The Giants kicked off the 2026 campaign with a big divisional victory over the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.

It was the first of back-to-back primetime matchups for John Harbaugh's squad, who will travel across the country this week for a matchup against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football.

Harbaugh spoke to the media Monday following the season-opening win.

Here's what you need to know:

📰 The Giants totaled 165 yards on the ground against the Cowboys, with nearly half coming from starting running back Cam Skattebo. Both Skattebo and the team as a whole finished with an average of 4.5 yards per carry, which Harbaugh credited to several people on the offense.

"(Skattebo) was running really, really hard, really, really well. Set the tempo, brought the energy, juice. I thought his reads were really good. Then of course the blocking. So, there was a lot of good blocks. I thought we did a good job with the game plan part of it in terms of getting in the right plays and everything. But a lot of things that needed to get better too. Plenty of things that weren't good enough, that need to improve, that can be so much better. I think when you talk to the guys, that's what they'll be talking about. That's what they were talking about after the game."

📰 After the game, several players spoke about Harbaugh's tackling of wide receiver Malik Nabers during Saturday's walkthrough, an opportunity the head coach joked he "couldn't pass it up, I guess. But no, it was good. It was fun. It was all in fun. Got a lot of laughs. Some guys gave me a sideways look. Some of the players were like, 'What are you doing?' So, it was good."

📰 Quarterback Jaxson Dart put together one of the best performances in his young NFL career in the season opener. The second-year signal-caller threw for 230 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 134.2 while also adding 54 yards on the ground. But the thing that impressed his head coach the most? Dart completed 23 of 29 passes for a 79.3 completion percentage, which set a new career-high for the 23-year-old.

"I thought his accuracy was really good. His on-time, the rhythm passing, if you want to call it that, getting the ball out on time was really good. In critical situations, especially when we needed to convert against man or zone, but numerous times against zone, he was able to put the ball right where it needed to be right on time. And that was a big plus for us."

📰 As great as the win over the Cowboys was, the head coach acknowledged that Sunday night's success will have no bearing over the result of next Monday's game against a talented Rams team.

"Really everything you do before is a foundation for what you're going to do next. So, we're building on our foundations every single day, what's under us and what we have banked, so to speak. Try to maintain an understanding of that but we also understand that how you play this week is not going to be good enough to win next week. How we played this last night will not win the game next Monday night. It won't be good enough. So, we've got to improve. We've got to keep improving and we've got to put everything we've got into this week to improve the most that we possibly can if we're going to have the best opportunity to win this game. So, we've got a lot to do."

📰In an effort to get their best pass rushers on the field, the Giants deployed Kayvon Thibodeaux and Chauncey Golston on the interior of the defensive line at times, something the head coach said benefits the pass rush as a whole. "It's our personnel. That's the way we're built. We've got those guys. And for those guys to be able to go in there and do that and even those two guys are different in the way they do it. So, it's different things that we do with those guys. But it just puts some athleticism on the field. I mean it gives some things up too when you do that. But our games, our twists, our stunts, those things become even more effective. That was a big part of it "

Harbaugh went on to add that those two pass rushers, who have both logged a lot of snaps on the edge in their NFL careers, enjoy sliding inside for some plays. "Those guys love going in there and going against those guards and having a chance to run those inside stunts. A lot of times as the penetrator, if you run an exit stunt or an exit stunt, it's the end who goes first. When you run a tech stunt, a TE, it's the inside player that goes first. And that's what those guys get a chance to do and a lot of times that's the player that comes free on the stunt. So, they know that. So, they don't mind going in there at all. They like going in there."

📰 Harbaugh and the rest of the team depend heavily on the players on the practice squad, not only to sometimes fill roles on gameday, but also to help prepare the starters for their upcoming opponents. "When you're on our practice squad, in our eyes, you're on our team. And so, we're counting on you to be your best every day and to become your best going forward because we're planning on putting you in the games and playing you when the time comes. So, that's the message.

"I think part of the job responsibility to your question is that practice, they need to do a great job of understanding what they're doing for the offense or the defense in terms of getting the look they need to be ready for the game. Sometimes you got to be a good actor. You got to play the role. You got to play the (Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman) Aaron Donald role and do that maybe as a defensive tackle and try to emulate some of the things he does. You'll be asked to do that. So, our guys are a great group. We really appreciate those guys. They've done a heck of a job. So, we feel good about our group."

📰 When Harbaugh came to the Giants after an 18-season run with the Ravens, he brought several of his former players with him. One of those players was fullback Patrick Ricard, a six-time Pro Bowler that played a significant role in the success of Baltimore's run game. "There's a lot of things that Pat can do that nobody else can do. Nobody in the world can do some of the things that Pat Ricard can do. And that's good for us. That's unique for us. So, it helps us be who we are. It builds into our team persona, our team identity. And we love that. We love that about him as a player and we love having that chance to take advantage of all the guys' unique abilities if we can."

📰 The Giants signed running back Phil Mafah to the practice squad on Monday and waived wide receiver Dalen Cambre.