First impressions could be lasting or fleeting. The Giants and Jets hope it’s the former.
After their Week 1 victories, both teams looked more disciplined, physical, mature, focused, and intentional than in recent seasons. The Giants’ 28-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys at home at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night was more resonant than the Jets’ 23-10 victory against the Tennessee Titans on the road earlier in the afternoon, if only because of the opponents.
The Giants knocked off an NFC East division rival whom many pundits projected to be a Super Bowl contender. The Jets, guided by second-year head coach Aaron Glenn, beat a Titans outfit led by Robert Saleh, who is in his first season with the franchise and still in the beginning stages of building a foundation. He is acutely familiar with trying to breathe life into a team after being the Jets’ head coach from 2021 to part of the 2024 season. He was fired by team owner Robert “Woody” Johnson five games into the 2024 schedule, when the Jets were 2-3 and still competing hard for Saleh.
While Giants head coach John Harbaugh is also in his inaugural season with his new team after 18 seasons as the Baltimore Ravens head coach, the assembled talent, notably on the defensive side of the ball, elicits optimism that a dramatic turnaround from the last season’s abysmal 4-13 mark is plausible.
After the win, Harbaugh, who has a Super Bowl title (XLVII, 2012) and six AFC North division titles on his head coaching resumé, was asked where his first victory with the Giants ranks.
“It’s funny — it’s number one … because it’s the one right now,” he responded. ”My dad always says that. He’ll say this in the car on the way home — he’ll say, ‘John, you’ve never had a better win than that.’ He says it every time, and I’m going to tell you, I think this time it might be true.
“This was really special because these guys, these players, these guys who’ve had belief from the beginning, who don’t bat an eye, who just try to do the right thing every single day, who try to be on point, and even when they’re not on point, they’re willing to bounce back and make it right.
“… Buying into that kind of a mindset just in practice and then seeing it happen in the game — that’s what as a coach you feel so good about.”
The game was also special for Malik Nabers, who hadn’t played in a game since Week 4 (September 28) of last year when he tore the ACL in his right knee. Admitting he had apprehension and anxiety leading up to taking the field, and was uncertain about whether he would make his season debut, the third-year wide receiver looked healthy and sharp, finishing with six catches on six targets from quarterback Jaxson Dart for 69 yards.
“The deciding factor was when I got out there, I just felt good. I felt good, I got a little chill through my body. I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s time, it’s time,’” he said postgame. “I really didn’t know; my family didn’t even come to this game because it’s a one-on-one battle that you have to go through. You have to do it for yourself. I didn’t want everybody here, I didn’t want my family here. I feel like I let them down by not playing, so I had to do it for myself first.”
The Giants will take on the Los Angeles Rams on the road on Monday night (8:15 p.m.) and the Jets will host the Green Bay Packers at MetLife on Sunday (1 p.m.).
