John Harbaugh led the Baltimore Ravens for 18 years in one of the NFL’s fiercest rivalries with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, in his first year as New York Giants coach, Harbaugh is jumping into another storied rivalry with his first game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.Harbaugh added some spice to the rivalry when he vowed to build a team good enough “to kick the Cowboys’ ass” at the Giants’ Town Hall event in May. Harbaugh’s words were delivered to a fan base desperate for a reversal of the one-sided rivalry. The Cowboys are 16-2 in the series since the start of 2017 season.Naturally, the Cowboys caught wind of Harbaugh’s comment, prompting wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to respond, “lol that’s cute,” on Instagram. Harbaugh said he loved Lamb’s comeback.“It was cute,” Harbaugh said. “Comeback was cute, too. So it was good.”Harbaugh’s arrival has ushered in a more confident vibe. Team co-owner Chris Mara voiced the change in tone in a recent interview with ESPN New York.“The way I look at it is we’ve used the word ‘hope’ in the last 10 or 12 years or whatever it might be,” Mara said. “The hope now has turned into expectations. At least for me it has. I don’t hope we win this year. I expect it. And I think everybody else does, too.”Why it's refreshing that Harbaugh wants to 'win games' this seasonDan DugganThis is all a breath of fresh air after the previous regime of coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen ran from expectations heading into every season. Schoen remains, and he said last week he expects “to be competitive week in and week out.”The Giants were competitive last season. That wasn’t good enough. Their failure to finish games led to a 4-13 record and a coaching change.The expectation should be for the Giants to win immediately under Harbaugh. Schoen has had four years to build the roster, with the “young nucleus of talent” he assembled used both as the reason he was retained and why this job was appealing to Harbaugh.For as poor as Dave Gettleman’s four-year tenure was as GM, the roster he left was led to the playoffs by Daboll in 2022. This is now the fifth year of Schoen’s roster build, so similar results should be expected, especially with an upgrade at coach.Out and (what’s) up“Meritocracy” was a buzzword during training camp that Harbaugh has backed up. The Giants cut wide receiver Darius Slayton, whose $16 million cap hit was the fourth highest on the team, on Monday. Cornerback Paulson Adebo, who has a team-high $24.2 million cap hit, will likely open the season as a backup behind Greg Newsome II and Deonte Banks.The longest-tenured Giant, Slayton had $9.75 million of his $12.25 million salary fully guaranteed, so the financial benefits of dumping him were minimal. The Giants clearly were hoping to trade Slayton, but they couldn’t find any takers for his hefty salary. Harbaugh declined to answer when asked whether the Giants tried to get Slayton to take a pay cut, but that would have been a non-starter based on his guarantees.So, the Giants held onto Slayton until cutting ties six days before the season opener. The final $2.5 million of Slayton’s salary would have become guaranteed if he was on the roster for the opener. The Giants gained $3 million in cap space this year by cutting Slayton, but that will count as $3 million in dead money on next year’s cap.Harbaugh explained the decision by stating that he watches practice every day and noted that Slayton may still may not be 100 percent healthy from the sports hernia surgery he underwent in the spring. Slayton was trending toward being a healthy scratch for the opener, and Harbaugh clearly didn’t believe the veteran could help the team.Even if that’s the case now, Harbaugh may regret discarding a player who has averaged 633.6 yards per season if injuries strike at receiver. But Slayton’s release drives home the message that every player needs to earn his spot.There would be no financial benefit from cutting Adebo, whose $17.25 million base salary this season is fully guaranteed. And even though he had a disappointing offseason, the Giants’ cornerback situation eliminated that from being a consideration. Banks has performed well to earn a starting spot opposite Newsome. But Banks’ track record makes it impossible to count on him to consistently perform at a high level. So Adebo, who raised his play as training camp progressed, will likely open the season as an expensive backup.Will the Eagles three-peat as NFC East Champions?Charlotte CarrollThe O-line pipelineThe Giants extended two veterans on Sunday: backup quarterback Jameis Winston and left guard Jon Runyan. The two-year, $12 million extension for Winston was a no-brainer. His $6.5 million average salary slots him between Washington’s Marcus Mariota ($7 million) and Cincinnati’s Joe Flacco ($6 million). Winston’s arm talent makes him a viable backup, and he’s proven to be a respected leader.Runyan’s two-year, $22 million extension was more surprising. Runyan had a $9 million base salary with no guarantees in the final year of the three-year, $30 million contract he signed in 2024. That made him a potential salary cap casualty this offseason, but the seventh-year veteran clearly won over the coaching staff.Runyan has been an average guard, and his pay reflects that. It would be understandable to desire an upgrade, but the early extension has removed a potential need in free agency. The best impending free agents, like Indianapolis’ Quenton Nelson, often get re-signed before reaching the market, which drives up the price on the next tier.By locking in Runyan at $11 million per year, the Giants likely won’t dip into the guard market next offseason. But there’s nothing stopping them from drafting a long-term upgrade. In fact, that might be the ideal route if that’s how their draft board plays out. They can roll with