New York Giants 2018 regular season schedule

The New York Giants will welcome a familiar face to usher in the Pat Shurmur era.

Big Blue will open at home for the first time since 2012 when they play Tom Coughlin's Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Giants will open the season against an AFC opponent for the first time since 2006, when they hosted Indianapolis in the first game in which Eli and Peyton Manning were the starting quarterbacks.

The Giants will play seven games against 2017 playoff teams: Philadelphia, New Orleans, Jacksonville and Tennessee at home, and the Eagles, Atlanta and Carolina on the road. Each of their first three home games is against a team that made the postseason last year.

The Giants will play three teams with new head coaches: the Bears (Matt Nagy), Titans (Mike Vrabel) and the Colts (Frank Reich).

“We knew who our opponents would be, and that we would play seven games against teams that were in the playoffs last year, including two against the Super Bowl champions [Philadelphia], so we knew it is going to be a challenging schedule,” Shurmur said. “I don’t see anything remarkable about the schedule, but it is very challenging.”

Here are the highlights of the 2018 regular season schedule with the complete details below, as provided to The Record and NorthJersey.com by a source with knowledge of the slate. The NFL will officially announce the schedule at 8 p.m. Thursday night.

Prime time players

Despite coming off a 3-13 campaign, the Giants are still a marquee draw. They are currently set to play four prime time games, including a pair of Monday night games on the road at Atlanta (Oct. 22) and San Francisco (Nov. 12). They will also play the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles at MetLife Stadium on Thursday Night Football (Oct. 11) in addition to the game at Dallas in Week 2.

Texas 2-step

The Giants will face off with the Cowboys at Jerry's World in Week 2, then head back to the Lone Star State the following week when they meet J.J. Watt and the Houston Texans, who also feature quarterback Deshaun Watson, who is returning from ACL surgery.

The Giants will play consecutive games in Texas for the first time since 1985, when they beat the Oilers, 35-14, in Houston on Dec. 8, and lost, 28-21, in Dallas on Dec. 15.

Brutal start

Shurmur's going to have to get his team off to a strong start, considering the first seven games the Giants will be up against. A four-game stretch against three NFC South teams (New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons) and the Eagles will be brutal.

Hello, old friend

The Giants will see Tom Coughlin in Week 1, but they'll have to wait until Week 11 for a reunion with another old friend. Jason Pierre-Paul and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will visit MetLife on Nov. 18.

And Giants general manager Dave Gettleman gets to see his old team when the Giants travel to Charlotte for their Oct. 7 game against the Panthers.

Preseason primer

The Giants will open the preseason at home against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday, Aug. 9, at 7 p.m. Then comes an interesting twist: the Giants are in talks with the Detroit Lions for joint practices in Michigan leading up to their preseason game, which will be played on Friday, Aug. 17 at Ford Field in Detroit at 7 p.m.

The Giants held joint practices three summers ago against the Cincinnati Bengals, and Shurmur said at the owners meetings in Orlando last month that he was a proponent of setting something up for this season.

The Giants will be the visiting team when they face the Jets on Friday, Aug. 24, at 7:30 p.m. They will host the defending AFC champion New England Patriots in the preseason finale on Thursday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. for the 14th consecutive year.

“I like the way the preseason lays out,” Shurmur said. “Those are four teams where we can test ourselves and get better.”

2018 New York Giants schedule

Week 1, Sept 9

Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m.

Week 2, Sept. 16 (Sunday night)

At Dallas Cowboys, 8:20 p.m.

Week 3, Sept. 23

At Houston Texans, 1 p.m.

Week 4, Sept. 30

New Orleans Saints, 4:25 p.m.

Week 5, Oct. 7

At Carolina Panthers, 1 p.m.

Week 6, Oct. 11 (Thursday night)

Philadelphia Eagles, 8:20 p.m.

Week 7, Oct. 22 (Monday night)

At Atlanta Falcons, 8:15 p.m.

Week 8, Oct. 28

Washington Redskins, 1 p.m.

Week 9, Nov. 4

BYE

Week 10, Nov. 12 (Monday night)

At San Francisco 49ers, 8:20 p.m.

Week 11, Nov. 18

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1 p.m.

Week 12, Nov. 25

At Philadelphia Eagles, 1 p.m.

Week 13, Dec. 2

Chicago Bears, 1 p.m.

Week 14, Dec. 9

At Washington Redskins, 1 p.m.

Week 15, Dec. 16

Tennessee Titans, 1 p.m.

Week 16, Dec. 22/23

At Indianapolis Colts, TBD

Week 17, Dec. 30

Dallas Cowboys, 1 p.m.