The Washington Commanders snapped their eight-game losing streak over the weekend with a 29-21 win over the New York Giants. Here are five takeaways from the victory.

1. They controlled the game on the ground.

After having a disjointed performance against the Minnesota Vikings, the Commanders got back to dominating opponents on the ground -- one of the few carryovers from last season. They ran for 145 yards and a touchdown on 37 carries, and they did so while being down one of their key contributors.

With Chris Rodriguez Jr. ruled out before kickoff, rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt took the bulk of the action with 18 carries for 96 yards and a score. The speed, quickness and vision he showed earlier in the season were back on display, accounting for 27 of the 47 yards the Commanders needed for their first touchdown. He averaged 5.3 yards per attempt -- by far the best number among the Commanders' ball carriers.

The Commanders also got positive yardage from their quarterback, as Marcus Mariota scrambled 10 times for 43 yards. He picked up 11 yards on a third-and-20 that got the offense in range for a field goal. Jeremy McNichols only had six yards, but five of them came on a third-and-4 to keep the offense on the field.

Sunday's game marked the 11th time the Commanders surpassed 100 rushing yards this season. They had 107 by halftime -- the most the team has recorded in the first half this season since Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

2. Another score for Jaylin Lane.

It seems the Commanders have found their punt returner for the next few years.

Lane, regarded as one of the better punt returners in his draft class, extended the Commanders' lead before halftime with a 63-yard punt return up the middle of the Giants' coverage for a touchdown. He made one cut when he caught the punt that made two defenders miss and used his 4.3 speed to outrun the rest of the would-be tacklers for his second score of the season.

Lane tied a franchise record with two punt return touchdowns in a single season. Lane is the fifth Washington player to achieve the feat and first since Brian Mitchell in 1994. He joined Johnny Williams to become the second Washington rookie -- and the only Washington player to do so in the Super Bowl Era -- with two punt return touchdowns in a single season. Williams achieved the feat in the 1952 season.

Lane's accomplishments on Sunday -- three returns for 91 yards and the score -- have ramifications that go beyond contributing to the win. He is tied for first in the league with two punt return touchdowns. He became the 23rd rookie in NFL history with at least two punt return touchdowns and the first since Jamal Agnew in 2017. He has recorded 314 punt return yards -- the most by a franchise wide receiver in their rookie season since Brandon Barker in 2010 (431).

3. Complementary football.

Head coach Dan Quinn said after the game that he saw complementary football from his squad on Sunday, and the best example of that came at the end of the first half.

It started with 1:40 left in the second quarter. The Commanders' defense forced the Giants' offense, which had just scored a touchdown to make the score 13-7, off the field after a three-and-out thanks in part to Von Miller bringing down Jaxson Dart for an eight-yard sack. That led to the Giants punting the ball away to Lane, who then returned it for his 63-yard touchdown.

Four plays later, the defense came through again with Mike Sainristil grabbing his fourth interception of the season and returning it to the Giants' 24-yard line with 10 seconds left. Jake Moody then tacked on a 42-yard field goal at the end of the half, making the score 22-7.

It ended up being an important part of the game. The Giants opened the third quarter with a touchdown and had an opportunity to tie things up in the fourth. Had the Commanders not scored those nine points, things could have gone differently at MetLife Stadium, and the Commanders' losing streak could still be alive.

The Commanders had a knack for getting points at the end of halves last season; it was one of the reasons they managed to pull out victories in so many close matchups. Sunday's game was a reminder that while the 2025 season hasn't gone as planned, there are still shades of what the team was and could be in the future.

4. There's still plenty to clean up.

Although the Commanders did show improvement after being shut out by the Vikings, they still suffered from some of the same problems they've dealt with all season.

The turnovers were the most prevalent issue from the offense. The unit fumbled the ball four times, two of which were recovered by the Giants in the final six minutes of the game. One of them resulted in a Giants touchdown, which cut the Commanders' lead from 15 points to eight. The second, which thankfully only resulted in a one-yard Giants gain rather than the 23-yarder that was originally called on the field, gave the Giants a chance to tie things up. Fortunately, the defense forced a turnover on downs, allowing the offense to run out the clock.

But the defense also made errors, despite forcing the Giants to punt four times. They allowed plays of at least 15 yards, including a 29-yard scramble from Dart and a 42-yard catch-and-run from Theo Johnson. Dart's run led to a touchdown in the second quarter that made the score 13-7.

There are still some things for the Commanders to clean up in the final three games. They'll have an opportunity to do so against the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles -- the top two teams in the division.

5. "There's nothing like a winning locker room."

It's been a difficult season for the Commanders. They're still less than a year removed from playing in the NFC Championship, but at times over the last two months, it felt like that game was a more distant part of the franchise's past. The number of injuries, both season-ending and short-term, played a significant role in upending things, but there have been other problems that the Commanders couldn't overcome during their losing streak.

The Commanders' game was the only one that didn't have any playoff implications thanks to both them and the Giants being eliminated. Some would say that made the game meaningless, and that's true in a sense. However, no one on the Commanders' roster felt that way. The win mattered to them, even if it didn't save their playoff hopes.

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