It was a Giants home game, so naturally there was far more excitement over the way Daniel Jones played Thursday night than anything Sam Darnold did. And that’s OK with the Jets.

Jones made his unofficial debut on the Giants’ second offensive series of the game, and promptly led his team on a scoring drive, punctuated by a 12-yard touchdown pass that helped the Giants to a 31-22 win.

The mostly blue MetLife Stadium crowd watching the preseason opener for both teams roared its approval and began dreaming of when Jones might replace Eli Manning as the starting quarterback. That’s a story for another day.

The Jets by comparison were downright boring, though Darnold could identify with what Jones was going through. A year ago, it was Darnold who had every series and every play scrutinized. For Jones and Darnold, it comes with the territory when you’re a first-round draft pick and targeted as the future franchise quarterback.

“I thought Daniel played really well,” Darnold said. “He was super composed out there.”

Darnold went through it all last year. He won the job in training camp, started 13 games and endured his share of both success and adversity. Most importantly, he proved the Jets didn’t make a mistake by drafting him and comes into his second season with more experience and more confidence.

He’s a proven talent now. That’s why his performance Thursday night didn’t generate the attention it might have deserved.

“Sam did a good job of extending plays and the communication was good,” said head coach Adam Gase, adding, “The first offense operated the way we’ve been talking about.”

Darnold played just one series, but it was enough to show he is ready to pick up where he left off last year. The Jets took the opening kickoff and needed just seven plays for Darnold to lead his team on a 75-yard scoring drive. After missing on a short pass to wide receiver Quincy Enunwa on second down, Darnold completed three straight passes.

First he scrambled for space before firing a 32-yarder to tight end Chris Herndon. Then Darnold found wide receiver Jamison Crowder crossing over the middle for a 28-yard completion before connecting on a 5-yard pass to running back Ty Montgomery.

That gave the Jets a first down at the Giants 6. After a 3-yard run by Montgomery, Darnold found Crowder in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown against the Giants’ first-team defense and a quick 6-0 Jets lead. Darnold finished his only series 4-of-5 for 68 yards and the touchdown. It was good for a 158.3 quarterback rating

“It was fun out there for that first drive,” he said. “Hopefully, it gave the Jets fans a little taste of what this season will be like.”

It was just one drive, but it spoke volumes. The completion to Herndon came after Darnold used his mobility to buy time until Herndon came open. He showed patience and a perfect read of the defense in spotting Crowder. On the touchdown pass, he rolled to the right and fired a tight, short pass to Crowder at the goal line.

Of course, all of it was forgotten when Jones entered at quarterback for the Giants’ next possession. This was the coming out party for the former Duke star taken with the sixth-overall pick. Giants fans might be happy now that general manager Dave Gettleman chose him after Jones went 5-for-5 for 67 yards and ended his first pro series with a touchdown pass. His performance will be the talk of the town, while whatever Darnold did was long forgotten. That’s a good thing for the Jets, whose quarterback can now be taken for granted.

There are other issues that must be improved. Davis Webb wasn’t very good during his time at quarterback for the Jets, having two passes intercepted, including one returned for a touchdown. Kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed an extra point. And the Jets generally gave up too many big plays on defense to satisfy coordinator Gregg Williams.

But it’s Darnold and his play at quarterback that hold the key to the Jets’ season. So far, so good, even if nobody noticed.