The Giants are a bad team with a quarterback playing badly.

One of the main reasons they are weekly losers is because of Daniel Jones. This is troubling in the present and does not bode well for the future.

“Daniel’s our quarterback, clearly put,’’ head coach Joe Judge said.

Yes, at least for now.

Engaged in a tight, taut game with the heavily favored Buccaneers, the Giants Monday night were held back by Jones, the 23-year-old struggling through his second NFL season. He threw two more interceptions — both in the second half — and misfired on four deep throws that should have produced points.

Jones was the main culprit in the latest loss for the Giants. They led 14-3 in the second quarter and 17-15 entering the fourth quarter. Their defense kept the high-scoring Bucs in check for long stretches and Jones even had something of a running game to lean on. None of it mattered when it came to ultimately grinding a victory into another defeat.

“The young quarterback, he’s still trying to do too much,’’ Bucs coach Bruce Arians said. “It cost them the ballgame game throwing those two picks.’’

Tom Brady knew how to take advantage of this good fortune, tossing two second-half touchdown passes to send the Giants away with a 25-23 loss at empty MetLife Stadium, dropping the Giants to 1-7 at midseason.

The Giants have lost their last three games by a total of six points. This one came with a controversial no-call on the final play.

“There’s been a lot of questions externally in terms of how we’re holding up on the inside and I see a group of guys that come to work every day committed for each other with a lot of fight, a lot of urgency,’’ Judge said.

“These guys understand we’re building this thing in the right direction.’’

Jones actually gave the Giants a shot at pulling even. Trailing 25-17, he fired a 19-yard touchdown pass to leaping Golden Tate with 28 seconds remaining to bring the Giants within two points. On the two-point try, Jones had Dion Lewis open on the right side and took too long to deliver the ball. Cornerback Antoine Winfield Jr. crashed into Lewis as the pass at the goal line fell incomplete. A flag was thrown and what looked to be pass interference was ultimately not called, as after a huddle by the officials the flag was picked up.

Judge, livid, lowered his mask to scream at the officials as they walked off the field. A better, quicker throw by Jones and the Giants force overtime.

“Got to get the ball out there sooner to him,’’ Jones said glumly.

At 1-7, the Giants have their worst record at midseason since 2017.

Leading 17-15, Jones’s second interception — another one of those ridiculous throws where he should throw the ball away and for some reason does not — snuffed out another promising series and injected life into the Bucs. They moved 66 yards and Brady cashed in with an 8-yard lob to Mike Evans for a touchdown with 9:20 left to put the Buccaneers up 22-17.

“The communication is clear, the coaching is clear,’’ Jones said of his repeated turnover issues. “I got to do a better job of applying it.’’

Asked if Jones — who has 21 interceptions in 21 games (20 starts) might need to take a seat in a game if he continues to give the ball away, Judge said, “Daniel’s our quarterback. What we have to do is just make sure we keep improving everything around him.’’

Early, Jones (25 of 41, 256 yards) was playing so well, so steady. He hit Lewis with a pinpoint lob for a touchdown and outplayed Brady in the first half. The Giants came out flying in the second half when Lewis took the kickoff out to the 44-yard line. If there was a crowd in the building, the place would have been rocking — and then the air would have been sucked out of the place. Jones looked to his right, did not feel the pressure from the backside and floated a pass intended for Sterling Shepard that was far short of the mark, an easy interception for Carlton Davis.

It blunted the Giants’ momentum and the Bucs got the next nine points, closing to 14-9 on Ryan Succop’s 43-yard field goal and Brady’s 3-yard touchdown flip to Rob Gronkowski. The two-point conversion failed but the Giants trailed 15-14.

Jones was wasteful, failing to hit open targets four times, including overthrows to Darius Slayton and Shepard. Even when he hit Evan Engram for 30 yards, Jones put the ball too close to the right sideline, forcing Engram to make a fingertip grab before drifting of bounds. A more accurate pass and Engram might have scored.

Another close loss was the result.

“I don’t really care about the record,’’ safety Jabrill Peppers said. “It’s not like we’re just going out there and getting our a– kicked. We’re playing good football. We just got to tie it all together.’’