Giants look the part of a futile team in embarrassing loss to Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Giants finally looked like one of the NFL’s worst teams for a full game.

After a series of heartbreaking fourth-quarter blown leads that led to the firings of head coach Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and masked (to some) the larger issues at play, the Giants fit the mold of a tanker haplessly playing out the stretch Monday night in a 33-15 loss to the Patriots.

The Giants (2-11) allowed 30 points in the first half for the first time since the 2009 season finale, leaving a restless bye week ahead.

The Patriots (11-2) showed that the Giants’ hope of matching their one-year turnaround with a new coach and a stud young quarterback feels more like a pipe dream than reality.

In fact, the only time that the Giants showed any real fight in interim head coach Mike Kafka’s third game at the helm was when Theo Johnson drew an unsportsmanlike penalty for charging into Christian Elliss after Elliss leveled a scrambling Jaxson Dart on the sideline.

Dart, who was making his return from a concussion and promised to be more judicial in the hits that he takes, tiptoed down the sideline while chasing a first down and gave Elliss the opportunity to get the clean shot.

Drake Maye (24-of-31 for 282 yards and two touchdowns) outdueled Dart (17-of-24 for 139 yards and a touchdown) in a battle of quarterbacks that the Giants coveted in the past two draft classes.

The home crowd chanted “M-V-P” at Maye.

The special teams — the only unit on the team not led by an interim coordinator — were especially unspecial as the Giants fell behind 30-7 in the first half and put Michael Ghobrial on notice.

The Giants allowed an opening kickoff return of 39 yards to feed into a 12-play field goal drive and then were burned by Marcus Jones’ 94-yard punt return for a touchdown.

It was 10-0 before defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen had a chance to impact the game in his debut after an elevation from outside linebackers coach.

Of course, Bullen’s hands were tied by one of his own proteges before the game even started.

With rookie pass rusher Abdul Carter on the bench and disciplined by Kafka for the second time in three weeks, the defense surrendered two scoring drives.

Carter sat the entire first quarter for missing team responsibilities, as has been a habit this season, league sources told The Post, but later responded with his first career full sack.

General manager Joe Schoen is expected to answer for Carter’s immaturity, a second consecutive 2-11 start to a season and more Tuesday during his annual bye-week news conference.

When Dart briefly gave the Giants life — with a 30-yard touchdown pass that included a nice catch-and-run on the back end by Darius Slayton — the dubious special teams struck again.

With a chance to cut the score to a 17-10, Younghoe Koo’s foot got stuck in the ground on the approach to a 47-yard field goal.

Holder Jamie Gillan popped to his feet in the fire drill but was “sacked” for a 13-yard loss, as Dart turned his head in shock and mouthed, “Oh my God!”

The Patriots turned that miscue into a 33-yard touchdown pass and a 10-point swing to open up a 24-7 lead.

Bullen tried to disguise coverage by showing all-out blitz at the line of scrimmage, but only five rushing at the snap, and an unfooled Maye still attacked No. 1 cornerback Paulson Adebo in his first game back after missing five (knee).

And the Giants still weren’t done handing out gifts.

Gunner Olszewski fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which the Patriots recovered at the 27-yard line and turned into another three points.

The shell-shocked Giants, who vowed to be aggressive under Kafka, faced a fourth-and-1 at their own 35-yard line with 67 seconds remaining in the half.

After feebly trying to draw an offside penalty, the Giants punted and promptly gave up 67 yards and a field goal as time expired.

Kafka was more aggressive early in the third quarter on a fourth-and-6, but the results weren’t any better: Dart sailed a pass over Johnson’s head.

Tired of collapsing in the fourth quarter, the Giants made sure there was no opportunity to repeat their fate of blown leads against the Cowboys (3), Broncos (19), Bears (10), Packers (1) and Lions (10).

There was no Bowen around to shield the players from blown coverages and missed tackles time.

Devin Singletary’s 22-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter didn’t start the Giants on their own comeback trail.