NEW YORK _ The teams' records were ugly, as was the level of play at times, but the Giants and Jets managed an entertaining, back-and-forth game full of big plays on Sunday in their quadrennial regular-season meeting at MetLife Stadium.
In the end, it was the Jets who earned bragging rights, such as they are this year, with a 34-27 victory that gave them their second victory in nine games.
For the Giants, it was another low moment in a lost season. They are 2-8 and have six losses in a row with Daniel Jones after the rookie quarterback won his first two starts in September.
The victory should provide at least temporary relief to one of the two head coaches under fire, the Jets' Adam Gase. The Giants' Pat Shurmur, by contrast, will have to live with the loss through the bye week.
The Jets led 34-27 deep into the fourth quarter when Jones and the Giants tried to mount one last drive to catch up after getting the ball at their 12-yard line with 4:17 left and no timeouts.
On third-and-12 from the 3, Jordan Jenkins and Henry Anderson sacked Jones, and the Giants had to punt.
The Jets were unable to end the game with a first down and punted, giving Jones one more try from his 16-yard line with 18 seconds left. But nothing came of it, and that was that.
The Jets scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the third game in a row, marching effortlessly down the field behind Sam Darnold's 7-for-7 passing, capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by the quarterback.
It appeared the Jets might stall when they were stopped on a third-and-1 at the Giants' 8, but an offsides penalty against Markus Golden gave the home team a first down.
The Jets were at the 2-yard line when Darnold faked a handoff to Le'Veon Bell, kept the ball and ran it in to his right, untouched, to make it 7-0 with 7:21 left in the opening quarter.
The Jets' drive consumed 7:39 and covered 75 yards on 13 plays.
The Giants answered by going three-and-out, ending with a sack of Jones by Jamal Adams that resulted in a fumble that Jones' teammate Saquon Barkley recovered at the 8, forcing a punt.
It did not take long for the Jets to make it 14-0, on a 23-yard pass from Darnold to Jamison Crowder with 1:35 left in the first.
The Jets kept that drive alive with a 2-yard run by tight end Trevon Wesco on fourth-and-1 from the Giants' 41-yard line.
It was third-and-6 at the 23 when Darnold threw a dart to Crowder, who abruptly changed direction, leaving Alec Olgetree grasping, and cruised into the end zone.
The Jets outgained the Giants in the first quarter, 121 yards to 2.
Just when it appeared the Jets might run away with it, the Giants got within a touchdown with 12:26 left in the second quarter.
Their drive was extended by a pass interference penalty on Nate Hairston on a third-and-10, which the Giants followed immediately by a play on which Jones faked a handoff, rolled right and hit Rhett Ellison for a 31-yard gain.
The touchdown came on a first-and-goal from the 5. Jones was given an extraordinary amount of time to pick out a receiver, and he found Darius Slayton just inside the goal line for the score.
The Jets defense committed three penalties on the scoring drive.
It appeared the Jets might take back control when the executed a nearly perfectly flea-flicker � the key word being "nearly." All went well as Vyncint Smith raced behind the secondary, but he was overthrown by Darnold.
That drive ended with Golden sacking Darnold on third-and-13, forcing a punt.
The Giants' next drive again was helped again by a Jets penalty � this time a holding call that erased a sack.
Later, on fourth-and-3 from the Jets' 38, Jones hit Slayton with a short pass for the first down, but Hairston slipped, freeing Slayton to race across the field and into the end zone.
But the score remained 14-13 with 5:24 left in the half because the Giants botched the extra point.
After a bad snap, holder Riley Dixon threw the ball into the end zone, but it was intercepted.
The Giants' touchdown drew loud cheers from the crowd, which seemed to be at least half Giants supporters despite the fact it was a Jets home game.
Giants offensive tackle Nate Solder left the game with a concussion late in the second quarter.
The last two minutes were a flurry of offensive ineffectiveness on both sides.
Shurmur had his team go for it on fourth-and-1 at his own 39-yard line, but the Jets � led by Adams � stopped Jones for no gain on a keeper.
The Jets did nothing with that opportunity, missing a 54-yard field goal try by Sam Ficken, giving the Giants the ball back in fine field position. But nothing came of that, either, after Jordan Jenkins sacked Jones on third down.
So it was 14-13 Jets at the intermission.
The Jets took a 21-13 lead 47 seconds into the third quarter when Adams got past a block attempt by Barkley, stripped the ball from Jones and ran it in 25 yards for a touchdown.
With 11:51 left in the third, the Giants bounced right back, when Jones hit Golden Tate on a quick wide receiver screen and Tate did the rest, completing a 75-yard scoring play.
Shurmur opted to try a two-point conversion to tie it. Initially, it appeared it had worked on a completion to Tate, but he was called for offensive pass interference, resulting in a longer-than-usual, 43-yard extra-point kick.
Aldrick Rosas missed it wide right, and the score remained 21-19 in the Jets' favor.
On the Giants' next drive, Jones hit Slayton for 14 yards on a third-and-11, moving the Giants to the Jets' 22.
Soon the Giants were taking the lead, with Jones hitting Tate on a third-and-3 from the 15. Tate cut in front of Brian Poole and scored easily. It was Jones' fourth touchdown pass of the game, matching his career high.
The Giants added a two-point conversion on a pass from Jones to Bennie Fowler, and it was 27-21 Giants with 5:21 left in the third.
Ficken got the Jets within 27-24 on a 53-yard field goal with 1:42 left in the third. The key play on the scoring drive was a third-and-7 at the Jets' 39 on which Darnold scrambled for 24 yards to the Giants' 37.
The quarter ended on a Darnold-to-Crowder completion that covered 25 yards to the Giants' 14.
The fourth began with DeAndre Baker being called for interfering with Robby Anderson in the end zone, placing the ball at the 1-yard line. Le'Veon Bell ran it in from there to make it 31-27 for the Jets with 14:52 left.
Jones kept the Giants' next drive alive with an 11-yard scramble on a third-and-10 play at his own 25, but the drive soon stalled.
The Giants had to rely on Jones' passing (and scrambling) with Barkley ineffective in the running game.
Darnold mounted another strong drive as the clock wound on in the fourth, hitting Demaryius Thomas for 47 yards to the Giants' 22-yard line soon after he converted on a third-and-1.
But it stalled, and the Jets settled for a Ficken field goal of 35 yards, making it 34-27 with 7:39 left.
