The New York Giants and New York Jets both opened their NFL seasons with Week 1 victories Sunday. The Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys 28-20 on Sunday Night Football, while the Jets defeated the Tennessee Titans 23-10 earlier in the day. The Buffalo Bills also won, topping the Houston Texans 36-31.
Victories for both New York NFL teams in Week 1 are rare. This is the first time the Giants and Jets have each started a campaign 1-0 since 2009, according to ESPN Research. It is also the first occasion either franchise has been above .500 at any point in a season since Week 14 of 2022, per ESPN Research.
All three New York teams began the year with wins for the first time since 2008, according to ESPN Research.
The 2009 seasons for the two current MetLife Stadium tenants followed very different paths. The Giants opened that year 5-0 in their final season at Giants Stadium, then dropped four straight and alternated wins and losses from Week 11 to Week 16. Their final loss, combined with a Cowboys win, eliminated the Giants from the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
Rex Ryan’s first year as Jets head coach also had twists in 2009. After a 3-0 start the team fell to 4-6 two months into the season before winning five of its next six to reach the playoffs. The Jets beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC wild-card round and upset the No. 2-seeded Los Angeles Chargers in the divisional round to reach the conference championship, where their run ended against the top-seeded Indianapolis Colts. The Jets have not made the playoffs since that season.
Week 2 schedules the Jets to host the Green Bay Packers, while the Giants visit the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN). Regardless of what follows, both franchises can point to Week 1 as a successful start.
