New York Giants’ 2022 schedule: Only prime-time game is vs. Cowboys – NFL Nation

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants‘ 2022 schedule was released along with the rest of the NFL slate Thursday.

The 2022 NFL season will kick off on Thursday, Sept. 8 with the Buffalo Bills vs. the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. ESPN opens its schedule with Monday Night Football on Sept. 12 featuring the Denver Broncos at the Seattle Seahawks.

The NFL expanded to 17 regular-season games last season. The final regular-season games for the 2022 season will be played Jan. 8, 2023. The playoffs begin Jan. 14 and continue through Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Arizona.

Here’s what’s in store for the Giants:

Schedule

Sept. 11: at Tennessee

Sept. 18: vs. Carolina

Sept. 26: vs. Dallas (MNF)

Oct. 2: vs. Chicago

Oct. 9: at Green Bay in London

Oct. 16: vs. Baltimore

Oct. 23: at Jacksonville

Oct. 30: at Seattle

Nov. 6: Bye

Nov. 13: vs. Houston

Nov. 20: vs. Detroit

Nov. 24: at Dallas (Thanksgiving)

Dec. 4: vs. Washington

Dec. 11: vs. Philadelphia

Dec. 18: at Washington

Dec. 24: at Minnesota

Jan. 1: vs. Indianapolis

Jan. 8: at Philadelphia

Strength of schedule: 29th, .465

Biggest takeaway

The Giants are playing on Thanksgiving Day! It’s only the fourth time they have played on the holiday in the modern era, and the first time against the Dallas Cowboys since a 30-3 loss in 1992. In fact, the Giants haven’t won on Thanksgiving Day since 1982. And a Monday night matchup with the Cowboys on Sept. 26 is circled as the Giants’ only prime-time game this season, their fewest since 2004. Quite the dropoff from the usual three to five prime-time games they were accustomed to playing in recent years.

The Giants face a tough start with the Tennessee Titans (12-5 last season), Dallas (12-5), Green Bay Packers (13-4) and Baltimore Ravens (8-9) among the first six opponents. All will enter training camp with rosters significantly more talented than New York’s. The saving grace might be that only once in their first six games will the Giants face a hostile opposing crowd — in Week 1 against the Titans.

Revenge game

Cowboys at Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 3. Quarterback Daniel Jones and the Giants are looking to get their revenge in prime time. Jones is 0-8 as a starter in prime time, and New York has lost its past 10 night contests dating to 2018, when it beat the San Francisco 49ers and QB Nick Mullens on Monday Night Football. Did we even mention yet that the Giants were swept last season by the Cowboys and have dropped nine of the past 10 meetings against their NFC East rival? This is New York’s chance to prove its doormat days are in the past.

What the oddsmakers think

The oddsmakers have the Giants’ win total at 7, which seems ambitious. This would be a three-win improvement from last season’s 4-13 finish. Is the chance that Jones stays healthy (he hasn’t yet in three seasons) and a new coaching staff really enough to bring the four wins it would take to hit the over?

Bold prediction

The Giants will win twice as many games after the bye as before their break in Week 9. So that’s two wins in their first eight games and four in their final nine. It’s a byproduct of the tough early schedule, the easier post-bye matchups (beginning with home contests against the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions) and the time it takes to get acclimated to a new coaching staff.