Giants fall to Marcus Mariota, Commanders, losing streak grows to 8

Jacory Croskey-Merritt ran for a touchdown, fellow rookie Jaylin Lane returned a punt 63 yards to the end zone and the Washington Commanders ended their season-derailing skid at eight games by beating the similarly woeful New York Giants 29-21 on Sunday.

The only NFL game this week with no playoff implications has a far bigger bearing on draft positioning. The Giants (2-12) lost their eighth in a row, moving a step closer to the top pick, a last-place finish in the NFC East and potentially front-office changes, with a coaching search already coming.

New York did not have the same expectation as Washington (4-10), which was coming off an improbable run to the conference championship game in…