EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Another season opener in Dallas, a Thursday night road game against the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots, and Monday night contests against NFC East foes Dallas and Philadelphia highlight the Giants' 2019 regular-season schedule, which was released today.

"This is an exciting time," said Pat Shurmur, who is entering his second season as the Giants' head coach. "This week, we started the offseason program. And now we can see when we're going to play. We knew who our opponents would be and where we are going to play, but there's an excitement that builds once the schedule comes out."

The Giants will begin their season on Sunday, Sept. 8 against the Cowboys in Dallas at 4:25 p.m. It will be the fourth time in five years and the fifth time in seven seasons the Giants will open in AT&T Stadium, and the fifth consecutive season the Giants' first road game will be in Dallas. And it is the sixth time in those seven seasons they will play in Dallas in the season's first two weeks. Including a home game in 2012, the Giants will face the Cowboys in their opener for the sixth time in eight seasons.

Last year, the Giants lost a Week 2 game in Dallas, 20-13. They were defeated in season openers there in 2013, 2015 and 2017, and won in 2016.

"I look forward to opening the season against a division opponent," Shurmur said. "I try to help the players not worry about where and when we're playing, and not make it the issue."

The trip to Dallas will be the Giants' longest of the season. They will not have to fly in the final five weeks of the season, when they will play three home games and visit Washington and Philadelphia.

"For whatever it's worth, our travel schedule this year is really good," Shurmur said. "We're not doing a whole lot of travel."

On Sunday, Sept. 15, the Giants will host the Buffalo Bills in their MetLife Stadium opener at 1 p.m.

They return to the road the following Sunday, Sept. 22, to face the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay beginning at 4:05 p.m.

The Giants will then play a pair of home games, hosting the Washington Redskins on Sept. 29 and the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 6, both at 1 p.m.

For the second year in a row, the Giants will play their Thursday night game in Week 6 when they visit the Patriots. Kickoff in Gillette Stadium on Oct. 10 will be at 8:20 p.m.

Ten days later, the Giants will host the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. On Sunday, Oct. 27, they will face the Lions in Detroit, also at 1 o'clock.

The Giants will then play two marquee games within seven days. On Nov. 4, they will host the Cowboys in their first home Monday night game since Week 2 of the 2017 season. The following Sunday, Nov. 10, the Giants will be the visitors when they face the Jets in the local teams' first regular-season meeting in four years.

The Giants' bye will be in Week 11 (Nov. 17).

"I think when the bye comes doesn't really matter," Shurmur said. "People overthink this."

The following Sunday, Nov. 24, the Giants will visit the Chicago Bears in Soldier Field at 1 p.m.

The season's final month will begin with a home game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 1 o'clock. That will be followed by the Giants' second Monday night game, in Philadelphia on Dec. 9.

The Giants will host the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 15 at 1 p.m. before concluding their season with two games against division opponents. They will face the Redskins in Washington on Sunday, Dec. 22 before hosting the Eagles in the finale in MetLife on Dec. 29, also scheduled for 1 o'clock.

Said Shurmur, "We play three division games in the final month, which is going to be important in determining how the season goes."

The Giants also announced the dates and times of their preseason games.

The four-game schedule will begin with the annual MetLife Bowl vs. the Jets on Thursday, Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. The Giants will be the home team. It will be just their third opener in 51 preseason meetings with the Jets, and the first since 2010.

On Friday, Aug. 16, the Giants will host the defending NFC North champion Chicago Bears at 7:30 p.m.

The Giants will play on the road for the first time on Thursday, Aug. 22, when they face the Cincinnati Bengals in Paul Brown Stadium at 7 p.m.

On Thursday, Aug. 29, the Giants will play the New England Patriots in the preseason finale for the 15th consecutive year. Kickoff in Gillette Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

They will play three of their preseason opponents – the Jets, Bears and Patriots – in the regular season.

"We're not going to show much," Shurmur said. "The idea of the preseason will be to determine how well our players can play, and we'll use the preseason to determine who's on our roster."

"Flexible scheduling" will be used in Weeks 12-17 (the Giants will be in Chicago for the first of those weeks). Under flex scheduling, game times can be changed, and games currently scheduled to be played on Sunday afternoon can be moved to Sunday night on NBC. Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games that are played on Thursday or Monday nights.

Some highlights from the Giants' 2019 schedule:

*The Giants do not play road games on consecutive weeks. They are visitors in back-to-back games, but the first of those contests is against the Jets, and the bye week is between the two games. They play consecutive home games just once, in Weeks 4-5 against Washington and Minnesota.

