New York Giants Schedule Rumors and Predictions
On Thursday evening at 8 PM ET, the final major event of a long off-season will take place, of course, being the release of the 2023 NFL regular-season schedule when the New York Giants will find out when they'll be playing.
Teams have known who they'll be facing since the end of last season and where the games will be, but the dates and times will finally be revealed. The NFL announced that it will start to drip out the official dates and times for the international games, Black Friday game, and select individual games on Wednesday, May 10, with select individual games announced on May 11 on the Today Show and Good Morning America, ahead of the full release on Thursday night.
The Giants, who, after last year having the fourth-easiest schedule of opponents (0.465) based on the "strength of schedule formula," will now have the third-hardest schedule (0.549) based on that same formula.
This year, the Giants, in addition to home and road games against the other three NFC East division opponents (Dallas, Philadelphia, and Washington), will host the Rams, Seahawks, Patriots, Jets, and Packers and will visit the Cardinals, 49ers, Bills, Dolphins, Raiders, and Saints.
Here are a few early rumors and expectations regarding how the actual schedule of dates may fall.
Giants-Jets to Open the Season Monday Night?
That's what NFL insider Brian Baldinger is predicting. Such a meeting certainly would be a ratings draw, starting with two much-improved teams, one of which, the Jets, just completed a blockbuster trade to acquire former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whom the Giants beat last year in London when he was with the Packers.
The thought of that Jets defense going against an improved Giants offense that hopes to be more explosive on deep plays down the field is another factor that could be appealing for the schedule makers.
Giants to Play on Black Friday?
Last year, the NFL put the Giants and Cowboys on display as one of the three Thanksgiving games. According to NFL columnist Peter King, the Giants might become one of the first teams ever to play on the new "Black Friday" package, and their opponent could be the Philadelphia Eagles.
Such a move would make sense, given the timing. In the last few years, the schedule has seen teams primarily take on their division opponents starting just after Thanksgiving as the playoff races take shape.
Considering the history between the Giants and Eagles--Philadelphia beat them three times last season, including in the divisional playoff round--a Friday game featuring these two teams at Lincoln Financial Field would certainly generate a lot of interest for Amazon, the broadcast rights holder.
Update: The league announced that it will be the Jets and Dolphins playing in the league's first-ever Black Friday game. The Jets will host Miami at MetLife Stadium. But King's production of a Giants-Eagles holiday matchup wasn't too far off base, as the two NFC East rivals will square off against each other on Christmas Day.
Giants-Bills on Thursday Night?
It's 99% certain that the Giants' road game against the Buffalo Bills will be a primetime game, and why not? It would mark the return of head coach Brian Daboll to the team where, as offensive coordinator, he helped shape Bills quarterback Josh Allen into one of the league's upper-echelon passers.
And how cool would it also be to see the roster assembled by Giants general manager Joe Schoen battle against that assembled by Brandon Beane, for whom Schoen served as the assistant general manager before being hired by the Giants?
A Thursday night meeting makes too much sense for this particular game, though it could also get a bump to Sunday night. Either way, I'd be surprised if the game is treated as just another Sunday game.
Back-to-Back West Coast Road Games?
No one has reported this, but this is just my wishful thinking based on logic (not to mention a history where I've seen this happen.)
The Giants have three West Coast road games, including the Cardinals, 49ers, and Raiders. So it would only make sense to schedule back-to-back games where Daboll might decide to keep the team out on the West Coast rather than have them fly back and forth cross-country, right?
The most logical pairing would be the Cardinals and Raiders in some order, with a game at the 49ers to come at another time. But sometimes, applying logic when meeting scheduling demands isn't always a slam dunk.
Giants-Dallas in Primetime?
You know this is coming because, at this point, at least one Giants-Cowboys game per season always finds its way to primetime rotation.
I think Sunday night at Dallas might be the one to keep an eye on here, and I'll even take it a step further to say that I could see the Giants at Dallas at some point in the first half of the season.
Are multiple Late Games Coming?
Bad news for those of us--and yes, I include myself here--who dislike games that start at 4:30 p.m. ET or later might have to brace for multiple late games.
In addition to the possibility of the Giants-Bills, Giants-Jets, and Giants-Eagles all likely being primetime games--and I wouldn't be surprised if Giants-Dallas somehow ends up as a primetime game, perhaps on Sunday night--figure the three West Coast road games (Raiders, Cardinals and 49ers) will all have late starts on the east coast.
Other games that could have late starts include the road game with the Saints and one or both home games with the Rams and the Seahawks.
Let me be the first to say it, please: Yuck!
An Earlier Than Desired Bye Week
Last year the Giants had their bye during Week 9, right smack in the middle of the regular season. This year I have a gut feeling that their bye will be much earlier than that.
Ideally, what I would like to see--and we all know this probably won't happen--is the Giants getting their bye after a potential back-to-back West Coast swing.
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