- - Cowboys DE Donovan Ezeiruaku ejected from loss to Giants early after ripping Greg Van Roten's helmet off

Ryan Young January 4, 2026 at 9:08 PM

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Dallas defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku was ejected from the Cowboys' 34-17 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon after he got into an altercation in the second half and ripped a Giants player’s helmet off his head.

Things erupted early in the third quarter after Jaxson Dart hit Tyrone Tracy in the back of the end zone at MetLife Stadium for a 13-yard touchdown, which extended the Giants' lead in the regular-season finale.

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It’s unclear exactly what started the altercation, but Ezeiruaku and Giants guard Greg Van Roten were at the center of it. Ezeiruaku held onto Van Roten’s facemask as others ran into the pile and eventually ripped it off his head, which led to more flags being thrown.

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Week 18 fight! Helmets coming off between Cowboys and Giants, you love to see it pic.twitter.com/HlIoOvmddK

— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) January 4, 2026

Ezeiruaku was ejected from the contest after that, and Cowboys defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was hit with an unnecessary roughness penalty for his role. It looked like Van Roten was grabbing Sam Williams' facemask early on, too, but he was not penalized.

Once things settled down, the Giants went for a 2-point conversion and succeeded after running back Devin Singletary found Darius Slayton for a short completion. That put the Giants up 24-10.

Donovan Ezeiruaku got into it with Giants offensive lineman Greg Van Roten on Sunday afternoon. (Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images) (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)

Ezeiruaku had one tackle in Sunday's game before he was ejected. He finished his rookie season with 40 total tackles and two sacks. The Cowboys selected the 22-year-old in the second round of the draft last spring out of Boston College.

Both the Cowboys and the Giants entered Sunday's game, the final one of the regular season, having already been eliminated from playoff contention. The Giants had an outside shot at securing the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft but their 17-point win over the Cowboys handed that to the Las Vegas Raiders instead.

The Giants ended the season 4-13 and the Cowboys fell to 7-9-1, which marked their fourth defeat in their final five games of the season.

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Source: “AOL Sports”