Runyan for next season while the young guard develops. They could then reassess after next season, continuing with Runyan for the final year of his extension or cutting ties with only $3 million in dead money on the 2028 salary cap.The Giants now have Runyan and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, who signed a three-year, $39 million extension in March, under contract through 2028. Left tackle Andrew Thomas and rookie right guard Francis Mauigoa are signed through 2029. Only center is unsettled, with John Michael Schmitz playing n the final year of his contract.There finally seems to be a plan to the offensive line build, with the Giants investing Day 3 picks in players who aren’t rushed into the lineup. The Giants have 2025 fifth-round pick Marcus Mbow and 2026 sixth-round pick JC Davis developing as potential successors to Eluemunor. The Giants also could shift Mbow and/or Davis inside. Extending Runyan allows the Giants to build a similar pipeline at guard.Good Nabers?The biggest question heading into Sunday’s season opener is the status of wide receiver Malik Nabers. It has been a long road for Nabers, who tore his ACL and meniscus on Sept. 28 last year. He underwent a second surgery in the spring to remove scar tissue that was causing stiffness in his knee.The team remained hopeful throughout the lengthy rehab process that Nabers would be ready for the opener, and his workload during the preseason was structured to keep him on that timeline. Nabers has passed every checkpoint along the way, fully participating in practice Wednesday and Thursday.Malik Nabers is out at practice ahead of Week 1Charlotte CarrollStill, there have been no assurances Nabers will play on Sunday night. Part of that is gamesmanship. Harbaugh pointedly declared that he’s not sharing who will play in the game for competitive reasons.But Harbaugh did say, “I think he’s ready to go.” The question comes down to how ready Nabers feels.“If he’s ready to go and he feels like he’s ready to go, then he’ll play,” Harbaugh said. “If he’s not and he’s not ready, then he won’t play. That’s how it works.”Nabers emphasized Thursday that the decision is in his hands. He said he needs 100 percent confidence that he can perform at his typical level.“I’ve been wanting to play for so long now, but at the end of the day, I can’t put my career at risk,” Nabers said. “I’ve got to take that into account. There’s a lot of football I still have left to play.”Nabers is a game-changing presence, so it’ll make a huge difference if he’s in the lineup. But the Giants are going to lean heavily on their run game this season, and it should be a stronger emphasis against Dallas. First-year Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker comes from the Vic Fangio school of two-high safeties and nickel as the base defense. That will invite the Giants to load up on heavy personnel to try to run the ball.Exposing a weaknessThe Cowboys have their own major offensive injury that the Giants could exploit. Three-time Pro Bowl left guard Tyler Smith was placed on injured reserve this week due to a thumb injury that required surgery. The strength of the Giants’ pass rush is on the edges, but they’ll utilize Kayvon Thibodeaux inside on passing downs and inside linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Arvell Reese will be used on blitzes.Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele’s performance has been so shaky that the team traded for Steelers 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones two weeks before the opener. A struggling tackle will be a welcome sight for Giants’ edge rushers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter.The pass rush will be the key if the Giants are going to slow one of the NFL’s most prolific passing attacks. The vulnerabilities on the Cowboys’ offensive line increases the chances of the Giants’ pass rush dominating.If the Giants don’t get pressure on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, it could be a long night. In the last four seasons that Prescott has made at least 16 starts, he has recorded at least 4,449 passing yards and 30 touchdown passes.Adding George Pickens to Lamb last season gave Dallas two No. 1 receivers. That duo combined for 168 catches, 2,506 yards and 12 touchdowns last year. It would be a tall task to expect the Giants corners to contain those weapons without significant help from the pass rush.Adding some juice to the matchup is the history between Newsome and Pickens. The former AFC North rivals got into a fight on the final play of a game during the 2024 season, which led to Newsome calling Pickens a “fake tough guy.” Sunday will be the first time they’ve squared off since then. Pickens is known for being emotional, so Newsome may try to get under his skin.Prediction timeGame predictionCowboys 27, Giants 23. The openers have set the tone for the Giants in recent seasons. Their comeback win over the Titans in 2022 started the momentum for their surprising playoff run, while lopsided losses in the past three openers foreshadowed abysmal seasons. There’s optimism for this season sparked by Harbaugh’s arrival, but this is a tough matchup for a new defense. The Giants should be competitive, but it’s tough to pick against Prescott in this rivalry.Giants season record prediction7-10. There’s a pattern with my season predictions. Every year, I get accused of being too negative. And every year, I wind up projecting three or four more wins than the Giants actually get. I believe Harbaugh raises the team’s floor, but there are enough questions — quarterback Jaxson Dart in a new offense, the interior defensive line, the secondary — to prevent me from buying into an overnight turnaround. Seven wins would match their combined win total from the previous two seasons, so it would represent progress — even if it would likely be lower than many fans’ expectations.