The Dallas Cowboys are set to visit the New York Giants in the first Sunday night game of the 2026 NFL season on Sept. 13.
The league on Monday announced the Week 1 matchup of NFC East rivals at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The full schedule will be released Thursday with other games revealed in the coming days.
COWBOYS. GIANTS. SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. 🤩
NFC East rivals will kick off the NFL’s first Sunday night game on Sept. 13 🔥 pic.twitter.com/vhFbNiBoAQ
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 11, 2026
This is the eighth time in the past 15 years the Cowboys and Giants — rivals in the NFC East — are opening the season against each other.
Dallas is always a national television draw as “America’s Team.”
New York could get more prime time exposure with Super Bowl winner John Harbaugh coaching and Jaxson Dart established as the franchise quarterback coming off his eventful rookie year.
It is set to be Harbaugh’s Giants debut.
Giants to begin John Harbaugh era in primetime vs. Cowboys as NFL schedule leak begins https://t.co/wehNCJPLRJ pic.twitter.com/Sp9fxDVFmF
— New York Post (@nypost) May 11, 2026
If healthy, it would also be the first meaningful game between Dart and Dak Prescott.
While each started the season finale on Jan. 4, the teams were eliminated from playoff contention by then.
Jaxson Dart and Dak Prescott, two quarterbacks who played their college years in Mississippi, will square off when the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys play in the first Sunday night game of the 2026 NFL season.https://t.co/loWp3e7yp9
— SuperTalk News (@SuperTalkNews) May 11, 2026
This also could be the NFL debuts for a pair of former Ohio State teammates: Giants linebacker Arvell Reese, taken with the fifth pick, and Cowboys safety Caleb Downs, drafted not long after at No. 11.
Dallas at New York also means neither of those teams will be the visitor at Seattle on Wednesday night, Sept. 9, when the defending champion Seahawks unveil their Super Bowl banner and kick off the season.
Chicago, Arizona, Kansas City, the Los Angeles Chargers or a title-game rematch against New England are the remaining possibilities.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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