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NEW ORLEANS — The Giants’ future doomed them in the present.

Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo, the two players who excite Giants fans the most and the team plans to build around, left a game the Giants desperately needed to win against a winless opponent on the Superdome carpet Sunday.

Though the two ballyhooed rookies were hardly the only culprits in the 26-14 loss in New Orleans, Dart and Skattebo were a big part of handing the game to the Saints and leaving the Giants floundering at 1-4 one week after Dart had played so well in winning his NFL starting debut.

Dart lost a crucial fumble without even being hit and threw two interceptions. Scattebo, the running back with a bull-running style, lost a killer fumble that was returned for a touchdown in the second half.

Those were part of a dreadful five-turnover performance on five consecutive offensive possessions by the Giants in what turned out to be a waste of an afternoon for the many Giants fans who made the trip here. Hopefully, the Hurricanes from Pat O’Brien’s helped soothe the stress.

“Five turnovers to zero, you’re not gonna win in this league,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said. “I don’t know how many teams have ever won with a turnover ratio of 5-0.”

Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger said of the turnover barrage: “I’ve never experienced anything like that before. That’s not a recipe for winning in this place. It’s tough to win the league that way.”

On their first possession of the second half, with the Giants trailing 16-14, Dart inexplicably dropped the football as he tried to avoid pressure after not finding anyone open.

Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan recovered the gift by Dart just eight seconds into the second half. The Saints turned that into a field goal and a 19-14 lead.

“It just fell out of my hand,” Dart said. “We kind of just gave the game away with those turnovers. It’s not good. I’ve got to cut that s–t out.”

On the next Giants possession, Skattebo, straining for extra yards, was stripped of the ball by Saints defensive tackle Bryan Bresee before defensive back Jordan Howden recovered and returned it 86 yards for a TD and a 26-14 lead just 13 seconds into the fourth quarter.

The Giants had the game where they wanted it in the first half. They scored on their first two possessions and had the ball and a 14-13 lead while driving for a potential field goal or TD before the intermission.

Dart, who was 26-of-40 passing for 202 yards, connected with Darius Slayton on a 9-yard pass over the middle inside the New Orleans 35. But when Slayton tried to squirt between Saints linebacker Demario Davis and cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, things became uncool for Slayton and the Giants.

Davis punched the ball out of Slayton’s hands and into the arms of Jonas Sanker, who returned it 27 yards to the Giants 41-yard line with 1:02 remaining in the half.

Seven plays later, the Saints took a 16-14 lead on a 29-yard Blake Grupe field goal as time expired.

Saints receiver Rashid Shaheed burned the Giants secondary on an 87-yard catch and run from quarterback Spencer Rattler to cut the Giants lead at the time to 14-13 with 5:16 remaining in the half.

“That changed the momentum [and we] couldn’t get it back,” edge rusher Brian Burns said. “We couldn’t find a groove.”

They couldn’t find a sack all game, either.

The Giants built a 14-3 lead on a pair of Dart scoring passes to tight end Theo Johnson — the first from the 1-yard line with 9:34 remaining in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead and the second from the 15-yard line for a 14-3 lead.

After leading 14-3, the Giants allowed 23 consecutive points to a team that hadn’t led an opponent all season.

They did it by doing the two things teams cannot do — especially on the road inside a loud building with a rookie quarterback: They turned the ball over (five times) and committed too many penalties (eight for 95 yards).

“We gave the game away,” Giants receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said.

The Giants did exactly what bad teams do that cause them to lose games. And it gets no easier, with the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles, who own the Giants, next on the schedule Thursday night at MetLife Stadium.