EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New York Giants owner John Mara got a season-ending gift from his team three months into his cancer treatment.
Mara got a game ball in an emotional locker room scene after the Giants beat the rival Dallas Cowboys 34-17 on Sunday to finish their lost season on a two-game winning streak.
"He mentioned he’s jogging to his treatments now because of this," said tight end Daniel Bellinger, who had a 29-yard touchdown catch. “He’s got to be the toughest guy in the locker room, regardless of what everybody else is going through. He’s resilient as a guy, and we respect him as our leader, our owner.”
Beating Dallas and other results around the NFL took the Giants (4-13) out of the running for a top-two pick and clinched No. 1 for Las Vegas, a week after routing the Raiders to end a nine-game skid. Shuffling back in the draft order had some fans rooting for New York to lose, but two more TD passes by rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart showed why there's so much organizational optimism about the future, no matter who is coaching.
"Jaxson Dart’s going to be here — he’ll be here for a long time," veteran receiver Darius Slayton said. "He’s talented. He’s young. I think any coach that would come here would be wise to invest in him and try to bring him along because he has all the potential in the world.
Dart has said he cares more about winning than draft position and played like it in his 12th professional start. He was 22 of 32 for 231 yards with his 14th and 15th career touchdown passes, to Bellinger and Tyrone Tracy.
While the Giants were shorthanded because of injuries and illnesses, they treated this like any other game with their starters going the distance. Dallas (7-9-1) took it more like an exhibition game, including Dak Prescott exiting after halftime.
Prescott completed seven of 11 passes for 70 yards and lost a fumble off a botched snap before being replaced at quarterback by Joe Milton to begin the third quarter.
“The destination is not the end goal," said Prescott, who finished the season with 4,552 yards passing, the second most of his decade-long career behind only 4,902 in 2019. “It’s one of the first seasons where I can’t directly correlate my play to the wins or loses. That makes it frustrating.”
Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah each rushed for their first NFL touchdowns for the Cowboys, who lost to the Giants for the first time since the 2020 season finale on Jan. 3, 2021. They had won nine consecutive meetings and Prescott had won 14 in a row as the starter, and this loss again came with embattled defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' unit allowing 30-plus points.
“You've got to get off the field on third down,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do that, plus we gave up some explosives in the run game. The last couple of weeks have been better, but those are big momentum plays where you have a chance to get the ball back to the offense.”
After the Dart-to-Tracy TD connection early in the third quarter, tempers flared between lineman on both sides. New York guard Greg Van Roten held on to Sam Williams' facemask, and Dallas' Donovan Ezeiruaku followed suit and then some as flags flew.
Ezeiruaku ripped Van Roten's helmet off and was ejected. The Giants made the ensuing 2-point conversion, giving kicker Ben Sauls a breather during a game in which he made all four of his field goal attempts.
Cowboys: S Markquese Bell was ruled out before halftime with a concussion. ... S Alijah Clark was a late scratch for personal reasons.
Giants: LB Darius Muasau left with an ankle injury in the third quarter. ... CB Rico Payton was evaluated for a concussion.
Cowboys: Schottenheimer is expected to return for a second season, though Eberflus and other assistants could be gone.
Giants: A coaching search is in the offing, with the question of whether general manager Joe Schoen will oversee it.
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