Admit it, even for the most pleasantly and purposefully delusional Giants fan, there have been enough hard realities to break up the John Harbaugh fever dream. Cam Skattebo frog-splashing and back-flipping on a previously shattered ankle. Jaxson Dart making long-term reservations in the medical tent. Dexter Lawrence II being shipped off to Cincinnati. The frequently lambasted Matt Nagy and Greg Roman—a coordinator minotaur that, for some, would conjure visions of a slightly more noisome Jason Garrett—coming together to forge an offense from no schematic common ground. And Odell Beckham Jr. making a heroic return to fill out a necessary roster spot with half the recommended number of ACLs for a regular human.
And yet, against a division rival that had owned the prime-time season-opener matchup against the Giants for more than a decade, the John Harbaugh–led team looked almost exactly the way we would have imagined if we were somehow magically unable to dream up worst-case scenarios. Physical. Largely unafraid. Inventive. One of the best third-down offenses of this millennium. A football team that did not depend, in any meaningful way, on Russell Wilson for a boost.
