Week 18 Stats That Mattered in New York Giants Win Over Dallas

There are the stats that tell the story of the game and why it fell in favor of the Giants.

Jan 4, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) rushes during the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

The New York Giants finished the season with two consecutive wins after their 34-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

This is the first time the team has tasted back-to-back victories since their three-game winning streak from week 11 to week 14 of the 2023 season.

The best thing about the two wins to finish the year is that most of the principal players on this team will be back next season, and although it is unpopular, there will be things for the players to build on.

In this game, the Giants dominated in a few statistical areas, which helped them get this win. Let's take a look at the stats that mattered in their victory over a hated division rival.

Third Down Efficiency

Third down has always been important in football, and it was definitely important in this game. Critical third downs that were not converted resulted in punts or fourth-down attempts, which led to turnovers on downs. The Cowboys were not efficient on third down.

They only managed to convert two of their eight attempts. That led them to go for it on fourth down, and they were only able to convert one of those, turning it over on downs the other. 

Meanwhile, the Giants enjoyed a lot of success on third down in this game. They converted eight of their 14 attempts. That is an average of 57%, far better than the Cowboys' 25%.

On their first touchdown drive of the game during their two-minute drill at the end of the first half, they converted two third downs; the second was that fantastic Jaxson Dart-to-Daniel Bellinger 29-yard touchdown pass.

Their second touchdown drive also ended on a third-down conversion for a score from 13 yards away on third and six. 

Passing Yards

In the first contest, both teams found tremendous success through the air. Russell Wilson and Dak Prescott combined for over 800 passing yards in the 40-37 overtime thriller.

While this game was nowhere near the aerial showcase, the passing numbers were telling. The Giants' defense held the Cowboys' passing attack, led by Dak Prescott and Joe Milton, to 143 total yards.

It was their lowest total of the season and only the second time all year that they failed to reach 200 yards passing.

They averaged only 6 yards per attempt and were unable to get the ball into the end zone through the air. 

The Giants, with Dart at the controls but without their two top receivers, Wan’Dale Robinson and Theo Johnson, passed for 230 yards.

Gunner Olszewski, a primary special teamer for the team, notched his first 100-yard receiving performance, doing his best Robinson impression.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Bellinger were on the receiving end of touchdown passes from Dart. It was a passing attack that survived surrendering four sacks. 

Time of Possession

The game ultimately came down to a game of keep away. The Giants were able to keep the ball longer, so every time the Cowboys failed to take advantage of openings, it became increasingly difficult to recover, until the strain of the task broke the team down. 

The Giants had the ball for about 33 minutes in the contest. It was exactly six minutes longer than the Cowboys had the football. Those six minutes are the equivalent of a good touchdown drive. 

The time of possession was a product of the third-down efficiency and the ability to keep drives alive. The Giants did a better job of shutting down many Cowboys drives while extending their drives. 

The game becomes simple; if they cannot keep the ball, then it is difficult to score. Both teams ran the ball well, but the Giants ran it a little bit better (5 ypc) and a little bit more (32-30 carries), and those slight margins fed into the distance they were able to create in the time of possession. 

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