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Storylines to follow in season finale vs. Cowboys

DART-DAK-STORYLINES

The Giants will wrap up the 2025 campaign on Sunday as they face off against the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium.

The Giants snapped their nine-game losing streak in Las Vegas last weekend when they defeated the Raiders 34-10. The defense put together its second consecutive strong outing, holding the opponent to just 231 total yards of offense, while Jaxson Dart scored two touchdowns on the ground on the way to the win.

The Cowboys were able to break their own three-game losing streak on Christmas Day when they went on the road and defeated the Commanders 30-23. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott led the offense to a season-high 480 total yards of offense as they swept the season series over the division rival.

Both teams are looking to end the season on a high note with a win over an NFC East opponent.

Here are storylines to follow in the Week 18 season finale.

Final matchup of the 2025 season

After defeating the Eagles on Thursday Night Football back in Week 6, it took all the way until Week 17 for the Giants to win their next game. All three phases stepped up in Las Vegas last week, including the team getting its first kickoff return touchdown of the season, which helped lead to the 34-10 victory over the Raiders.

The Giants will now close out the season in search of a two-game winning streak when they take on a division rival at MetLife Stadium. The Cowboys have already been eliminated from the postseason, but a victory would give them a .500 record on the season (currently 7-8-1). While the season has not gone how the Giants would have liked, interim head coach Mike Kafka said everyone has remained focus on doing everything they can to be ready to go on Sunday.

"For us as a group, I think the most important thing is today," Kafka told reporters Wednesday. "We're not looking too far down the road. Yeah, we want to find a way to get a win, but we've got to prepare that way, we've got to practice that way, mentally, physically. So for us, we're just focused on today, not getting too overstrung out on things in the future. Just what's most important today is just getting our work in, getting our work ready for it."

As for who will or will not play on Sunday, Kafka indicated that whoever is healthy enough to suit up will play as much as they can.

"We have a plan and we're playing the game," said Kafka. "Everyone's rolling all the way through."

See the top photos from practice as the Giants prepare for their Week 18 season finale against the Cowboys.

Dart, Carter looking to finish strong

Quarterback Jaxson Dart had the worst game of his young NFL career going up against Brian Flores and the Vikings defense in Week 16. However, the 22-year-old bounced back in a big way against the Raiders last week. Dart completed 73.3 percent of his passes (22 of 30) for 207 yards and no turnovers while adding 48 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. The two scores marked his eighth and ninth rushing scores this season, setting a new franchise quarterback mark. He also has the third-most rushing touchdowns by a rookie quarterback in NFL history.

Heading into the final game, the rookie signal-caller has 2,042 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions to go with his 63.2 completion percentage and 89.8 passer rating. Dart has also contributed on the ground with 455 yards and a 5.6 average yards per carry to go with his franchise record touchdown mark. The first-year quarterback will look to add to his season stats this week against a Cowboys defense ranking 32nd in passing yards and 31st in passing touchdowns allowed.

"Jaxson's been a pleasure to coach," Kafka said on Monday. "He's been awesome. Learning every single day, absorbing as much information as he can and then also putting his own fingerprint on things, putting his own personality on it. And that's what's most important is you see the growth and you see a player that's continuing to learn from the good, the bad, and then continuing to take steps forward and continuing to step up and rise to the occasion when things aren't great and take ownership and take accountability and hold other guys accountable. Those are leadership qualities you're seeing from Jaxson and as a player, he's going to continue to grow and get better. I'm proud to be working with him and happy for him and I'm excited to continue to do that this week."

Dart isn't the only rookie looking to close the season on a high note. After a slow start to his season, outside linebacker Abdul Carter has been a force in the pass rush over the last month. Carter picked up a half-sack, two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits in last week's victory. The No. 3 overall pick has now contributed to a sack in four consecutive outings, the most consecutive games by a Giants rookie since 1982.

Carter now has 13 quarterback hits over his last five games and 22 on the season, the most by a Giants rookie and tied for the seventh-most by any rookie since 2006. According to Next Gen Stats, the rookie edge rusher has totaled 44 quick pressures on the season, the most in the NFL and the 12th-most by any player in a season since 2019.

"I'm just really proud of Abdul for how he's approached it," the interim head coach said Monday about Carter's recent play. "He's taken it upon himself to continue to get better and he's putting in the work. There's no substitute for hard work and Abdul is continuing to do that. He's getting in early, doing all the things in the meeting room and then on the field you're seeing it show up. So, it's a testament to him, the things that he's done just not only on the field but off the field as well. He's taken great accountability in that and I'm very proud of him for that. He's done a really nice job."

Milestones within reach

Several Giants enter Week 18 with some impressive milestones within reach. Let's start on offense, where wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson has already put together a career season. The fourth-year wideout has set new career-highs with his 1,014 receiving yards, four receiving touchdowns and 11.0 yards per reception, and he news only two more receptions to set a new career-best of 94. Robinson also needs eight more receptions to reach 100 on the season, which would make him only the fourth player in franchise history to have 100+ receptions in a season.

I discussed Dart above, but his 22 total touchdowns leads the 2025 rookie class. With one more score on the ground, he would join Cam Newton as the only rookies with 10+ passing touchdowns and 10+ rushing touchdowns. Dart trails only Charlie Conerly (27) and Daniel Jones (26) for the most total touchdowns in Giants history by a rookie quarterback with one game remaining.

On the defensive side of the ball, outside linebacker Brian Burns was selected to the Pro Bowl for the third time in his career and the first during his time with the Giants. That should come as no surprise as his 16.5 sacks leads the NFC and trails only Cleveland's Myles Garrett. Burns has already tied Jason Pierre-Paul for the fourth-most sacks in a single season by a Giant, and if he can get two more on Sunday, he would tie Michael Strahan for the third-most. Meanwhile, Burns' 30 quarterback hits are tied with Leonard Williams (2020) for the most by any Giant since the stat began being tracked in 2006.

Linebacker Bobby Okereke's 137 total tackles this season are the fifth-most by a Giant in franchise history. While 15 tackles in the final game might be a stretch, Okereke would set the new Giants record with 152 on the season if he can do it.

Additionally, Carter (4.5) and defensive lineman Darius Alexander (3.5) both rank inside the top six among rookies in sacks.

Cowboys updates

It's been a busy week already for the Cowboys, who made a bit of a surprising move on Tuesday when they announced the release of former All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs, who played 100 percent of the defensive snaps in last week's win over the Commanders. However, it was only his eighth game played of the season. After being named to back-to-back Pro Bowls in 2021 and 2022, Diggs has played in just 21 total games over the last three seasons.

Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones went on his final weekly Tuesday radio show on 105.3 The Fan and confirmed quarterback Dak Prescott will start on Sunday. While he will start the game, Jones indicated that Prescott may not play the whole game.

"How we use Dak, where we use him, those kinds of things, let's just make that a part of the game plan that we won't talk about." Jones said.

Heading into the final week, Prescott leads the league with 4,482 pass yards in 2025. No Cowboys quarterback has ever led the NFL in pass yards in a season, according to NFL Research.

If/when Prescott is removed from the game, the Giants will see quarterback Joe Milton in action for the first time. The second-year quarterback has appeared in three games this season, his first in Dallas, and has completed eight of 11 passes for 110 yards, one touchdown and one interception. While playing 95.3 percent of the offensive snaps in last year's season finale while with the Patriots, Milton completed over 75 percent of his passes for 241 yards and a touchdown while adding another score on the ground.

View rare photos from the historic rivalry between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.

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