The Dallas Cowboys have suffered back-to-back losing seasons in the postseason for the first time since 2002 after Sunday’s 34-17 loss to the New York Giants.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was ejected from the game at halftime, and defensive end Donovan Ezieruaku was ejected from the game after pulling the helmets of Giants players mid-down in the third quarter.

Prescott’s game and season ended after a first half in which he fumbled and passed for only 70 yards. He left the game with the league lead in passing yards for the season.

In Prescott’s absence, the Cowboys were outscored 18–7 in the second half and the team got into a costly battle with the Giants’ opponents, resulting in penalties and ejections. Eziruaku’s ejection occurred after the Giants scored a touchdown to go up 22–10, and a brawl began with shoving and intentional face-mask snatching.

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Dallas defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was also called for an unnecessary roughness penalty, which brought the Giants to the one-yard line for points after the attempt, as New York went for two, going up 24–10.

Dallas never recovered, as backup quarterback Joe Milton threw a late interception en route to ending the season with a 17-point loss.

It was a fitting end to an unsuccessful season for the Cowboys, who officially extended their Super Bowl drought to 30 years.

Dallas went all-in at this year’s trade deadline to strengthen their playoff chances, trading a 2027 first-round pick and a 2026 second-round pick to the New York Jets for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. But it won’t do the Cowboys any good in the short term after the failure of 2025. Williams is under contract until 2027.

Questions were raised about whether the Cowboys would be competitive in 2025 after the team traded star linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers before the season. The Cowboys’ defence ranks 29th in the NFL this year without Parsons.

Dallas instilled hope in its fans with a three-game winning streak in November, as they bounced back from a 3-5-1 record to a 6-5-1 one, putting them in contention for the seventh seed in the NFC. But the 44-30 primetime loss to the Detroit Lions on December 4 deflated Dallas’ playoff chances, dropping them to just 8%. Following the Lions’ loss, they went 1–3 in their final four games and broke their losing record.

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Meanwhile, the Giants improved to 4–13 on the season with their third consecutive loss. The Giants had a chance to secure the second or first pick in the NFL Draft with a loss on Sunday but could potentially fall to the seventh pick with a win.

The Giants also beat the Cowboys and Eagles in the same season for the first time since 2020.