bay’s offense will likely be the youngest in football; can defensive coordinator Wink Martindale make them play like it?
One complicating factor: By December, Rodgers’ replacement Jordan Love might be experienced enough to maneuver around Martindale’s blitz. Offseason linebacking pickup Bobby Okereke could play a crucial role in spying Love and keeping him pocket-bound.
Week 16: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles
Put simply: The Linc is New York’s house of horrors.
Big Blue lost in Philadelphia twice last season, including a playoff-ending 38-7 beatdown. They haven’t won a road game against the Eagles since October 2013.
That’ll need to change if the Giants want another postseason chance. But somehow the Eagles look better on paper this year than they did on last year’s Super Bowl march.
This Christmas game could decide a lot for both teams. Can the Giants pull off what feels like a miracle?