DETROIT — Well, what did you expect in the end?

Expecting the Giants to go into Ford Field and upset a heavily favored Lions team in desperate need of a win to keep its playoff hopes intact felt akin to expecting to see your numbers come up in the next Pick-6 drawing.

Expecting the Giants defense to hold off the explosive Detroit offense when it counted in the fourth quarter was folly.

It was never going to happen.

In the end, the Giants — as expected — lost 34-27 to the Lions in overtime on Sunday in a positively scintillating 60 minutes of football theater.

“We came here on a mission,” Giants quarterback Jameis Winston said, “and we didn’t complete that mission. We have to find a way. Whatever it takes, we’re willing and able to do it. We are desperate for a win.”

The final dagger for the Giants on this demoralizing day was a 69-yard touchdown run by Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs on the first play of overtime after the Giants won the toss and opted to take the ball second.

The Giants, on their possession, failed to tie the game and it was over for them yet again, in a gut punch so painful you cannot make it up.

Converting on a fourth-and-10 play with a Winston scramble, the Giants got to the Detroit 27-yard line after the Gibbs touchdown before their hopes for completing this massive upset were extinguished.

The final play was an Aidan Hutchinson sack of Winston on fourth-and-5.

The massive caveat to this loss, though, is how well the Giants played in losing.

They did so many good things in this game, beginning with the play of Winston, that this loss might have been the most maddening one of all in a season littered with them.

With Winston, who was playing in place of rookie starter Jaxson Dart with Dart in concussion protocol for the second consecutive game, the Giants built leads of 10-0 and 17-7 in the first half.

Through the first 30 minutes, Winston was almost perfect — 9-of-14 for 212 yards with two touchdown passes and a 147.3 passer rating.

He was remarkable, completing 18-of-36 for 366 yards with two touchdown passes with one interception.

Even better, Winston caught a touchdown pass from punt returner and occasional receiver Gunner Olszewski — the first reception of his career and first touchdown pass of Olszewski’s career.

The wild back-yard play gave the Giants a 27-17 lead with 12:16 remaining in the game.

That’s when things got weird for them, as usual.

The Lions answered rapidly — three plays later — with a 49-yard touchdown run by Gibbs, who rushed for 219 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, to make it 27-24 just 1:26 after the Giants trick play.

On the next Giants possession, Winston was picked off by Lions safety Thomas Harper with 10:45 remaining in the game.

The Lions failed to convert and the Giants went 14 plays and ate nearly six minutes of the clock before failing on fourth-and-goal from the Detroit 6-yard line with 2:54 remaining.

“Our decision I thought was a correct one, and I stand by it,” Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka said of going for the touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line. “We had an opportunity at the end of the game and took a really good team to overtime. We’ve got to find a way to finish those games.”

Winston blamed himself for missing tight end Theo Johnson on a second-and-goal from the 2-yard line play before it got to fourth down.

“So many ‘ifs, ands and buts,’ ” Winston said. “If my pass to the right to Theo Johnson is four inches to the left, that’s a touchdown and we finish the game.

“I loved Coach Kafka’s message before the game: ‘Leave no doubt.’ Today, we left some doubt out there. We were on the 3-yard line with a chance to put the freaking nail in the coffin and I missed Theo Johnson on a quick [pass in the] flat. That’s the details, that is the execution that is required to win tough NFL games.”

These Giants lead the NFL in struggles this season — especially on defense, which let a fourth-quarter lead get away for the fifth time this season.

When the Giants failed on that fourth-and-goal, it gave the Lions the ball back with 2:54 remaining. The Lions methodically marched down the field and tied it at 27-27 on a 59-yard field goal by Jake Bates with 28 seconds remaining in regulation to send it to overtime.

Winston after the game quoted a mental coach of his that he says he always repeats to himself.

“Success,” Winston said, “is in a struggle.”