Giants 28, Cowboys 20: Dart Throws Three TDs as Harbaugh's Debut Ends a Week 1 Home Drought Dating to 2010
The Giants never trailed, outgained Dallas 394-244 and held the ball for 36:40. Jevón Holland's interception with 58 seconds left in the half became a touchdown 38 seconds later, and Dallas never ran a play longer than 17 yards.
Jaxson Dart threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Isaiah Likely, and the Giants beat the Cowboys 28-20 Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in John Harbaugh's debut as head coach.
The Giants never trailed. They outgained Dallas 394-244, held the ball for 36:40 and, per Giants.com's Dan Salomone, converted nine of 10 third downs before the closing kneel-downs. Dallas had seven possessions and no play longer than 17 yards.
The Giants scored on their first drive, going 83 yards in 10 plays. Dart ran 22 yards to the Dallas 37 on second-and-10, and DeMarvion Overshown's unnecessary roughness penalty on the play moved the ball to the 22. Dart hit Likely for 13 yards on third-and-4, and Cam Skattebo scored from the 3 with 6:40 left in the first quarter.
Dallas tied it with 5:44 left in the half on a 10-play, 85-yard drive that two Giants pass interference penalties kept alive: 38 yards on Greg Newsome II on third-and-11 from the Dallas 24, then 19 yards on Dru Phillips on third-and-4 from the Giants 21. Javonte Williams' 1-yard touchdown run was overturned on replay; Dak Prescott threw to CeeDee Lamb for the touchdown from the 1 on the next play.
The Giants reached the Dallas 21 on their next possession, but Quinnen Williams knocked the ball loose from Tyrone Tracy Jr. at the two-minute warning and Shavon Revel Jr. recovered. Six plays later, on third-and-5 from the Dallas 36 with 58 seconds left, Prescott's deep pass to the right was intercepted by Jevón Holland at the Giants 45.
The Giants covered 55 yards in 29 seconds. Dart found Malik Nabers for 16 on third-and-9, Darnell Mooney for 18 and Likely for 5 before a 15-yard touchdown pass to Likely with 20 seconds left made it 14-7.
The Giants took the second-half kickoff and ran 12 plays over 8:01 without facing a third down. Dart completed passes of 16 and 13 yards to Nabers, and Likely caught a 2-yard touchdown pass on second-and-goal for a 21-7 lead with 6:59 left in the third quarter. Dallas answered with a 12-play drive that two more interference calls on Phillips extended; Javonte Williams scored from the 1 with 37 seconds left in the quarter.
The next Giants drive ran 13 plays and 8:11. Skattebo fumbled at the Dallas 29 and recovered it himself, and Devin Singletary caught passes of 13 yards on third-and-9 and 9 yards on third-and-5, the second for a touchdown and a 28-14 lead with 7:26 to play.
Dallas went 74 yards in 2:05, helped by Holland's 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty after a 17-yard catch by Ryan Flournoy. Prescott's 17-yard touchdown pass to Javonte Williams with 5:21 left cut it to 28-20, but Williams was flagged for taunting after the score, and Brandon Aubrey's extra point from the longer distance was wide right.
The Giants did not give the ball back. Dart hit Likely for 12 on third-and-9, Donovan Ezeiruaku's face-mask penalty on third-and-3 gave the Giants a first down at the Dallas 31 with 2:10 left, and Skattebo's 8-yard run on second-and-7 after the two-minute warning let Dart kneel three times.
Dart was 23 of 29 for 230 yards with no interceptions and ran 11 times for 54 yards. Likely caught all eight of his targets for 78 yards. Nabers, in his first game since his Sept. 28, 2025, knee injury, had six catches for 69 yards on a team-high nine targets. Skattebo ran 18 times for 81 yards, and Singletary caught four passes for 22 yards. Odell Beckham Jr. started but was not targeted.
Prescott was 22 of 34 for 175 yards, and Dallas ran 18 times for 69 yards. The Giants had no sacks and three quarterback hits, one each from Arvell Reese, Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Reese, the No. 5 overall pick, had five solo tackles and a tackle for loss in his debut; Tremaine Edmunds led the Giants with eight tackles. Dallas sacked Dart twice, once by rookie safety Caleb Downs, who forced a fumble the Giants recovered.
The Giants were penalized 10 times for 114 yards, including four pass interference calls for 69 yards, three of them on Phillips, The Associated Press reported. Dallas had nine penalties for 90 yards.
Newsome was evaluated for a concussion in the fourth quarter and cleared to return. Deonte Banks was in and out of the second half with cramps. Dallas safety Malik Hooker hurt a forearm on the last play of the third quarter, and Overshown left early in the fourth with a hamstring injury.
The win was the Giants' first at home in Week 1 since 2010 and ended eight straight Week 1 prime-time losses to Dallas dating to 1986, the New York Post's Ryan Dunleavy reported. Harbaugh is 13-6 in Week 1 games.
"My dad always says that," Harbaugh said after the game. "He'll say this in the car on the way home, he'll say, 'John, you've never had a better win than that.' He says it every time, you know, and I'm going to tell you, I think this time it might be true." John Mara gave Harbaugh a game ball afterward.
Prescott, asked about the interception, told DallasCowboys.com's Nick Eatman: "That was the game right there." Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said, per The Associated Press: "This is a humbling business, and we got humbled."
The Giants play at the Rams on Monday, Sept. 21, at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN and ABC. Rams edge rusher Myles Garrett is headed to injured reserve after knee surgery, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported.