EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — This isn't about benching Eli Manning for what he can and can't do anymore following the New York Giants' 28-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

This is about the direction of the franchise, and to that end, the most important player to that length for the Giants is Daniel Jones, and he's standing on the sideline holding a clipboard.

Playing Jones is about the future of the Giants, not Manning's perceived ineptitude, others' empathy about how this affects his legacy or seemingly everything else in between.

The sooner everyone embraces that, the sooner the Giants can get out of their own way and start building toward better days.

Asked in his post-game news conference if he had a timetable in mind to start thinking about playing Jones, Giants coach Pat Shurmur said: "I think we've got to go back and look at how our team played, and we've got to go back and take steps to get better in all areas. I don't think that's a conversation for right now."

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The Bills came back from 16-0 down in this same building last week.

You wanna show something, Giants, that this season deserves more than the public pressing fast-forward to the 2020 season? Win these games, because it's only going to get tougher from here, and the charade that this team is built for contention this year is just that.

The defense made a few stops in the second half. Come back and win the game with a two-time Super Bowl MVP at quarterback. It's there for the taking.

TJ Jones made a great touchdown grab from Eli Manning with tremendous footwork in the back of the end zone to pull the Giants within 21-14. Missed opportunities late in the first half loomed even larger. A Bennie Fowler dropped pass. A Manning interception off a tipped pass at the line. Just sloppy things a team teetering on divisional relevance can't get away with.

The Giants' defense had a chance to get off the field twice and give the ball back to Manning, but failed. Josh Allen, the opposing QB, made a game-changing play when he crossed over B.J. Hill, who was applying pressure, scrambling away long enough to find John Brown for 17 yards and a first down on a third-and-6. Funny how that works. The Giants don't do that anymore. They used to. Haven't in a while.

Then came a rookie mistake by Dexter Lawrence after the Giants held, forcing a Bills' field goal attempt. A personal foul on Lawrence, unnecessary roughness, a blow to the head of the center on the field goal attempt, and the Bills' offense returned to the field. This was not an outrageous play by Lawrence, just one of those things that happen to bad teams who can't get out of their own way. He wasn't trying to use the center for leverage; he was rushing from one gap to the other and inadvertently made contact, but for safety reasons, that penalty is called more times than you'd like.

Three points off the board, first-and-goal from the 2, and two plays later, Frank Gore was in the end zone for the touchdown, a 14-point lead restored soon after.

Somehow nobody being open is becoming an acceptable reason for no offense, and a passable excuse for Manning and the offense's inability to do much of anything.

The Giants traded one of the best wide receivers in football. Odell Beckham Jr., will be back here Monday night with the Browns against the Jets, but this was a trade the organization was willing to make, with the belief that an offense focused on team, not individual playmakers, with a remade offensive line, was going to tell a different story.

It's not.

So the question to answer right now: What's the end game here? If the Giants are not winning games with Manning, isn't it more important for next season to lose games with Jones?

Only Shurmur, Dave Gettleman and ownership have that answer. They might not like to hear it, but it's time to ask themselves if they are allowing what has been an ugly present get in the way of a more promising future.

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