Players and fans alike do two things when the NFL schedule is released.
One is to find the primetime games. The other is to scope out when they will be seeing their division rivals. And then sometimes, like this year, they overlap.
The Giants are set to kick off under the lights five times in 2015, and three of those games come against NFC East opponents. Of those, two are on the road.
With the schedule being released Tuesday night, Giants.com looks at Big Blue's primetime games as well as a few notable matchups on the 2015 slate.
Week 1 @ Dallas Cowboys (Sun. night)
Date: 9/13
Time: 8:30 PM ET
Location: AT&T Stadium
For the third time in four years, the New York Giants will open their season against the Dallas Cowboys, who set out to defend their NFC East crown after finishing 12-4 last season. Unfortunately for the Giants, they lost those opening games against Dallas in 2012 and 2013, which are bookended by losses to Washington and Detroit to start the 2011 and 2014 seasons, respectively. That adds up to a four-game losing streak in season openers, but the Giants will try to end the drought at AT&T Stadium, where they are 4-2.
Week 3 vs. Washington Redskins (Thurs. night)
Date: 9/24
Time: 8:25 PM ET
Location: MetLife Stadium
The Giants were due for a Thursday night home game after playing the last three years on the road. However, it didn't deter them. The Giants went 2-1 in those games, outscoring their opponents by 60 points combined in the victories. That included a 45-14 win over Washington last season in Week 4 when Eli Manning threw four touchdowns and ran for a fifth.
Week 5 vs. San Francisco 49ers (Sun. night)
Date: 10/11
Time: 8:30 PM ET
Location: MetLife Stadium
These two historic NFC powerhouses tend to produce classic games when they meet. Including the overtime thriller over San Francisco in the conference championship game four seasons ago, the Giants have taken the recent edge, going 5-2 against the Niners since Tom Coughlin arrived in 2004. Meanwhile, the 49ers made big changes this offseason, starting with parting ways with head coach Jim Harbaugh and promoting Jim Tomsula to the position.
Week 6 @ Philadelphia Eagles (Mon. night)
Date: 10/19
Time: 8:30 PM ET
Location: Lincoln Financial Field
If suffering their first divisional shutout since 1996 wasn't bad enough, the Giants' last trip to Philadelphia got a whole lot worse when wide receiver and offensive co-captain Victor Cruz suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Week 6 loss. Emotions will be running high in this game as the Giants try to get that taste out of their mouths.
Week 14 @ Miami Dolphins (Mon. night)
Check out the Giants 2015 Opponents in photos
Giants @ Cowboys, Sunday 9/13
Giants vs. Falcons, Sunday 9/20
Giants vs. Washington, Thursday, 9/24
Giants vs. Bills, Sunday 10/4
Giants vs. 49ers, Sunday 10/11
Giants @ Eagles, Monday 10/19
Giants vs. Cowboys, Sunday 10/25
Giants @ Saints, Sunday 11/1
Giants @ Buccaneers, Sunday 11/8
Giants vs. Patriots, Sunday 9/6
Giants @ Washington, Sunday 11/29
Giants vs. Jets, Sunday 12/6
Giants @ Dolphins, Monday 12/14
Giants vs. Panthers, Sunday 12/20
Giants @ Vikings, Sunday 12/27
Giants vs. Eagles, Sunday 1/3
Date: 12/14
Time: 8:30 PM ET
Location: Sun Life Stadium
While a trip from East Rutherford to Miami is always welcome in December, the Week 14 matchup will kick off the last quarter of the season as playoff races begin to boil over. Meanwhile, the Dolphins made one of the biggest free-agent acquisitions over the offseason, signing four-time first-team All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. It will be the second time in as many years that the Giants face Suh, who helped his former team, the Detroit Lions, spoil Big Blue's 2014 opener.
Meanwhile, primetime isn't the only time. There are plenty of intriguing matchups that are scheduled to kick off before the sun goes down, which we look at here:
Week 10 vs. New England Patriots
Date: 11/15
Time: 4:25 PM ET
Location: MetLife Stadium
The Giants and Patriots will always be tied to each other given their Super Bowl history and because the clubs are led by distinguished head coaches who spent time coming up through the ranks together under Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Parcells. For those reasons, any meeting between the two teams brings back all those storylines. Add in the Patriots being the defending champions -- New England pulled even with the Giants in February by winning its fourth Super Bowl title -- and now you really have a game to watch.
Week 13 vs. New York Jets
Date: 12/6
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Location: MetLife Stadium (home game for NYG)
The last time the Giants played the Jets in the regular season was the Victor Cruz 99-yard touchdown game on Christmas Eve of 2011 that sparked a run to the franchise's fifth Super Bowl appearance and fourth Lombardi Trophy. It will be the 13th meeting between the MetLife Stadium neighbors, but this time the Giants will be the "home" team.
