Giants take a step away from mediocrity in Harbaugh's debut win over Cowboys - USA Today

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – No matter what happens the rest of the way for the New York Giants in 2026, their 28-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football” Sept. 13 was a physical domination of an opponent in John Harbaugh’s first game as head coach.

In the 18 seasons Harbaugh spent with the Ravens, the Giants cycled through five full-time head coaches. None since Tom Coughlin won more than one playoff game, and the two playoff wins since the Super Bowl 46 victory are evidence of the mediocrity that has plagued the franchise during the interim.

The MetLife Stadium crowd hadn't been this into the action since Eli Manning was under center and Coughlin roamed the sidelines. And it could go down as the start of a new, much-needed era for “Big Blue.”

"It was more than I expected in all honesty. It was incredible," Harbaugh said of the atmosphere. "The stadium was unbelievable. It was everything that you would think, but it was more than I thought. It was really something, man. I want us to play well enough that we can create that atmosphere every single week here."

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves after one game, Giants edge rusher Brian Burns said, despite his enjoyment of the emerging signs of an identity that was equal parts tough and disciplined.

"This is just one win. … You can’t really sit too high on this horse,” he said.

The culture has already evolved into “act like you’ve been here,” Burns added.

Harbaugh had plenty of talent to work with in Baltimore, where he won a Super Bowl and made the playoffs 66% of the time, but his teams also consistently displayed a toughness, both physically and mentally. He apparently brought that with him, along with several coaches from Baltimore – and players, such as Isaiah Likely, the tight end who scored twice, caught all eight of his targets for 78 receiving yards and was the team’s leading receiver.

The Giants experienced plenty of “fumble luck” Sunday, as running back Cam Skattebo put the ball on the ground in the fourth quarter, which could have given the Cowboys a chance to tie the game. In total, the Giants fumbled four times and recovered three of the mistakes.

Skattebo picked up steam as the game continued, and he ended up averaging 4.5 yards per carry (18 rushes, 81 yards) and scored the team's first touchdown. The Giants' tough running kept them in manageable situations all night, and they were a staggeringly efficient 9-for-11 on third down.

“From Day 1, he told us he wants to punish the other team and run the ball and throw play-action passes," Skattebo said. "That’s what we did tonight. We stuck with what worked.

“We’re in a 15-round fight and we’re not going to stop until 15 rounds are over. We don’t want to knock you out in the second quarter. We want to knock you out in the fourth quarter.”

Likely’s first touchdown, a 15-yard score with 20 seconds left before halftime, gave the Giants a 14-7 lead. New York marched on an eight-minute drive out of halftime that sapped Dallas’ will and ended with another Likely touchdown. He already has more scores than he did in 2025 (1, in 14 games). On the key third-down conversion of the game, on third-and-9 with four minutes remaining in a one-possession game, it was Likely who was on the receiving end of a Jaxson Dart strike to move the chains.

Dart, the Giants' second-year quarterback, looked capable passing from the pocket, his layered throw to receiver Malik Nabers for a third-down conversion with 35 seconds before halftime serving as one example. He was decisive throughout that two-minute drill and that confidence carried into the second half. He finished 23-of-29 passing for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns.

"I don't know if methodical would be our identity throughout the season, I think that was just what was needed to win this game," Dart said, alluding to a more explosive attack down the line, potentially.

Dart also demonstrated some discipline by settling for the same completion three times in the span of four plays to Devin Singletary, who scored on the third swing pass to the left with 7:26 remaining from 9 yards out.

That came all came after the Giants’ offense took over the game once again in the fourth quarter with another drive that lasted more than eight minutes and ended in the end zone.

The Giants certainly benefited from facing an imperfect Cowboys team, as most of the promised defensive improvements were not evident. Wide receiver George Pickens could not hang onto a pass in the first half to eliminate any potential explosive plays for the offense.

But that didn’t hinder what was as good of a start as the Giants could have asked for to start the Harbaugh Era.