*Seven of the Giants' eight home games are currently scheduled for 1 p.m. kickoffs. The exception is the Nov. 4 Monday night game vs. Dallas.

*In 2019, the NFC East will play the NFC North and the AFC East. Last year, each of those divisions had one playoff team, though the latter featured the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots. The Bears were the NFC North champions.

*In 2018, the four teams in the NFC North were a combined 32-30-2 (.516), while the four AFC East teams were 28-36, a .438 winning percentage that was the lowest among the NFL's eight divisions. New England won the division with an 11-5 record, but the three other teams were a combined 17-31.

*The Giants will play six games against 2018 playoff teams: Philadelphia and Dallas (twice apiece), plus Chicago and New England.

*The Giants will play five teams with new head coaches: the Jets (Adam Gase), Dolphins (Brian Flores), Packers (Matt LeFleur), Buccaneers (Bruce Arians), and Cardinals (Kliff Kingsbury).

*The Giants will play their final regular-season game at home for the third consecutive season and the eighth time in nine years.

*The Giants are currently not scheduled to play any Sunday night games.

*The Giants are 25-39-1 on Monday nights, including 9-10 at home and 16-29-1 as visitors. They last hosted the Cowboys on a Monday night in 2003 (they played in Dallas on Mondays in 2006 and 2010), and last played a Monday Night game in Philadelphia in 2015.

*The Giants are 4-5 in Thursday night games since 2008, including 2-4 on the road. The Giants will face an AFC team on Thursday night for the first time since they lost in Denver on Thanksgiving night 10 years ago.

Week 1

Dallas Cowboys

AT&T Stadium

Sunday, Sept. 8, 4:25 p.m., FOX

Week 9

MetLife Stadium

Monday, Nov. 4, 8:15 p.m., ESPN

Dallas' 2018 record: 10-6, NFC East first place

Series Record: Regular season: Giants trail, 66-45-2; Postseason: Giants lead, 1-0

Last season, the Cowboys swept the Giants for the second consecutive season. For the fourth year in a row, the Giants' first road game was in AT&T Stadium, where they lost to the Cowboys on Sept. 13, 20-13. Saquon Barkley caught a Giants-record 14 passes. On Dec. 30, the division rivals concluded their season in MetLife Stadium, where Dak Prescott threw four touchdown passes, including a 32-yarder to Cole Beasley with 1:12 remaining that gave the Cowboys a 36-35 victory. The Giants have swept the season series 13 times, while Dallas has 22 series sweeps. The Giants are 20-36-1 in Dallas (5-5 in AT&T Stadium), while the Cowboys are 5-4 vs. the Giants in MetLife Stadium.

Week 2

Buffalo Bills

MetLife Stadium

Sunday, Sept. 15, 1 p.m., CBS

Buffalo's 2018 record: 6-10, AFC East third place

Series Record: Regular season: Series tied, 6-6; Postseason: Giants lead, 1-0

The Giants have won the last three (in 2007, 2011, and 2015) and four of the last five games in the series. The teams last met on Oct. 4, 2015 in Buffalo, where Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes in a 24-10 Giants victory. They last faced each other in New Jersey on Oct. 16, 2011, when Lawrence Tynes kicked a game-winning 23-yard field goal with 1:32 remaining in a 27-24 Giants victory. The Giants won the most significant game the teams played against each other, defeating the Bills, 20-19 in Super Bowl XXV in Tampa on Jan. 27, 1991.

Week 3

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Raymond James Stadium
Sunday, Sept. 22, 4:05 p.m., FOX

Tampa Bay's 2018 record: 5-11, NFC South fourth place

Series Record: Regular season: Giants lead, 14-7; Postseason: Giants lead, 1-0

The Giants and Buccaneers will meet for the third year in a row and the fourth time in five seasons. The last two games between the teams were decided by a total of five points. Last Nov. 18 in MetLife Stadium, the Giants held a 17-point third-quarter lead before holding on for a 38-35 victory. On Oct. 1, 2017 in Raymond James Stadium, Nick Folk kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bucs a 25-23 victory. That broke the Giants' five-game winning streak in the series, including one victory in the postseason. The Giants are 4-3 in Raymond James Stadium, including a postseason victory in 20

