Cowboys’ season meets sloppy end

GIANTS 23, COWBOYS 19

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants won, and then they waited — hoping for a big win from a bitter rival.

Far from .500 but still full of hope, the six-win Giants got to the brink of an unprecedented playoff berth with a 23-19 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, locking things up when rookie Xavier McKinney intercepted Andy Dalton in the end zone with 1: 15 remaining.

The Giants (6-10) were eliminated from the playoffs after Washington’s 20-14 victory later Sunday against Philadelphia.

Dallas ( 6- 10) nearly ripped that preliminary satisfaction away. Dalton rallied the Cowboys with a bloody left hand after being stepped on by defensive tackle Leonard Williams in the third quarter, and he had Dallas on the doorstep when Williams got close again.

Dalton scrambled around on a broken play, avoided being sacked by Williams for a fourth time, but ended up floating one into the middle of the end zone. McKinney caught it easily, his first career interception.

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was efficient and surprisingly mobile after slumping with left ankle and right hamstring injuries during a three-game losing streak. He was 17-of-25 passing for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns, ending Dallas’ seven- game winning streak in the rivalry.

Dalton was 29 of 47 for 243 yards and had a gash on his hand stitched up after the game. He was sacked six times, and the Cowboys ended a three-game winning streak that nearly propelled them to the playoffs despite star quarterback Dak Prescott’s season-ending injury in Week 5.

“It’s been obviously a year of a lot of ups and downs,” first-year Coach Mike McCarthy said. “Trials and tribulations. In some ways, this game’s a bit of a microcosm of our season.”

Dalton and the Dallas offense had just 34 total yards midway through the second quarter but began moving the ball just before halftime. They drove 56 yards in the third quarter to set up Ezekiel Elliott’s 1-yard TD run, and Dalton overcame the hand injury on the next drive to set up Greg Zuerlein’s 36-yard field goal that trimmed New York’s lead to 20-19.

Graham Gano made a 50yard field goal for the Giants on the next possession. Gano passed Josh Brown for the franchise record with his 30th consecutive made field goal.

Limited to 26 points over its previous three games, the Giants’ 31st-ranked offense busted out with 239 yards and 20 points in the first half. Jones had TD passes of 10 yards to Shepard and 33 yards to Dante Pettis.

Shepard also scored his first career rushing TD, a 23yard reverse on the game’s opening drive. After grinding through injury to practice this week, he finished with eight catches for 112 yards.