The New York Giants host the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium this Sunday night to open their 2023 season.
Although the two teams play each other twice every season and should be familiar with one another, the annual off-season changes across NFL rosters keeps things fresh. There are always new wrinkles and new faces thrown into the mix.
Buy Giants TicketsJust ask Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, who expects to see many things from the Giants that he hasn’t seen before.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy told team this morning a Week 1 game means more incomparables in matchup. “There’s reputation based on what you did last year. It doesn’t mean much.” Estimated that one out of three plays the team faces Sunday night vs. Giants will be unscouted looks. pic.twitter.com/IOXjjVJagY
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) September 4, 2023
Giants head coach Brian Daboll agrees with McCarthy.
“The first game of the NFL season, there’s a lot of unknowns,” Daboll told reporters on Monday. “Usually, you have a collection of film you can watch throughout this season and let’s say after week three or week four, there’s three or four games to lean on. So, you do a lot of research, a lot of study on really all the games, but it really comes down to your fundamentals, your techniques, your assignments, your communication because really, it’s a little a little bit of the unknown.”
The Cowboys defeated the Giants in both meetings last season and are riding a four-game winning streak against Big Blue. Dallas has won 11 of the last 12 meetings, a trend the Giants intend to reverse.
The Giants have a load of new faces and are still a work in progress. McCarthy will call his own plays this year after having offensive coordinator Kellen Moore do the honors the past three years.
“Obviously, Coach McCarthy has done a very good job there, he’ll be calling plays,” added Daboll. “(Cowboys offensive coordinator) Brian Schottenheimer, a friend of mine who’s their coordinator, and then obviously familiarity with (special teams coordinator John) Fassel and (defensive coordinator Dan) Quinn. They have really good players — some elite players, particularly at certain spots and it’ll be a big challenge for us.”
Giant fans believe it will be a challenge for the Cowboys as well.
