The end was the same, because the Giants lost.

But it was different in the way they lost.

It was new and inventive and sad and comical and unforeseen and predictable all rolled into one great big ball of ineptitude.

The Giants on a sun-splashed Sunday had rallied from a 14-3 fourth-quarter deficit and were lining up for a short field goal to send the game into overtime.

It never got there, as Graham Gano’s 35-yard attempt was blocked with eight seconds to go, putting the finishing touch on a 14-11 loss to the Saints at MetLife Stadium that was equal parts appropriate and unfathomable.

It was the eighth consecutive defeat, as the hits keep coming, mistake after mistake that almost always sends the Giants home losers.

How does this keep happening?

“I don’t know how you want me to answer that,’’ rookie receiver Malik Nabers said. “That’s just football, I guess. That’s just the New York Giants this year.’’

Yes, that is the New York Giants in their 100th season of operation.

This is a franchise moving inexorably toward a coveted top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Giants (2-11) went into the weekend holding the No. 3 overall pick, according to Tankathon.

With the Jaguars (3-10) beating the Titans, the Giants moved up to the No. 2 spot, behind the Raiders (2-11) who lost to the Buccaneers.

The day started with an homage to the worst of the past for the Giants.

Up in the sky, 90 minutes before kickoff, a small plane flew over the stadium with a banner that stated “MR. MARA ENOUGH — PLZ FIX THIS DUMPSTER FIRE.”

The message was directed at co-owner John Mara.

The last time a banner flew overhead with such negative feedback from a disgruntled fan was back in 1978, when in the third quarter of a game against the Cardinals at Giants Stadium a plane flew a banner that read “15 YEARS OF LOUSY FOOTBALL … WE’VE HAD ENOUGH.”

Back then, Giants ownership took that message to heart, wholesale changes were enacted, with George Young’s hiring as the general manager the main impetus for the turnaround of the franchise.

Will this banner prompt similar changes with general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll?

“I’d say look, we’ve won two games, so, I’m not happy either,” Daboll said, when asked about the banner.

Players were not aware of the plane until they were informed about it after the game.

“I ain’t pay for the plane,” Nabers said. “I ain’t got nothing to say about that.”

For a change, the defense the Giants put on the field was fairly unyielding, despite several lineup changes caused by injuries that depleted the starting lineup. Now for the flip side.

A Giants offense that has been historically bad was even worse.

The inability to run was overshadowed by what for long stretches was the utter ineptitude with something called the forward pass.

It was mostly unsightly watching Drew Lock inject himself out of the pocket trying to locate his targets.

There were bad throws, bad protection and bad hands by the receivers in an overwhelming non NFL-caliber display.

Lock started out 0-for-8 and ended up with 28 incompletions on 49 pass attempts.

The Giants trailed 14-3 before they moved 82 yards in 13 plays, with Lock hitting Nabers for 22 yards and Tyrone Tracy scoring on a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 4:11 remaining.

On the two-point conversion, Lock’s pass was deflected and Nabers was able to pluck it out of the air and lean across the goal line to cut the deficit to three points.

Micah McFadden made a third-down stop and the Giants had the ball back on their 14-yard line with 3:07 left.

They got to their own 38 before the mini-rally fizzled when Lock threw an interception to Demario Davis on fourth down with 1:44 to go.

The Giants got the ball back with 1:21 to go.

Lock scrambled for 25 yards on fourth-and-10 and hit Nabers for 23 yards to the Saints 12-yard line.

Lock tried two throws into the end zone and then Gano came onto the field and calamity ensued.

Brian Burns and his teammates on defense were preparing for overtime but it never came.

Bryan Bresee leaped over guard Jake Kubas — filling in for injured Jon Runyan Jr. — and blocked the kick, which Gano said he hit fine and expected would have split the uprights.

“Yeah, that was something,” Burns said. “Yeah, that was a tough one, especially when you’re getting excited to go back in there and it was going into overtime and could never got there. That’s a tough one.”

Earlier in the fourth quarter, Gano hit a 48-yard field goal but it was taken off the board when Kubas was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty.

It is always something with this team, leaving Daboll to sing a familiar sad song.

“Just disappointed after this game,” he said. “I thought they battled their tails off. I was proud of the way they competed. You put everything into it, and you lose a game there at the end. There’s plenty of plays that could’ve made a difference. But we came up short.”

Again.

As usual.