EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — FanDuel opened the week with the Dallas Cowboys laying 2.5 points at the New York Giants on Sunday night. The total is 48.5.
Back in May the game opened at Dallas -1.5 with a 47.5 total, according to VegasInsider‘s line history, and both numbers have moved up a point since. DraftKings had the Cowboys at -148 on the moneyline Monday morning and the Giants at +124, per CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan. FanDuel priced Dallas at -120 to reach the playoffs and New York at +265, according to Big Blue View.
Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC and Peacock, the first Sunday night game of the season.
Dallas went 1-4 against the spread as a road favorite last season, and New York was 4-3 as a home underdog, winning three of those games outright.
Dallas Cowboys Rebuilt A Defense That Allowed 30.1 Points Per Game
Dallas held its Week 1 scheme off the preseason tape. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the staff would not open the Giants game plan until Monday, six days before kickoff.
“The biggest thing that I want to emphasize is this week is, there’s things that you hold. Like there’s a scheme that you hold until your roster is a little bit more put together. It’s never finalized. This thing changes fast,” Schottenheimer said.
“But there’s some concepts and things that we’ve held that we haven’t shown because we know teams are going to be, players are going to be moving all over,” Schottenheimer continued. “So when I talk about taking care of yourself and the self-scout and primary, secondary, game plan specific, slots for all of your scheme, that’s first.”
The Cowboys finished 7-9-1 last season and second in the NFC East, a second straight year out of the playoffs, and the defense allowed a league-high 30.1 points per game. Dallas ranked last in the NFL in pass defense at 251.5 yards allowed per game and last on third down, and it finished 30th in total yards allowed. The 12 takeaways were the third-fewest in the league.
Matt Eberflus lasted one season as coordinator. Schottenheimer replaced him with Christian Parker, a first-time coordinator who had coached defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos.
At the draft in April, Dallas traded up one spot with the Miami Dolphins to take Ohio State safety Caleb Downs at No. 11, then moved back from No. 20 to No. 23 in a deal with Philadelphia and took edge rusher Malachi Lawrence. A trade with the Green Bay Packers brought edge rusher Rashan Gary, who had 7.5 sacks last season and has 46.5 across seven years in Green Bay.
Klayton Adams returns as offensive coordinator. Dallas ranked second in the NFL in yards and seventh in scoring last season. Dak Prescott started all 17 games and completed 404 of 600 passes for 4,552 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, third in the league in yardage. George Pickens finished with 1,429 receiving yards and is playing this season on the franchise tag, opposite CeeDee Lamb, who is under contract through 2028 on a four-year, $136 million extension.
New York Giants Open The John Harbaugh Era Against The Dallas Cowboys
New York finished 4-13 and fourth in the NFC East. Giants coach John Harbaugh was hired in January, and Sunday is his first regular-season game with the franchise.
Jaxson Dart threw for 2,272 yards with 15 touchdowns and 5 interceptions as a rookie and added 487 rushing yards and 9 rushing touchdowns. Malik Nabers went on injured reserve Sept. 29, 2025, was activated Feb. 15, and has not been confirmed for the opener.
Dallas leads the all-time series 78-48-2 and has won 16 of the last 18 meetings dating to 2017. New York took the most recent one, 34-17 at MetLife Stadium on Jan. 4.
Dallas has won the past three season openers against New York. The 2023 meeting in East Rutherford ended 40-0. New York has not won an opener since 2022, when it beat the Tennessee Titans 21-20.
Dallas hosts the Washington Commanders in the home opener Sept. 20 at 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
