Giants rookie shines as Cowboys sleepwalk through finale. Dallas stumbles to a losing record, surrendering a long win streak to New York.
The 2025 season ended the way far too many Cowboys games felt this year - with Dallas looking like it had somewhere else to be.
The New York Giants closed their miserable season with a 34-17 win over the Cowboys on Sunday, a result that somehow managed to be both surprising and completely predictable.
New York finished 4-13 and still found a way to end on a two-game winning streak, while Dallas stumbled to 7-9-1 and treated the finale like an exhibition, right down to Dak Prescott calling it a day at halftime.
If you were hoping for one last rivalry punch to cleanse the palate, you got the opposite. You got a shrug.
Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart played like the game actually mattered, tossing the 14th and 15th touchdown passes of his rookie season.
He finished 22-of-32 for 231 yards and two scores, hitting Daniel Bellinger on an impromptu shovel pass-and-run and connecting with Tyrone Tracy for another touchdown that helped kick the second half into cruise control for New York.
Meanwhile, Dallas approached this like a preseason dress rehearsal.
Prescott went 7-of-11 for 70 yards, lost a fumble on a botched snap, and exited after two quarters, to be replaced by Joe Milton to start the third.
Prescott still wrapped the year with 4,552 passing yards, the second-highest total of his career behind 2019, which is a neat stat you can admire right before remembering Dallas finished below .500 anyway.
The one thing the Cowboys did manage was to snap a streak - just not the one fans wanted.
Dallas lost to the Giants for the first time since the 2020 season finale on Jan. 3, 2021, after winning nine straight meetings. Prescott personally had won 17 consecutive starts against New York, and now that streak can join the rest of this season's accomplishments in the storage closet.
To Dallas' credit, the running backs at least gave the box score something to do. Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah each scored their first NFL rushing touchdowns. But it was the kind of nice story detail that reads better in a recap than it felt in the moment, because none of it changed the vibe of a team dragging itself across the finish line.
But don't use the word "meaningless" to the players that were on the field. After Dart's touchdown to Tracy early in the third quarter, things got chippy up front.
Giants guard Greg Van Roten latched onto Sam Williams' facemask, flags came flying, and Cowboys edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku went from “annoyed” to “see ya” by ripping Van Roten’s helmet off. Ezeiruaku was ejected, the Giants converted the two-point try, and Dallas' best impact play of the second half was basically an ejection.
Injuries sprinkled in because, of course, they did. Safety Markquese Bell was ruled out before halftime with a concussion for Dallas, and Giants linebacker Darius Muasau left in the third quarter with an ankle injury. New York corner Rico Payton was evaluated for a concussion.
Now comes the real offseason entertainment.
Dallas is expected to bring Brian Schottenheimer back for a second season, but defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and other assistants could be on the way out. On the Giants' side, a coaching search is expected, with the additional question of whether general manager Joe Schoen will be involved in the process.
And just to add one more little twist, this win also helped knock the Giants out of the top-two draft pick race and clinched the No. 1 pick for Las Vegas.
New York may not have fixed anything long-term, but it did manage to win a meaningless game with maximum draft collateral damage - the most Giants ending imaginable.
For Dallas, the season ends with a whimper, a rivalry streak snapped, and the familiar offseason question hanging in the air ... what exactly was the point of all that?