Marcus Mariota stood in front of reporters, hair a mess, following the Washington Commanders' first win in two months. The first word he used to describe the feeling: "unbelievable."

"There's nothing like a winning locker room," Mariota said. "Our guys -- all three phases -- found a way to make big plays today."

In a week that was full of marquee matchups, the Commanders' road trip to MetLife Stadium to play the New York Giants was the only one that didn't have any postseason implications. The Commanders and Giants were both eliminated from playoff contention, and the main thing in play was the 2026 draft order. The Giants came into Sunday's game with the No. 1 overall pick, while the Commanders were sixth.

Head coach Dan Quinn isn't focused on the Commanders' draft order, but his mind was on the future as he stressed the importance of having a strong finish to an injury-marred season. Yes, younger players would get more snaps at certain positions, but he wanted to see the team compete and show they still believed in the culture he and the organization started to build last year.

Washington's 29-21 win wasn't perfect -- they gave the Giants multiple lifelines in the closing minutes -- but it was a victory, and after two months of frustrating defeats, the Commanders will take it.

"I told the guys, 'This has been hard,'" Quinn said at the podium. "There's plenty of stuff for us to correct and pick at, but we've been hearing enough inside the building, outside the building, that I want to start off by saying what's right."

And the Commanders did do a lot right in all three phases. The offense put up 145 yards on the ground, led by Jacory Croskey-Merritt's 96 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Washington didn't trail for the entire matchup and held a double-digit lead for the first time since Week 5. Terry McLaurin led the team with 69 yards on three receptions, including a 51-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

The defense, which allowed Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy to have a career performance with three touchdowns last week, had a much better performance against Jaxson Dart and the Giants' offense. Although the Giants put up 384 yards, the Commanders forced four punts and two turnovers on downs, one of which was at their own 4-yard line. They forced an interception from Dart, who also experienced more pressure from the Commanders' front. Von Miller sacked him for an eight-yard loss, moving the outside linebacker up to 12th all-time.

The special teams unit also got in on the action with Jaylin Lane scoring on a 63-yard punt return -- his second of the season. The 29 points scored by the team are its most since Week 3 when it scored 41 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Despite all that, the Commanders provided the Giants with opportunities to climb back into the game. New York nearly did it, too, thanks to four fumbles from the Commanders, two of which came in the final six minutes. The Giants also put up 146 rushing yards, and Dart, who did have to leave the game for a play in the second half, threw two touchdowns that put the Giants within eight points of tying things up.

Still, there were stretches where the Commanders looked better than they had in months. They moved 39 yards on their opening drive, helped in large part by a 28-yard catch from Noah Brown, to set up a field goal. The defense held the Giants to a field goal attempt from Younghoe Koo, who missed wide left, and forced a three-and-out to close out the first quarter.

Four plays later, Washington was in the end zone after a 47-yard drive. Croskey-Merritt was featured heavily in the drive, starting with an 11-yard pickup at the Giants' 33-yard line. The rookie capped the drive off with a 16-yard score that made the score 10-0.

The Commanders tacked on another field goal after the Giants were held to 20 yards on four plays, only for New York to respond with a 10-play drive that ended with a 12-yard Tyrone Tracy touchdown run.

The best the defense looked all afternoon came in the closing minutes of the first half. The defense forced a three-and-out, which led to Lane breaking loose for his punt return touchdown. Then, after the Giants got to the Commanders' 35-yard line, Mike Sainristil jumped in the way of a pass intended for Jalin Hyatt and returned it to the Giants' 24-yard line, putting the Commanders in range for a 42-yard field goal to make the score 22-7 at halftime.

The Giants came out of the locker room determined to climb back into the game and marched 82 yards downfield, thanks in part to a 24-yard run from Dart. Three plays later, Dart connected with Tracy for the 18-yard score.

It took the Commanders a whole quarter to respond. Koo missed a second field goal attempt, giving Washington the ball at its own 41-yard line. Back-to-back false starts partially negated an 18-yard reception from Deebo Samuel, but McLaurin made up for it by sprinting past the Giants' secondary and shrugging off defenders for his 51-yard touchdown.

The defense's goal-line stand made it seem like all Washington needed to do was run out the clock to secure the win. However, much like several aspects of the season, it wasn't that easy.

Mariota fumbled the ball eight plays into the Commanders' ensuing possession on third-and-12, with Brian Burns returning it to the Commanders' 21-yard line. The Giants only needed four plays to find the end zone, as Dart found Wan'Dale Robinson for a 16-yard score. Then, four plays into the next Commanders' drive, Jeremy McNichols fumbled on an eight-yard loss with Abdul Carter getting the recovery.

This time, however, Washington's defense held firm and forced two incompletions from Dart on third and fourth down, allowing the Commanders to run out the clock.