There was hope that the Dallas Cowboys would end their disappointing 2025 campaign on a positive note and perhaps build a little momentum going into the 2026 season.
So much for that. Instead, facing a New York Giants team that came into the game with just three wins, the Cowboys stumbled into the offseason with a 34-17 loss to their division rivals.
Much like the season as a whole, the game was a rough one for the undisciplined Dallas defense as the unit did little to slow down Jaxson Dart and the Giants offense. Jadeveon Clowney was impressive with a career-high three sacks in the game, but the rookie quarterback still threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns for a season-high 110.2 passer rating.
Dart was also helped by a ground game that averaged 5 yards per carry against the Cowboys for a total of 161 yards rushing overall. Tyrone Tracy totaled 103 yards – the first time the Giants had a 100-yard rusher all season – while adding 56 receiving yards, his 158 yards from scrimmage a personal best.
On the other side of the ball, there was some question about whether Dak Prescott would get the start at quarterback in this finale, and with a chance to become the first in Cowboys history to lead the league in passing yards, he did. But his afternoon ended at halftime, leaving him to wait and see if his 70 passing yards would give him enough cushion to hold off the Rams' Matthew Stafford, who entered the day in second place.
Taking over in the third quarter, Joe Milton saw his most significant action since the preseason, but despite gaining some valuable experience, he wasn't able to change the Cowboys' fortunes. He finished with 73 passing yards.
Perhaps a bright spot for the team came in the backfield as the offense featured their two rookie running backs, Jaydon Blue and Phil Mahfa, who was making his NFL debut. They finished with 64 and 18 rushing yards, respectively, and both scored their first career touchdowns.
In doing so, they became the fifth rookie duo in franchise history to have rushing scores in the same game. The last combo to turn accomplish the feat were Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, who did so four times during the 2016 season.
But their combined efforts weren't enough, as the Cowboys were outgained 380 yards to 286 by the Giants. Dallas also converted only 25 percent of its third-down tries, compared to New York's 57 percent success rate, were also penalized more and lost the turnover battle.
First Quarter
It was a ho-hum affair through the first 14 minutes or so of game time with the home side wrapping a pair of field goals around a Brandon Aubrey effort.
Prescott mishandled a snap on the Cowboys' first possession, which led to Giants linebacker Bobby Oereke falling on the fumble to give New York the ball at the Dallas 28-yard line. The Dallas defense held firm, though, surrendering only a 45-yard field goal.
Aubrey then tied the game shortly thereafter with a chip-shot 22-yard field goal of his own, only to have his counterpart with the Giants, Ben Sauls, respond with another three points, this one a 35-yarder.
But then … fireworks. KaVontae Turpin took the ensuing kickoff and raced down the left sideline 84 yards to the New York 11-yard line. Thanks to that bit of excitement, he also set the franchise record for both kickoff returns (63) and kickoff return yards (1,683) in a season. Two snaps later, Blue then burst up the middle and into the end zone to give Dallas a 10-6 lead.
Second Quarter
Another Giants possession, another field goal. Dart easily moved his troops 61 yards in 11 plays, but the drive thankfully stalled out in the red zone. Clowney provided the big blow when he stuffed running back Devin Singletary for a 3-yard loss on second-and-2 at the Dallas 3, which led to New York settling for a 23-yard boot from Sauls.
Unfortunately, the Cowboys couldn't return the favor on their next series. Similarly, the offense marched from its own 32-yard line down to the Giants 3, but unlike New York's sideline, head coach Brian Schottenheimer elected to go for it on fourth-and-2. When Prescott's pass to George Pickens was then broken up, Dallas came away empty,
Even worse, with 2:49 left in the half, that was plenty of time for New York to not just kick a field goal but to actually reach the end zone. And they got help from the Cowboys when on a second-and-21 at their own 26-yard line, the Giants were gifted 15 yards and a first down after linebacker Kenneth Murray was called for unnecessary roughness on a late hit out of bounds.
Given new life, the Giants took advantage. Facing third-and-16 at the Dallas 29, Dart avoided pressure and flipped a pass to tight end Daniel Bellinger, who then worked his way through the Cowboys defense for the touchdown. The 96-yard drive, New York's longest of the season, put Dallas behind at the break, 16-10.
Third Quarter
With Prescott out of the lineup, the Cowboys offense struggled to gain much ground. Meanwhile, the defense continued its season-long trend of giving up too much ground as on the Giants' first series of the second half, Dart and company put points on the board for their fifth straight possession.
And again, Dallas helped them along the way with another 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty, this one on defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. That eventually led to Dart connecting with Tracy on a 13-yard pass for the touchdown.
Immediately afterward, a scrum broke out that saw defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku rip the helmet off the head of a Giants offensive lineman. The rookie was ejected, and with the penalty, New York went for the two-point conversion. Working out of a wildcat formation, Singletary then successfully threw a pass to wideout Darius Slayton to bump the Giants' advantage to 24-10.
In a bit of good news, Milton found some rhythm on his next drive, leading the Cowboys into enemy territory with a 33-yard pass to Ryan Flournoy. But the New York 39 was as far as the advancement would go, and the normally reliable Aubrey then pushed his 57-yard field goal try to the left, no good. It was just that kind of day.
But Milton kept the energy going after Clowney recovered a Tracy fumble at the Dallas 31-yard line. The quarterback moved the chains on a key fourth down with a 23-yard keeper around the left end, and then on the last play of the third quarter, he scrambled round the right end to the New York 3-yard line.
Fourth Quarter
On the doorstep of pay dirt to begin the final frame, the Cowboys didn't waste time getting into the end zone. Mafah got the handoff on the next snap and barreled up the middle to narrow the team's deficit to just seven points.
Now, the Dallas defense desperately needed to get a stop, but in another season-long trend, the Cowboys couldn't get it done. And once more, they helped the Giants, this time a pass interference call on Caelen Carson providing 33 yards when New York was facing a third-and-19 at its own 18-yard line.
Dallas perhaps caught a break when, in a bit of trickery, receiver Gunner Olszewski missed wide open tight end Chris Manhertz for a would-be touchdown. Still, Sauls converted his fourth field goal of the day, this one coming from 30 yards.
When Okereke then intercepted a Milton pass on the Cowboys' first snap of their next possession, the game was basically over with just under six minutes to play. The Giants did add a final seven points, thanks to Singletary pushing the pile on a 6-yard touchdown run to wrap up the scoring, 34-17.
Fittingly, the Cowboys' final play of the 2025 schedule saw a miscommunication in the backfield between Milton and his running back on the handoff, the quarterback having to scramble for a meaningless 5-yard gain.
And so one of the toughest seasons in Cowboys history came to a close, as they finished at 7-9-1, their first time posting back-to-back losing records since three straight 5-11 efforts from 2000-02.
