Giants can’t get out of own way, fall to Commanders 29-21

Leading 29-14 inside six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Washington Commanders did everything they could to gift the New York Giants the kind of momentum they had fumbled away all of Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.

Mike Kafka’s men simply gave it back to them, as the Giants (2-12) played the role of self-saboteur in their eighth straight loss, 29-21, to their NFC East rivals. They still hold the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota, who has been filling in for injured star Jayden Daniels, was strip-sacked by Giants safety Dane Belton. Defensive end Brian Burns picked up the loose ball and returned it to the Washington 21-yard line, which Jaxson Dart was able to convert to a touchdown with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Wan’Dale Robinson on a 4th-&-5 with 3:43 to go.

One minute later, rookie edge rusher Abdul Carter stripped Commanders running back Jeremy McNichols and recovered it, giving the hapless Giants one more chance to stave off defeat.

Dart and the offense mustered just 13 yards, and turned it over on downs after consecutive incompletions to Darius Slayton and Robinson to clinch defeat.

“We just didn’t put one together,” Kafka said. “I think we had some individual performances and drives, but you have to play for 60 minutes. We made some plays; they made more.”

Big Blue had been in a position to take advantage of an equally bad Commanders team, which entered Week 15 having lost eight straight, all day. They trailed by as few as six late in the first half after Tyrone Tracy Jr. scampered in from 12 yards out to cut his side’s deficit to 13-7 with 3:37 left. Even more momentum when the defense forced a quick Washington Commanders three-and-out, which featured Carter standing up McNichols for a four-yard loss.

“Abdul played his tail off, that’s no surprise,” Kafka said of the rookie, who had been benched twice in New York’s previous three games. “He played his butt off… he was playing with his hair on fire today. That’s one step. He has to keep stacking those days.

Then, the calamity began.

The Giants yielded nine points in the final 1:05 of the second quarter, thereby depleting any hope. Cam Johnston’s line-drive punt gave Jaylin Lane more than enough time to find his late and carve through the Giants’ miserable special teams for a 63-yard touchdown. On the ensuing drive, Dart was picked off by Mike Sainristil, who returned it 55 yards for the Commanders to nab a field goal as time expired, turning a six-point lead into a 15-point advantage at the break.

Following Tracy’s second touchdown of the afternoon to open the second half, an 18-yard reception in the right corner of the end zone over linebacker Bobby Wagner to make it a 22-14 game, the Giants were knocking on the door of the red zone with 51 seconds left in the third quarter. Following a five-yard rush by Tracy down to the 20-yard line, center John-Michael Schmitz was flagged for unnecessary roughness, moving the Giants back 15 yards.

They gained just two of those back, which featured a drop by Darius Slayton on a deep ball in the end zone, and Younghoe Koo’s 51-yard field-goal attempt sailed well wide left — his second miss from 50-plus of the day.

Four plays later, the Commanders re-opened their 15-point lead when Marcus Mariota hit Terry McLaurin for a 51-yard touchdown just 1:14 into the fourth quarter to make it a 29-14 game.

Dart completed 20 of 36 passes for 246 yards, plus 63 more on the ground, with two touchdowns and a pick in the loss. New York actually outgained the Commanders 384-340, thanks to a solid second-half showing from the defense, which did well to quiet what had been a potent run game. Washington had 102 yards rushing in the first half alone, but was held to just 43 in the second half.

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