A defensive touchdown, a sleep-deprived opponent and a chance to tee off on a backup quarterback with zero career touchdown passes sound like all the ingredients in the simplest recipe for ending an embarrassing losing streak.

But the Giants could burn toast, soften pasta and rubberize eggs.

Even with several factors working in their favor Sunday, the Giants devised an offensive game plan so vanilla that it called into question Jaxson Dart’s bright future, and they threw in so many mistakes during the 16-13 loss to the Vikings that it ran their skid to nine straight defeats.

The Giants averaged 2.9 yards per play (141 on 48 offensive snaps) — one of their worst performances of the 21st century.

“We’re paid to win in this league, be competitive — and we’re not right now,” left tackle Andrew Thomas said after leaving with a hamstring injury that only added to the stink of the loss. “Got to figure it out.”

Quarterback Jaxson Dart was taken down during the Giants’ loss to the Vikings on Dec. 21, 2025. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

The Giants (2-13) retained possession of the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft in what looks like a two-team race that should be decided next week in a head-to-head matchup with the hapless Raiders.

Another loss would tie the 101-year-old franchise’s record of 10 straight defeats set all the way back in 2024.

“It’s the same feeling as it was last week,” Brian Burns said of the losing streak. “It’s annoying, it’s a little disappointing, but we just have to keep swinging.”

Will Reichard’s go-ahead 30-yard field goal with 4:15 left in the game at the end of a 14-play drive lifted the Vikings, who survived an injury to starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy, as well as arriving in town at 10:45 p.m. Saturday after a mechanical failure grounded their plane in Minneapolis.

The Giants had a chance to respond, but Darius Slayton dropped a would-be first-down pass with room to run around the edge, and Dart was sacked on fourth-and-3 near midfield.

Drops have been a recurring issue in Slayton’s nightmare season.

A touchdown drive would’ve been a signature moment for the mostly promising Dart, who instead was left answering why it seemed that the Giants had zero faith in him.

Against a blitz-heavy defense, the Giants ran 15 times before Dart threw a pass, he didn’t have a completion until a 2-yarder with 102 seconds remaining in the first half, and he finished 7-for-13 for 33 yards.

“I wouldn’t call running the ball conservative,” interim head coach Mike Kafka said. “I would say we just wanted to try and minimize some of that pressure package and let our run game go.”

Except you don’t see other teams that believe in their franchise quarterback completely neuter him against the Vikings (7-8).

If you wanted to give Dart the excuse that it was windy at MetLife Stadium, he didn’t want it.

Bobby Okereke attempts to tackle Aaron Jones Sr. during the Giants’ Dec. 21 loss to the Vikings. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post

“I trust the coaches’ game plan each week,” Dart said. “You have conversations, and my job is just to go execute the play that’s being called.”

Dart’s interception off of Theo Johnson’s hands late in the first half almost was a replica of Jevón Holland’s interception off of Jalen Nailor’s hands.

The only difference was the Vikings interception wasn’t negated and turned into a field goal.

The lesson Dart learned from a performance with 13 net passing yards (after 20 lost on five sacks)?

The Giants rookie QB was sacked during the Week 16 home loss. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

“Just not let it happen again, I guess,” he said.

The game turned competitive in the final 25 seconds of the first half, when the Vikings inexplicably tried to pad their 10-point lead by setting up a screen pass and wound up going into the locker room clinging to a 13-10 advantage.

Burns came unblocked off the edge, flattened McCarthy and jarred the ball loose for Tyler Nubin’s scoop-and-score 27-yard touchdown return.

Burns’ 15th sack of the season resulted in the second takeaway by the Giants (Paulson Adebo interception) and what could’ve been their third takeaway and second defensive touchdown if not for Abdul Carter’s offside penalty wiping out Holland’s earlier 96-yard pick-six.

“It’s just like, ‘Don’t miss the ball,’ ” Nubin said. “I’ve seen guys be in that situation and miss the ball, so you just want to make sure you pick it up clean. [Holland] did get robbed, but we know it’s going to come around again.”

To make matters worse for the Vikings, McCarthy injured his right hand on the play and was ruled out for the game.

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Undrafted rookie Max Brosmer, who threw four interceptions in his only start earlier this season, replaced McCarthy and somehow out-dueled Dart even in throwing for 52 yards.

“We were the second-best defense [on the field] today,” said Carter, who had a sack for a third straight game, “and we have to live with that.”

The Giants tied the score at 13-13 on a 14-play drive that chewed more than nine minutes off the third- and fourth-quarter clocks.

Dart threw his broken chain to the sideline, converted a fourth down to Slayton, absorbed a helmet-to-helmet roughing the passer penalty and left the field for Ben Sauls to kick a 39-yard field goal (the second of his NFL debut) with 11:06 remaining.

But then the Vikings went to work with no more silly mistakes like head coach Kevin O’Connell made when he got greedy at the end of the first half once Brosmer was in.

“I feel like their game plan was to try to neutralize the line, make the reads easy for him and let J.J. get in a rhythm,” Burns said, “so they weren’t going to let us tee off on him either.”