SANTA CLARA. Calif. — He said it once, and a second time and a third. Brian Daboll was slinging props.

“That’s a heck of a football team there,’’ Daboll said.

The Giants head coach was referring to the 49ers.

It is not that Daboll is down on his team or does not believe in his team, but no one who witnessed or even glanced at what went down Thursday night can reasonably look at the Giants and look at the 49ers and not see the vast differences.

The Giants were not close to good enough to knock off one of the NFL’s elite teams.

They were not blown out early, which is an improvement from their Week 1 no-show against the Cowboys.

They were, however, outclassed for long stretches of their 30-12 loss at Levi’s Stadium.

“There’s a lot of stuff we can do better,’’ Daboll said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.’’

Daniel Jones was largely ineffective, with an injured Saquon Barkley on the sideline and no running game to lean on.

The Giants had no downfield presence and scored only one touchdown as Jones rarely looked comfortable in the pocket.

In the fourth quarter, he sailed a pass high and behind 6-foot-6 tight end Darren Waller, who leaped and barely got his hands on the ball.

Jones also did nothing with his legs, at times looking hesitant to take off and run.

The Giants (1-2) had to spend so many resources to deal with San Francisco pass rusher Nick Bosa that they were unable to get Waller and other targets out in pass patterns often enough.

Jones (22-for-32, 137 yards, one interception) was certainly outplayed by 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, but, of course, Purdy had much more at his disposal.

The Giants had no answer for bullish receiver Deebo Samuel (six receptions, 129 yards) or tight end George Kittle (7-90), and they did not exactly lay the hammer down on running back Christian McCaffrey (18-85 rushing, 5-34 receiving).

Samuel closed things out by beating Adoree’ Jackson for a 27-yard touchdown catch with 5:58 remaining, as the Niners (3-0) won their home opener.

The 49ers converted nine of 18 third downs.

“I don’t know what the conversion rate was, but obviously it was bad,’’ Jackson said. “It wasn’t difficult, we just didn’t execute, we didn’t tackle, we didn’t get off the field.’’

Trailing 17-6 after they were dominated in the first half, the Giants took advantage of two 49ers penalties totaling 37 yards to move in close enough for Matt Breida — starting in place of Barkley — to power in from 8 yards out and close the gap to 17-12 early in the third quarter. Jones was sacked by Bosa on the failed two-point conversion try.

It was time for the defense to make a stand and the Giants could not do it, entirely.

Tre Hawkins and Jason Pinnock both missed tackles on what turned into a 40-yard catch-and-run for Samuel.

The Giants put some pressure on Purdy — D.J. Davidson and Leonard Williams combined for a sack — and they stiffened after the 49ers reached the 3-yard line.

Williams and Micah McFadden put the heat on Purdy to force a throwaway and Pinnock hurried the quarterback on third down, forcing the Niners to settle for a field goal and a 20-12 lead.

But there was no comeback this time.

The Giants played without three starters on offense — left tackle Andrew Thomas, Barkley and left guard Ben Bredeson — and without outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari on defense.

A screen pass is not supposed to befuddle a defense, but it did — twice — as San Francisco rolled to its first touchdown, midway through the second quarter.

The first one came on third-and-15 and was a killer, as McCaffrey scooted for 30 yards.

The second one came on third-and-13 and McCaffrey got 13 yards — another killer.

That set up Purdy’s scoring toss to rookie Ronnie Bell, who beat rookie corner Deonte Banks for his first NFL reception.

It got worse.

The Giants went three-and-out when Javon Hargave bulldozed through left guard Shane Lemieux — making his first start of the season — for an 8-yard sack.

The Niners took over and did their thing. A roughing-the-passer penalty on Williams, who landed with all his weight on Purdy, set up McCaffrey’s nearly untouched 4-yard scamper into the end zone to make it 17-3.

At least the Giants got their first sack of the season, when Kayvon Thibodeaux reached Purdy in the first quarter.

Waller, held without a target for most of the first half, caught two passes, but then had a ball glance off his fingers to short-circuit a hurry-up drive that ended with Graham Gano drilling a 57-yard field goal to bring the Giants within 17-6 at halftime.

“It was a little far in front but anything you get your hands on you got to find a way to bring it in,’’ Waller said. “Daniel is not always going to be able to deliver a perfect ball and I got to help out as a teammate and make that play, wherever the ball is placed.’’

The Giants really never lost touch with the 49ers until the closing minutes.

But the Giants really never made the 49ers sweat, either.