John Harbaugh and the New York Giants took the field on Sunday night before a MetLife Stadium crowd whose noise and intensity rivaled a high-profile concert.
By the time they headed to the locker room following a 28-20 upset victory over the Cowboys, MetLife sounded more like a sold-out Taylor Swift show.
After well over a decade of subpar play against their NFC East rivals, the Giants handled the Cowboys with relative ease. Oft-criticized quarterback Jaxson Dart threw three touchdowns without taking a sack, and a retooled Giants defense held Dallas below 250 yards.
“I want us to play well enough that we can create that atmosphere every single week here,” Harbaugh told reporters. “That’s up to us. That’s our job as coaches and players to create a football team good enough to deserve that type of stadium every time we play.”
John Harbaugh and the New York Giants gave fans plenty to cheer about on Sunday night
In no particular order, arguably the most important takeaways from the Giants’ home opener are that Dart escaped without visiting the blue medical tent and the Giants have at least clinched a share of the season series with Dallas. For all we know, that could prove invaluable when December arrives.
But Harbaugh’s commentary caught our eye because it went a step above the typical coachspeak. His observation wasn’t solely about making the fans proud or using their excitement as motivation — not that we’d have judged him for such an approach.
Instead, Harbaugh took the approach of “we need to earn it” rather than calling on fans to pack the stadium out of loyalty and support for the team. We typically see the latter mindset at the college level, though it never really works out. If you need to publicly encourage people to come to the game, then that in itself says plenty.
Take this from someone who attended and later covered Florida Atlantic University, whose football program frequently played in front of sparse crowds even in its best years. The 2019 team had Lane Kiffin as its coach, six future NFL players, and won both Conference USA and the Boca Raton Bowl. Yet, the only game with anything close to an impressive attendance was a September loss to UCF, whose fans packed the stadium.
Even in the NFL, winning provides the greatest chance at a raucous home atmosphere, which sounds obvious enough. Ex-Giants offensive lineman Evan Neal may not have appreciated the fanbase, but they’ve stuck by the team throughout an ugly stretch spanning six coaches and only two winning records since the start of 2013.
Will the Harbaugh era truly be any different than that of Brian Daboll or Joe Judge? For one night, the Giants offered a reason for hope, especially ahead of facing a Rams team lacking Myles Garrett.
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