LAS VEGAS — The Giants lost Sunday.
Their fans lost.
Their front office lost.
Their next head coach — whoever that may be — lost.
In what was a perfect way to accentuate this miserable season for the Giants, the loss came in a 34-10 win over the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.
The victory for the Giants, though, significantly damaged their chance of having the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft.
And with that, it has potentially compromised their chances of enhancing their haul of draft picks since, at No. 1, they’d be holding all the cards in the draft for teams desperate to land a franchise quarterback with coveted Fernando Mendoza poised to go first.
The Giants, now 3-13, entered the day with possession of the No. 1 pick, with a 37 percent chance of retaining it and they relinquished it — probably for good.
Had they lost the game, the Giants would have entered next Sunday’s season finale against Dallas at MetLife Stadium with a 73 percent chance of picking first.
The Giants left Las Vegas after defeating a Raiders team (2-14) that was overtly tanking with just a 6 percent chance of picking first.
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) celebrates a touchdown in the second quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
That, however, hardly mattered to the Giants players who basked in a victorious locker room for the first time since Oct. 9.
Nor did it matter to their interim head coach, Mike Kafka, who was 0-5 since taking over for the fired Brian Daboll before finally tasting victory for the first time as a head coach.
Whatever momentary relief the Giants felt about ending their nine-game losing streak could end up hurting their future depending on what unfolds in the draft.
The players and coaches who were in that locker room Sunday evening in Vegas don’t give a damn about that.
“It’s easy to say you just ignore the noise, but you’re definitely aware of the external situation,” Giants right guard Greg Van Roten told The Post.
“I felt like it was just noise,” quarterback Jaxson Dart said after throwing for 207 yards and rushing for two touchdowns.
“The things that we were playing for were for each other,” Kafka said. “To a man in that room, we have each other’s back and playing as hard as we can for each other. You get into a football locker room, it’s a family.”
New York Giants running back Devin Singletary (26) runs with the ball in the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said, “It just felt great to come in here and celebrate with these guys.”
Even at the expense of the tanking Raiders.
The Raiders entered the game advertising to anyone who was paying attention that they had little desire to win Sunday’s game.
First, they placed tight end Brock Bowers, their top offensive weapon, and safety Jeremy Chinn, one of their best defensive players, on season-ending injured reserve despite the fact that both players played every snap in the previous week’s game.
Then the Raiders placed edge rusher Maxx Crosby, their best player, on IR with what they described as a lingering knee injury.
Crosby, who’d played 100 percent of the defensive snaps in the Raiders’ previous five games and was not re-injured last week, was reportedly so livid he immediately left the team facility when informed of the team’s decision.
New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks (2) returns a punt for a touchdown in the second half against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“I don’t give a s–t about the pick,’’ Crosby told reporters last week. “I don’t play for that.’’
That, however, is exactly what Raiders management was playing for Sunday.
The Raiders looked a lot more like the team riding a nine-game losing streak than the Giants, who raced to a 17-3 lead in the first half and never looked back.
An interception by linebacker Bobby Okereke of Geno Smith set the Giants up for their first score — a 1-yard touchdown run by Devin Singletary on the final play of the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.
Giants cornerback Deonte Banks (2) is congratulated by interim head coach Mike Kafka after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Las Vegas. AP
After a 42-yard field goal by Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson, the Giants took a 14-3 lead on a 12-yard designed run by Dart with 5:56 remaining in the first half.
The Giants got the ball back one final time in the first half and made it 17-3 on a 32-yard field goal by Ben Sauls, the team’s fourth kicker this season.
The Raiders tightened the game slightly on a 4-yard Smith scoring pass to Tyler Lockett to cut the Giants lead to 20-10 in the third quarter.
On the play, a fourth-and-goal from the Giants 4-yard line, their cornerback Deonte Banks was late in his coverage of Lockett wide open in the back of the end zone.
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On the ensuing kickoff, though, Banks made amends, returning it 95 yards for a touchdown and a 27-10 Giants lead with 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Banks play was a capper on a where-has-this-been-all-season performance by the Giants.
They looked like a real, live football team on this day — albeit against a team that entered the game telling the world it had little interest in winning it.
Time will tell if the Giants lost by winning.