Week 4 

Washington Redskins

MetLife Stadium

Sunday, Sept. 29, 1 p.m., FOX 

FedEx Field

Week 16

Sunday, Dec. 22, 1 p.m., FOX

Washington's 2018 record: 7-9, NFC East third place

Series Record: Regular season: Giants lead, 100-68-4; Postseason: Tied, 1-1

In 2018, the Giants and Washington split their season series for the fourth consecutive season, with each team winning as visitors. On Oct. 28, Adrian Peterson scored on a seven-yard reception and a 64-yard run to lead Washington to a 20-13 victory in MetLife Stadium. The Giants played their finest game of the season in the rematch on Dec. 9 in FedExField, where Manning threw three touchdown passes and Barkley ran for a season-high 170 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown, in a 40-16 victory. The Giants led 40-0 entering the fourth quarter. With the victory, the became the first NFL franchise with 100 regular-season victories against another team. The Giants have faced the Redskins 172 times in the regular season since their first game in 1932, making this their most frequently-contested rivalry. They are 6-3 vs. Washington in MetLife and 12-9-1 in FedEx Field. The Giants have swept the season series 32 times, most recently in 2014.

Week 5

Minnesota Vikings

MetLife Stadium

Sunday Oct. 6, 1 p.m., FOX

Minnesota's 2018 record: 8-7-1, NFC North second place

Series Record: Regular season: Giants trail, 15-10; Postseason: Giants lead, 2-1

The Giants will host Minnesota for the first time since Oct. 21, 2013, when they earned a 23-7 Monday night victory. That is the only time the Giants hosted the Vikings since the 2007 season. The Vikings won the last two games in the series, played in different venues in Minneapolis less than 10 months apart – 49-17 in TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus on Dec. 27, 2015, and 24-10 in U.S. Bank Stadium on Oct. 3, 2016, also a Monday night. The Giants are 5-7 in regular-season home games vs. Minnesota.

Week 6

New England Patriots

Gillette Stadium

Thursday, Oct. 10, 8:20 p.m., FOX/NFL Network

New England's 2018 Record: 11-5 AFC East first place, Super Bowl champions

Series Record: Regular season: Giants trail, 6-4; Postseason: Giants lead, 2-0

Just as they did in their last meeting four years ago, the Giants will face a New England team that is the defending Super Bowl champion. On Nov. 15, 2015, Stephen Gostkowski's 54-yard field goal with one second remaining gave the Patriots a 27-26 victory in MetLife Stadium. This will be the Giants' first regular-season visit to Gillette Stadium since Nov. 6, 2011, when Manning threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Jake Ballard with 15 seconds remaining to give the visitors a 24-20 victory. In the teams' 10 regular-season games, the Giants have scored 193 points, the Patriots 189. Quarterbacks Manning and Tom Brady have met five times, including Super Bowls XLII and XLVI. The margins of victory in those games was 3, 3, 4, 4, and 1 – 15 total points. Giants won two Super Bowls, narrowly, among those five games. The Giants are 3-2 in those games.

Week 7

Arizona Cardinals

MetLife Stadium

Sunday, Oct. 20, 1 p.m., FOX

Arizona's 2018 record: 3-13, NFC West fourth place

Series Record: Regular season: Giants lead, 80-44-2

The Cardinals have won the last two games in the series, and in each of their last two visits to East Rutherford. The teams last met on Dec. 24, 2017, when the Cardinals won, 23-0, as Larry Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 119 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown. That ended a streak in which the visiting team had won four consecutive games in the series, including a 25-14 Cardinals victory in MetLife Stadium on Sept. 14, 2014. The Cards scored 15 unanswered fourth-quarter points in that game. Arizona also won its previous game here, 24-17 on Oct. 25, 2009, though that was played in Giants Stadium. From 1970-2002, the Giants and Cardinals were both members of the NFC East.

Week 8

Detroit Lions

Ford Field

Sunday, Oct. 27, 1 p.m., FOX

Detroit's 2018 record: 6-10, NFC North fourth place

Series Record: Regular season: Giants trail, 22-21-1; Postseason: Giants trail, 1-0

The Giants will visit Ford Field for the first time since the 2014 season opener, when they suffered a 35-14 Monday night defeat to the Lions. The teams last met on Sept. 18, 2017 – another Monday night – when the Lions defeated the Giants in MetLife Stadium, 24-10. A fourth-quarter, 88-yard punt return touchdown by rookie Jamal Agnew was the game's big play. Exactly nine months earlier in the same venue, Manning threw a pair of touchdown passes in the Giants' 17-6 victory, and three weeks later, the Giants and Lions were the NFC's wild card playoff teams. The teams first met in 1930, when the Lions were the Portsmouth Spartans.

