No team has a tougher schedule lying ahead of them than the New York Giants.
According to CBS Sports, the Giants have the toughest strength of schedule (.574) this season despite finishing the 2024 campaign with a 3-14 record. However, the NFL is a league-to-league year. Every year, there is an incredible amount of roster turnover and general variance that changes the course of the season.
Strength of schedule is a flawed metric due to the unpredictable nature of the league and its inability to account for roster and coaching staff changes. Taking a deeper look at the Giants’ schedule, there are reasons to believe it’s not as tough as it initially seems.
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— Fireside Giants (@FiresideGiants) May 14, 2025
The Giants face a lot of sophomore quarterbacks this season
The “sophomore slump” is a tale as old as time. Sure, for some successful rookie quarterbacks, things only get better in year two of their careers. But, for others, the sophomore slump occurs, causing a dropoff in production.
The Giants are slated to face at least six sophomore quarterbacks this season: Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders (twice), Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears, Bo Nix of the Denver Broncos, Drake Maye of the New England Patriots, and J.J. McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings. Spencer Rattler of the New Orleans Saints is also a possibility, making that seven potential sophomore-slumping quarterbacks on the schedule.
Now, not all of these quarterbacks are going to slump. In fact, most of them probably won’t. However, all of them possibly could. And that is one reason to be optimistic. The Giants could steal some wins against some inexperienced quarterbacks this season.
Big Blue is avoiding the Big Lights
There are only three primetime games on the Giants’ schedule in 2025. According to the leaked schedule from Art Stapleton of North Jersey, the Giants’ three primetime games are as follows:
- Week 3 vs the Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday Night Football)
- Week 6 vs the Philadelphia Eagles (Thursday Night Football)
- Week 13 vs the New England Patriots (Monday Night Football)
The G-Men don’t have any holiday games, nor do they spend an abundance of their schedule under the bright primetime lights. This is likely a welcome change for Giants fans who are tired of seeing their team lose on the national stage.
Several opponents made major coaching staff changes
In addition to roster overturn, coaching staff changes should be considered when evaluating the Giants’ upcoming schedule. They face several teams that made major changes to their respective staffs this offseason.
They face three rookie head coaches in Brian Schottenheimer of the Dallas Cowboys, Kellen Moore of the New Orleans Saints, and Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears.
They also face a pair of teams who made changes at coordinator positions, including the Detroit Lions (who lost both their offensive and defensive coordinators) and the Philadelphia Eagles (who lost their offensive coordinator).
Additionally, while not a rookie head coach, the Las Vegas Raiders (Week 17) also have a new leader at the helm in Pete Carroll.
The Giants will be tested this season
Above all else, if there is any reason to be optimistic about the Giants heading into the 2025 season, it’s the amount of improvements they made to their own roster.
They overhauled the quarterback position, knocked the NFL Draft out of the park, added reinforcements to their secondary, and brought in enough talent to turn their defensive line into one of the best in the league on paper.
The schedule is undeniably tough. The Giants face a slew of playoff teams from last season and go threw a gauntlet of superstar quarterbacks.
But if the changes that the Giants made to their roster prove to be as impactful as expected, perhaps they could surprise some people, just as they did in Brian Daboll’s first season as head coach in 2022.
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