If there is any team in the NFL who knows about upset wins, it's definitely the NY Giants. Their last three Super Bowl victories have been upset victories. This includes perhaps the greatest upset in Super Bowl history back in Super Bowl 42 against the 18-0 Patriots.
You can even look at the 2022 schedule for the Giants, a team many had picked to be 5-12. Well, Big Blue ended up going 9-7-1 and making the postseason. What were the great upsets from 2022? Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans, the London game against the Green Bay Packers, the following week against the Baltimore Ravens, the road victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Sunday Night thriller against the Washington Commanders.
Oh, and the best of them all: the road playoff victory against the Minnesota Vikings. So, with the 2023 schedule now out for the New York Giants, lets look at five potential upset games that could land in their favor:
Week 1. vs Dallas Cowboys
What better way for the Giants to start their 2023 campaign than a victory against the Cowboys in primetime? Why would it be an upset?
The last time the Giants won a Week 1 game against the Cowboys was back in 2016, which was the last year the Giants went to the playoffs before the 2022 campaign. The last time the Giants beat the Cowboys at home was back in 2020 in the Week 17 game that almost got them into the playoffs at 6-10.
The Cowboys swept the season series in 2022 and won the Week 3 matchup at MetLife Stadium in a close game that saw David Sills slip on a pass thrown his way by Daniel Jones and was intercepted. If not for that slip, who knows how that drive would have gone for the Giants.
The Cowboys also swept the season series in 2021 as well and the game at MetLife Stadium is still known to many fans as the "Free Medium Pepsi Game," which didn't go over so well. But this 2023 Giants team is long removed from those dark days. The Giants are a much better team with plenty of weapons to compete on both sides of the ball against Dallas. The Cowboys are early favorites for this one too.
Week 5 at Miami Dolphins
This game has the feel of the game the Giants had a year ago against the Jaguars, one where NY escaped with a victory. Maybe it's because it will be down in Florida and in South Beach like the Giants were in Jacksonville or maybe it's because the Dolphins emerged in 2022 as a playoff team like the Jaguars did late in the season.
The last time the Giants played the Dolphins down in Miami, it didn't go well for them in a 20-9 defeat at the end of the 2021 season. Jones was missing due to a neck injury that sidelined him for the rest of the campaign and Mike Glennon was the starter.
Some fans hearing Glennon's name is another reminder of bad times for the Giants. But again, those dark days are now over. The Giants have more than enough talent now to keep up with the Dolphins. The trick will be trying to slow down Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but the Giants pass-rush has certainly more than enough fire power to slow down Tua Tagovailoa.
Week 8 vs New York Jets
Many were hoping for this game to be the Week 1 opening game, but instead, it will be towards the middle of the season in a very anticipated matchup between Jones and Aaron Rodgers. Although, that battle between the two quarterbacks happened a year ago in London, as the Giants upset the Packers 27-22 in a game that many felt sprung the Giants 2022 season into the right direction.
This time around, Rodgers is now on the Jets, a team that was in the middle of playoff competition until the very end of the 2022 season. Zach Wilson was a major bust, though, which is why the Rodgers trade went down.
The Jets have won the last two meetings against the Giants going back to 2015 and 2019, so now, it's the Giants turn to extract some revenge. Before the last two losses, the Giants beat the Jets in 2007 and 2011, which coincidentally enough, were two Super Bowl seasons for the Giants. Could history repeat itself for the Giants in beating the Jets?
The Giants are a better team in 2023 than the ones who lost in 2015 and 2019 to the Jets, as they should end the two-game skid against their building mates.
Week 15 at New Orleans Saints
Some might see this game listed in the upset side as a surprise, but the Giants generally never play well when they are in New Orleans. In fact, before the overtime thriller that the Giants won against the Saints back in 2021, the last time the Giants won in New Orleans was back in 1993.
Now, to be clear, the game in 2005 where the Giants won in Week 2 against the Saints doesn't really count as a game won in New Orleans since they had to move the game to East Rutherford after the events of Hurricane Katrina. Even though it was counted as a road win, that was essentially a Giants home win.
But regardless, the Giants have had previous bad luck playing in the Superdome. Many didn't expect the Giants to come away with the win back in 2021, yet, they did. This Giants team in 2023, which had Saquon Barkley combine for over 100 yards total and the game-winning touchdown in '21, is much better than the one we saw two seasons ago.
By this time, the Giants could be gearing up for not only another playoff run, but a shot at the NFC East if they can play as well as some think they can, so the Giants should be leaving New Orleans the way they left two seasons ago: with a win.
Week 18 vs Philadelphia Eagles
It's clear that the Philadelphia Eagles are the current toast of the NFC considering they were the conference's representatives in the Super Bowl back in February and are expected to be the favorites heading into the 2023 season.
Many also expect the Eagles to beat the Giants in Week 16 when the two teams play at Lincoln Financial Field on Christmas Day. The Giants lost the last game played between the two, which was in the NFC Divisional Round back in January.
However, we are talking about the Week 18 game at MetLife Stadium; the season finale. Now, granted, the last time these two met in East Rutherford, it was over by halftime. The Giants were also missing several players on defense for that game and couldn't stop a nosebleed, much less A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
But the Giants have since loaded up on defense with the additions of Bobby Okereke and the drafting of cornerback Deonte Banks to go with their newly-paid Dexter Lawrence and former first-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Many forget, but the Giants once knocked off the Eagles back in the 2021 season and intercepted Jalen Hurts three times in a 13-7 victory at MetLife Stadium. And again, this current 2023 Giants team is much better than the one in 2021 and is much stronger, especially on defense, than the one we saw in 2022.
The losses against the Eagles in 2022 are why the Giants focused on making the defense better for 2023. With playoff implications on the line and with a better Giants team out there, the Giants can end the season by upsetting the reigning NFC champions.
Read more: 4 reasons the NY Giants and Brian Daboll can go 12-5 in 2023