John Harbaugh ready to learn what Giants-Cowboys rivalry really means

He is here to save the franchise, but that does not mean he is the franchise. 

This is John Harbaugh’s 19th NFL season opener and his first with the Giants. He knows plenty about the tradition and history yet he is not part of the lore. Yet. 

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Giants-Cowboys conjures up images and memories and reactions for all those who have scars or triumphs or raging emotions spawned from these annual NFC East battles. Harbaugh? He goes into Sunday night’s debut as the Giants’ head coach with a pure and pristine résumé, when it comes to this slice of history. 

“It’s the first time for me, personally, in this rivalry,’’ he said. 

It sure is. About three hours after kickoff, he figures to have quite an understanding of what all the Giants-Cowboys antagonism is all about. The home fans at MetLife Stadium will be abuzz because he is now running the football operation. Imaginations can run wild: This proven winner, with one Super Bowl victory under his belt and 12 playoff qualifications in 18 years with the Ravens, has the ability to enliven players and a fan base sick and tired about what has gone on for most of the past 14 years since the Giants last hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. 

In those 14 seasons, there were 10 years with double-digit losses. Harbaugh in that span is the sixth head coach — eight if you count interim place-holders Steve Spagnoulo in 2017 and Mike Kafka in 2025 — to try to right the Giants’ ship. His five-year, $100 million contract means ownership has given him every assurance that this is his program, from top to bottom, as he tries to lift the Giants from bottom to the top. 

“It feels like a big game, an opening game that we have against a division team,’’ Harbaugh said. “And I’m excited about it. 

“It’s going to be the first time — like some of the other guys on the team, too, and some of the other coaches to be in that stadium for a regular season game. I can’t wait to see it. I can’t wait to be a part of it. I’m really fired up about it, and I’m looking forward to it. Yet I’m trying to keep it in perspective just like the other guys are. It’s a football game that we need to go out and we need to operate. We need to do our best. We need to perform and make good decisions and all those different kinds of things as best we can.’’ 

Harbaugh has a formidable trend to halt.

This is the 12th time the Giants and Cowboys square off in Week 1, and it is Dallas 10, New York 1 in the previous 11 season openers.

The Cowboys won the past three — 2017 (19-3), 2019 (35-17) and 2023 (40-0), and none of those games were particularly competitive or intriguing. 

This is the first of four nationally televised prime time games for the Giants, which is more exposure than ordinarily given to an outfit that went 7-27 the past two seasons.

This indicates the belief in Harbaugh’s ability to turn things around with a product that will be worth watching. 

“You look back to when we started this particular journey and it feels two things,’’ Harbaugh said. “It feels like it’s taken forever to get here, and it feels like it happened just like that at the same time. And I don’t know how that works. Time is a crazy, amazing thing. But it feels both those things at the same time. 

“Yet, they’ve worked really hard. We all have. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge to get us to this point. And now we get an opportunity to see how far it’s taken us, and then we’ll go from there again. So, that’s where we’re at.’’ 

It would do the entire Giants building a world of good if where they’re at after Week 1 is with Harbaugh and his team owning a significant victory in the division. There will be plenty of emotions stirring for the 63-year old head coach in his first game with his new team. 

“I don’t think I’m going to lose control and start sobbing on the sidelines or anything like that,’’ Harbaugh said. “I think it’s going to be meaningful.’’