The touchdown strike was nice, but the most important play Daniel Jones made Sunday was taking a sack.

What sounds like a negative is actually a sign of growth from the Giants’ second-year quarterback because Jones didn’t fumble when he was drilled in the back — and he didn’t force a throw into tight coverage to avoid the hit and lose yardage, either.

Jones played turnover-free for just the second time in 21 career starts and the result was a 23-20 win against a Washington Football Team that committed five turnovers. Six days earlier, Jones’ refusal to take a sack or throw the ball away led to two interceptions in a 25-23 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“That’s been a focus of mine. I obviously know the importance of holding onto the ball,” Jones said. “The defense did a great job coming up with five turnovers and on offense we were able to protect it, so that was a big advantage for us.”

It wasn’t a perfect game from Jones, who fumbled twice. One landed out of bounds and one he easily covered up. He has fumbled or thrown an interception in all 22 of his career games and his only two games without a turnover are wins at Washington.

But disaster would’ve struck if he lost the ball on third-and-10 from midfield with 2:10 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Safety Kamren Curl came untouched around rookie Andrew Thomas’ edge just as Jones cocked his arm. Jones didn’t sense the pressure, but tucked the ball as he went to the turf with a grimace. The Giants survived to punt and the defense made one final stop in an example of coach Joe Judge’s beloved “complementary football.”

“To be able to flip the field and make their offensive drive down the field, and for D.J. to hold onto the ball,” tight end Evan Engram said, “that was an important moment in the game.”

Jones finished 23 of 34 for 212 yards with a touchdown to Engram. He is 4-0 in his career against Washington and 1-16 against the rest of the NFL, including an active streak of 16 straight losses.

“I think Daniel played a really good game,” Judge said. “I thought he distributed the ball across the board. I saw him make a lot of really good decisions when he was in tight conflict in the pocket, throwing the ball away at different times. Daniel really managed the game and controlled the game and was able to make some plays for us down the stretch.”

In the unpredictable NFC East, the Giants swept the season series from Washington but are 0-2 thus far against the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. Washington is 2-0 against Philadelphia and Dallas.

So, why does Washington bring out the best in Jones?

“I don’t know if it’s specific to one team,” Jones said. “Each game is separate from the other. It’s just happened that we’ve come ready to play against Washington these last four times. We’ll look to build off it next week.”