The New York Giants look to bounce back from a tough 2023 season and make it back into the playoffs in 2024. This task won’t be easy as they have one of the most difficult schedules in the league.
The Giants improved pass rush will make them a tougher matchup for any team whether they win or lose. Six matchups in particular will make or break the Giants’ ability to succeed.
Week 1- New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings
The New York Giants and Vikings have scared some history in recent years. In 2022 they played twice. The regular season matchup saw the Vikings narrowly win on a long field goal. Meanwhile the playoff matchup saw the Giants come away with their first playoff win since the super bowl in 2012. The two teams will meet again in 2024 for opening day. The Vikings will likely debut rookie quarterback J.J McCarthy. The Giants will look to use their pass rush to make life difficult for the rookie QB in his debut.
Week 7- New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The 2024 offseason saw star running back Saquon Barkley leave the team to go to the rival Eagles. There have been some hard feelings exchanged between the fans and Barkley as the two sides seem to disagree about how the contract negotiations between Barkley and the Giants went. Barkley will make his return to MetLife Stadium in this week seven matchup. The last matchup between the two teams saw the Giants beat the Eagles and cost them the division.
Photo via Sports Illustrated
Week 8- New York Giants @ Pittsburgh Steelers
After a relatively easy first two weeks, the Giants have to face several tough teams from weeks 3-7, the Browns, Cowboys, Seahawks, Bengals and Eagles. These are all teams that are looking to fight for a playoff spot. The week 8 matchup vs. the Steelers could change the entire outlook of the entire season. The last time they played the Steelers was in the opening week of the 2020 season when they struggled to establish the run. Being able to leave Pittsburgh with a win will make the Giants playoff path much more doable with an easier second half schedule on the horizon after that game.
This matchup is just as important for the Steelers as it is for the Giants. The Steelers are a team known for their second half runs, but their difficult second half schedule could make that difficult. A win vs. the Giants is a must for them if they wish to make the playoffs.
Week 10- New York Giants @ Carolina Panthers
Although the Giants are technically a road team this game will be held in a neutral location in Germany. The Panthers are one of the few teams the Giants consider beatable, but having to travel overseas makes this more difficult. The last time the Giants went overseas was in 2022. They played the Packers in Great Britain as Daniel Jones outplayed Aaron Rodgers and Saquon Barkley had 100 yards between the ground and air. Brian Burns will get a chance to play vs. his former team for the first time.
Week 13- New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys
The New York Giants drew a tough matchup as they will take on the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. The Giants have not won on Thanksgiving since 1982, including a 2022 loss to the Cowboys. The Giants have also not beaten Dak Prescott since he became the starting QB. Their only win vs. the Cowboys was a game in which Prescott was hurt in 2020. The Giants will need a huge change in luck to win this matchup. The Cowboys did get worse this offseason so that may have evened the gap between the two teams.
Week 16- New York Giants @ Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons are a team looking to jump into a playoff spot this season. They made a move to get star QB Kirk Cousins. Cousins was the Vikings QB during those matchups in 2022. If both of these teams are able to pick up key wins this matchup could end up being a battle for a wild card spot. The matchup would be a classic matchup between a strong offense vs. a strong defense.
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