Woohoo! The New York Giants finally won a football game! It only took them two months. Not only did they win, but they did so in decisive fashion, beating the lowly Las Vegas Raiders 34-10, in the infamous 2025 'Tank Bowl.'
The win snapped Big Blue's nine-game losing streak and its 12-game road losing streak, dating back to October of last season. Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart bounced back after a terrible outing the week before against the Minnesota Vikings.
However, all anyone really cares to talk about at this point in the season is April's draft and when NY will get on the board. So, not all wins are good wins, and this one certainly wasn't -- at least from the draft perspective. The G-Men entered the game with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 Draft on the line. A loss to the Raiders would have guaranteed them the first selection, while a win wouldn't knock them out of contention, but it'd make the likelihood much more difficult.
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The win has the Giants sitting in second, with one game against the Dallas Cowboys remaining. Here are the biggest winners and losers from a meaningless Week 17 win in the desert.
3 winners (and 2 losers) from Giants' meaningless Week 17 win over Raiders
Winner No. 1: Wan'Dale Robinson
Wan'Dale Robinson has truly stepped up in Malik Nabers' absence this year. His breakout campaign has been nothing short of electric, and he's been a huge cog in the 'Dart's a franchise quarterback' machine.
The 25-year-old second-round pick out of Kentucky hauled in 11 receptions for 113 yards, totalling 92 receptions for 1,014 yards on the season. The fourth-year pro will be entering free agency for the first time in his young career this year, and what better way to ensure it's a success than putting together the best stretch of football he's ever played?
Winner No. 2: Leg day
The Giants have kicking problems like Superman has kryptonite problems. It just doesn't go away. The team has shamelessly trotted out legs left and right, but hasn't been able to figure it out for years... until now. Enter 24-year-old undrafted Ben Sauls, who the G-Men swiped off the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad in November.
On Sunday, all the lefty did was make all six of his kicks, which feels like make-pretend world for most Giants fans. He drilled two field goals and all four extra-point attempts, in what might be the most unexpectedly successful audition of NY's 2025 season.
Winner No. 3: Big Blue's defense
The turnover chest was out 'n about Sunday afternoon, as interim defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen's unit added two Geno Smith interceptions to the collection. Bobby Okereke and Dane Belton were the perpetrators, but it wasn't just the turnover group that did their job.
Brian Burns and Abdul Carter were both massive factors on defense. Burns added 1.5 sacks to his impressive 16.5 total. Carter, meanwhile, continued his ascension into stardom with 0.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, and four QB hits. Give credit where it's due -- something is clearly getting through to this group even though the season has been over for weeks.
It helps playing against the Raiders, but I digress. They're supposed to gang up on bad teams.
Loser No. 1: Giants' chances at No. 1 overall pick
We won't harp on this point too much. Both teams entered Sunday's matchup 2-13. The 'winner' of the game would actually be the loser -- handing the No. 1 overall pick over to the other team. Fortunately, the second overall pick will still hold tremendous value, and NY already has its franchise quarterback, so things could be much worse.
Still, a meaningless late-season victory doesn't mean much at all for anything other than silver linings, so it's still not an ideal outcome.
Loser No. 2: Everyone who's out on Joe Schoen
General manager Joe Schoen is likely to keep his post through the 2026 offseason. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport all but confirmed it before the game. Fans have been frustrated with Schoen's vision and decision-making for years, and the win might've bought him some undeserved time.
The 46-year-old has an abysmal 21-45-1 record as NY's exec -- a far cry from the standards this team should be held to. He's built a roster that's now won six times in its past 33 games, yet, for some reason, he's viewed as this irreplaceable architect.
For anyone hoping this season would be the end of the line for Schoen, it's time to start prepping for coming to terms with the reality he's not going anywhere anytime soon.