Commanders beat the Giants 29-21 to end their losing streak at 8 games

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Marcus Mariota emerged from the Washington Commanders' first victory celebration since Oct. 5 with a sense of relief. Beating the New York Giants 29-21 on Sunday ended their season-derailing skid at eight games.

“There’s nothing like a winning locker room,” Mariota said. “It’s hard to go two months without winning a football game.”

Now their opponent is stuck with that feeling. The Giants (2-12), who lost their eighth in a row, have not won since Oct. 9.

The only NFL game this week with no playoff implications had a far bigger bearing on draft positioning. The Giants in defeat moved 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.

"I’ve never gone this long without a win in my career," said Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, who was 20 of 36 for 246 yards with touchdown passes to Tyrone Tracy and Wan'Dale Robinson and a costly interception. “I know that this isn’t going to be the case for the future, and things are going to eventually turn around. I definitely have that in my mind. Obviously, as a team we want to get that switched immediately.”

Players in Washington thought last year was evidence of turning that franchise around, with an improbable run to the conference championship game in quarterback Jayden Daniels' AP Offensive Rookie of the Year season setting expectations high. Instead, Daniels has missed significant time, including sitting out Sunday after aggravating an elbow injury, and the Commanders (4-10) also are playing out the string.

They responded from getting shut out 31-0 at Minnesota last Sunday by Jacory Croskey-Merritt running for a TD and fellow rookie Jaylin Lane returning a punt 63 yards to the end zone.

“The guys, it comes down to effort on that,” said Lane, who got the game ball from coach Dan Quinn and carried it around afterward. “It’s the longest play in football, punt returns, so just shoutout to the guys.”

Mariota connected with top receiver Terry McLaurin on a 51-yard catch-and-run touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and that went a long way toward putting smiles on many faces in the visiting locker room.

“It feels amazing to win a football game,” McLaurin said. “It’s been a long season, but you come out here and you get a win and you really appreciate that feeling.”

Mariota completed only 10 passes on 19 attempts for 211 yards, with a fumble, and Croskey-Merritt had 96 on the ground.

That, along with a defensive effort that included Von Miller sacking Dart to reach 136 1/2 in his career and pass Jared Allen for 12th on the all-time list, turned out to be enough.

“It’s never easy at this point in time with what’s going on in our season, but those guys continue to fight, continue to battle,” Mariota said. “Games like this are never easy. The weather was tough, windy, cold, snowy: So many reasons, so many things for guys to not show up and play, and our guys found a way.”

Dart was escorted off the field by trainers to the sideline and went into the blue medical tent for a concussion evaluation after taking a big hit on a designed run in the fourth. He missed only two plays while getting cleared but did not understand why he was pulled.

“I was definitely surprised,” Dart said. “I didn’t feel like it was that big of a hit at all.”

This was Dart’s second game back after missing the previous two from getting concussed Nov. 9 at Chicago.

Commanders: WR Noah Brown was initially listed as questionable to return because of a back injury, which was changed to ribs when he was ruled out at halftime. ... LT Laremy Tunsil returned after leaving with a back injury, then exited again with an oblique ailment. ... DT Eddie Goldman was evaluated for a concussion.

Giants: Edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux missed a fourth consecutive game because of a shoulder injury.

Commanders: Host the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday.

Giants: Host the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday.

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New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) catches a pass for a touchdown against Washington Commanders middle linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) during the third quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Washington Commanders wide receiver Jaylin Lane (83) celebrates with wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) after returning a punt for a touchdown against the New York Giants during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt (22) is tackled by New York Giants cornerback Andru Phillips (22) as he crosses the goal line for a touchdown during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) catches a pass for a touchdown against Washington Commanders middle linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) during the third quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the New York Giants during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Washington Commanders wide receiver Jaylin Lane (83) carries the ball for a touchdown against the New York Giants during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday it was taking steps to further ease sanctions on Russian oil as crude prices surge during the Iran war.

The agency said that it was granting a license that authorizes the delivery and sale of some sanctioned Russia crude oil and petroleum products for the next month.

Trump signaled earlier this week that he would take further action to ease restrictions on sanctioned oil to help make for the loss of oil flowing on the market because of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The move follows the Trump administration granting temporary permission for India to buy Russian oil.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s secretive new leader issued his first public statements Thursday, resolving to keep fighting, promising more pain for Gulf Arab states and threatening to open “other fronts” in a war that has already disrupted world energy supplies, the global economy and international travel.

The hard-line stance revealed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country's attacks were creating conditions for the Iranian population to topple the government.

“It is in your hands,” Netanyahu said at a news conference, addressing the Iranian people. “We are creating the optimal conditions for the fall of the regime.”

Since the start of the war, U.S. and Israeli strikes have targeted security checkpoints in Iran to undermine the government’s ability to suppress dissent, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, the U.S-based independent monitoring group known as ACLED.

