Every game is big in the NFL, but some just get hyped more than others.

From facing five Super Bowl MVPs on opposing rosters to playing a 17th game in the NFL's first schedule expansion since 1978, the Giants' 2021 slate has it all. Here are five intriguing matchups to circle this season:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Regular Season: Giants lead, 15-8
• Postseason: Giants lead, 1-0
• Last Meeting: November 2, 2020 (Giants lost, 25-23, at MetLife Stadium)

The Giants visit Tampa Bay and Kansas City in 2021, marking the first time they will play both participants in the previous Super Bowl since facing the St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans in 2000 – a season in which the Giants advanced to the Super Bowl.

But the Buccaneers are more than just the defending Super Bowl champions.

They are led by Tom Brady, who needs no introduction, especially to Giants fans. The legendary quarterback just picked up his seventh title and fifth Super Bowl MVP – both records in his first year away from New England. Brady is 5-1 as a starter against the Giants in the regular season, but lost both meetings with Big Blue in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI. Last season, the Giants gave the Buccaneers a run for their money in Week 8, taking a two-point lead into the fourth quarter before ultimately falling by the same difference.

Kansas City Chiefs

• Regular Season: Giants lead, 11-3
• Postseason: No meetings
• Last Meeting: November 19, 2017 (Giants won, 12-9, at MetLife Stadium)

The Giants' 2021 opponents boast a combined five Super Bowl MVPs on their rosters: Brady, Von Miller (Broncos), Joe Flacco (Eagles), Nick Foles (Bears) and, of course, Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs). Andy Reid, whom the Giants know well from his Philadelphia days, led Mahomes and Kansas City to back-to-back Super Bowls, winning it all in the 2019 season.

This will be the first time the Giants have faced Mahomes, a three-time Pro Bowler and the 2018 NFL MVP. Alex Smith started the most recent meeting between the Giants and Chiefs.

New Orleans Saints

• Regular Season: Giants lead, 16-14
• Postseason: No meetings
• Last Meeting: September 30, 2018 (Giants lost, 33-18, at MetLife Stadium)

The Giants' last visit to New Orleans resulted in one of the wildest and most prolific games in NFL history. The teams combined for 101 points in the 2015 meeting, making it the second-highest scoring game in Giants history and tied for the third-highest in the NFL history at the time. They also combined to throw an NFL-record 13 touchdown passes (seven by Drew Brees, six by Eli Manning). Both quarterbacks, who are icons in their respective cities, are retired now, but the Giants hope for a repeat performance on offense with the likes of Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, Kyle Rudolph, Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram, and Darius Slayton.

Philadelphia Eagles

• Regular Season: Giants trail, 84-86-2
• Postseason: Tied, 2-2
• Last Meeting: November 15, 2020 (Giants won, 27-17, at MetLife Stadium)

There is never any love lost between the Giants and Eagles – and their fans – but there will likely be new juice in this historic rivalry. The Eagles spoiled the Giants' hopes for the NFC East title last year when they lost to the eventual champion Washington Football Team in the 256th and final game of an unprecedented 2020 NFL season. If that weren't enough, Giants head coach Joe Judge is also a Philadelphia native. He knows what this game means to the respective cities.

Dallas Cowboys

• Regular Season: Giants trail, 46-69-2
• Postseason: Giants lead, 1-0
• Last Meeting: January 3, 2021 (Giants won, 23-19, at MetLife Stadium)

The Giants split the 2020 season series with the Cowboys, winning the Week 17 finale to keep their playoff hopes alive. Dallas took the first meeting in Week 5, a game in which Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a gruesome ankle injury.