Week 10

New York Jets

MetLife Stadium

Sunday, Nov. 10, 1 p.m., FOX

Jets' 2018 Record: 4-12, AFC East fourth place

Series Record: Giants lead, 8-5

The Jets will be the home team for this game between the franchises that share MetLife stadium. The Giants won their last three games as visitors against the Jets, in 1996, 2003, and 2011. Overall, the Giants are 5-1 as the visiting team vs. the Jets. Their last meeting was a turning point in the Giants' most recent championship season. On Dec. 24, 2011, Manning and Victor Cruz hooked up for a franchise-record 99-yard touchdown pass, and the Giants went on to win, 29-14. Four years ago, the Jets defeated the Giants in overtime, 23-20, to snap the Giants' five-game winning streak in the series. The teams have met in the preseason every summer since 1969.

Week 11

Bye

Week 12

Chicago Bears

Soldier Field

Sunday, Nov. 24, 1 p.m., FOX*

Chicago's 2018 record: 12-4, NFC North first place

Series Record: Regular season: Giants trail, 28-21-2; Postseason: Giants trail, 5-3

These teams first played each other in 1925, making this the Giants' oldest active series (the Giants' first-ever road victory was in Chicago on Dec. 13, 1925). The Giants won the last two and four of the last five games played between the teams, including a 30-27 overtime triumph last Dec. 2 in MetLife Stadium. The Bears scored 10 points in the final 1:13 of the fourth quarter to tie the game. Barkley's 29-yard run on the first play of overtime set up Aldrick Rosas' game-winning 44-yard field goal. The defense then forced Chase Daniel to throw an incomplete pass on fourth down to clinch the victory.

Week 13

Green Bay Packers

MetLife Stadium

Sunday, Dec. 1, 1 p.m., FOX*

Green Bay's 2018 record: 6-9-1, NFC North third place

Series Record: Regular season: Giants trail, 28-23-2; Postseason: Giants trail, 5-3

The Giants and Packers will face each other since they met twice in 2016, both in Lambeau Field. Green Bay won a Sunday night game in the regular season, 23-16, and then triumphed again in an NFC Wild Card Game, 38-13. The Giants won their last two games against the Packers in MetLife Stadium – 27-13 in 2013, and 38-10 the previous season. Since 2007, the teams have met three times in the postseason, all in Green Bay, with the Giants winning the first two, including the 2007 NFC Championship Game. In the 53 regular-season games played between the teams, the Packers have outscored the Giants, 950-940.

Week 14

Philadelphia Eagles

Lincoln Financial Field

Monday, Dec. 9, 8:15 p.m., ESPN

Week 17

MetLife Stadium

Sunday, Dec. 29, 1 p.m., FOX*

Philadelphia's 2018 record: 9-7, NFC East second place

Series Record: Regular season: Tied, 83-83-2; Postseason: Tied, 2-2

The Eagles swept the season series in 2018 for the second year in a row and the fourth time in five seasons to tie the all-time series. On Thursday night, Oct. 11, the Eagles jumped out to an 18-point halftime lead and cruised to a 34-14 victory in MetLife Stadium. Carson Wentz threw three touchdown passes for Philadelphia, and Barkley scored on a 50-yard run for the Giants. In the rematch on Nov. 25 in Lincoln Financial Field, the Giants took a 19-3 lead in the second quarter before the Eagles rallied to win, 25-22. Jake Elliott scored the game-winning points on a 43-yard field goal with 22 seconds remaining. The Giants are 2-7 against the Eagles in MetLife (plus 0-1 in the postseason). They have lost their last five games in The Linc, where they are 6-10 in the regular season and 0-1 in postseason play.

Week 15

Miami Dolphins

MetLife Stadium

Sunday, Dec. 15, 1 p.m., CBS*

Miami's 2018 Record: 7-9, AFC East second place

Series Record: Giants lead, 6-2

The Giants won the last three games in the series, which were played in three different cities on two continents – London, East Rutherford, and Miami. The teams most recently met on Monday night, Dec. 14, 2015, when Manning completed 27 of 31 passes, a career-best 87.1 percent (minimum 20 attempts) in a 31-24 victory. That included an 84-yard touchdown to Odell Beckham, Jr. The Giants last hosted Miami on Oct. 30, 2011, when they scored 10 unanswered fourth-quarter points to win, 20-17. The Giants will face the Dolphins for only the ninth time, their fewest games against any opponent in existence at the 1970 merger.

*Game subject to flex scheduling.