Netanyahu denounced Khamenei as a “puppet of the Revolutionary Guards."

Khamenei is close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and is widely seen as even less compromising than his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His location is unknown, and he is likely a prime target for the U.S. and Israel.

Khamenei said in a statement read by a state TV news anchor that he was keeping a “file of revenge.” He did not appear on camera and has not been seen since his father and wife were killed in the war’s opening salvo, which also wounded him, according to an Iranian ambassador.

The war continued to escalate on its 13th day as oil prices spiraled up again to $100 per barrel, and stocks sank worldwide over fears that the conflict could drag on longer than hoped.

Iran has made clear it plans to keep up attacks on energy infrastructure across the region and use the effective closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz as leverage against the United States and Israel.

At a news conference Thursday, Iran’s ambassador to Tunisia, Mir Masoud Hosseinian, said Iranian naval forces “have established full control” over the strait and “carried out precise strikes in response to attacks on our oil infrastructure.” A fifth of the world’s traded oil flows through the waterway leading from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean.

“Global energy security is contingent on respect for Iran’s sovereignty,” he said.

He told The Associated Press the new supreme leader was wounded in the attack on his family’s home, but “it is not serious.” The hope is he will attend the massive, state-organized Eid prayer next week that his father traditionally led.

Hosseinian added that Iran’s strikes on Gulf nations have also been strategic.

“Even when we targeted hotels, we had precise information that they were hosting American and Israeli soldiers,” he said.

Khamenei called on Gulf Arabs to “shut down” U.S. bases in the region, saying protection promised by Washington was “nothing more than a lie.”

He also said Iran has studied “opening other fronts in which the enemy has little experience and would be highly vulnerable” if the war continues. He did not elaborate, but Iran has been linked to previous attacks on U.S., Israeli and Jewish targets around the world.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post Thursday that ensuring Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon was a higher priority than soaring oil prices.

Hours later, Netanyahu announced Israeli attacks had killed a top Iranian nuclear scientist and hit others but gave few details.

Israel said earlier it struck a nuclear facility in Iran in recent days that it had destroyed with an airstrike in October 2024. Earlier this year, satellite photos raised concerns that Iran was working to restore the facility.

As Netanyahu spoke, the Israeli military said it had detected a new barrage of missiles launched from Iran toward Israel.

The U.S. military said American forces have now struck more than 6,000 targets since the operation against Iran began, including more than 30 minelaying vessels.

British officials said several U.S. personnel suffered minor injuries Wednesday night when drone strikes in northern Iraq hit a base in Irbil that houses both British and American troops.

And on Thursday in western Iraq, rescue efforts were underway after an American military refueling plane went down. U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said in a statement that the mishap involved two aircraft, including one that landed safely, and that the cause was not related to hostilities.

Israeli warplanes pummeled Lebanon, targeting even the busy heart of Beirut, in response to missiles from Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters launched into Israel. One strike hit in a neighborhood that is close to Lebanon’s parliament, United Nations offices and international embassies.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said forces were targeting a “facility affiliated with Hezbollah.”

An Israeli strike also hit in the vicinity of Lebanon’s only public university, killing a professor and the director of the science faculty at the campus in Hadath, on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

An Israeli strike on a village in southern Lebanon killed nine people, including five children, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, adding that seven others were wounded. An AP photographer who visited the scene found several buildings flattened and widespread destruction, while rescue workers searched through the rubble.

Two other Israeli strikes on separate towns in southern Lebanon killed six more people, the health ministry said.

The U.N. refugee agency said up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced by the ongoing war. It said most have fled from Tehran and other major cities toward the north of the country or rural areas. Around 800,000 people have been internally displaced in Lebanon, prompting fears of a humanitarian crisis.

Ben Mbarek reported from Tunis, Tunisia. El-Deeb reported from Beirut. Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers David Rising in Bangkok; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; Natalie Melzer in Mitzpe Hila, Israel; Koral Saeed in Herzliya, Israel; Sally Abou AlJoud and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira and Ben Finley in Washington; and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Israeli authorities inspect homes damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel, central Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Residents watch as smoke rises from a nearby building during an Israeli strike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A woman gathers belongings from her family's home after it was damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel, central Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

People inspect homes damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel central Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Workers inspect damage caused by a drone strike overnight at the Address Creek Harbour hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo)

A woman sits on rubble across from a residential building damaged last Monday during the U.S.-Israeli air campaign in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Israeli authorities inspect homes damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel central Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Israel Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks during a meeting of the Security Council at U.N. headquarters, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A family enjoys the sunset with the view of the city skyline and Burj Khalifa, at Dubai Creek Harbour in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Smoke rises after an explosion at the airport in Irbil, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A man inspects a car damaged in an Israeli airstrike at the Ramlet al-Baida public beach in Beirut, Lebanon, early Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)