What’s the point?

That’s the question now with the Giants and quarterback Eli Manning. The team can keep sending the 38-year-old veteran out there, again and again, for more dismal days like this ho-hum loss to the Buffalo Bills. It can put off his inevitable benching until the team is officially eliminated from the playoffs -- a day that, given the first two weeks of the season, will arrive far sooner than later.

And that’s what they’ll probably do, too. That doesn’t change the question, though.

What’s the point?

It’s time to start rookie Daniel Jones. It’s time to stop delaying the inevitable and toss him the keys to the franchise next Sunday in Tampa Bay, because to do anything else is, well, pointless.

To be clear: Jones isn’t going to solve the Giants many, many problems on his own. On the list of reasons that the Giants are 0-2 for the sixth time in the past seven seasons -- and let’s pause to let that doozy of a statistic set in -- quarterback play might not even crack the top three.

It doesn’t matter. This Giants team is going nowhere other than the top of the NFL Draft again. Jones is the future, and the more time he gets to learn from his mistakes, the better equipped he might be the productive quarterback this team needs in 2020 and beyond.

I think back to what Kurt Warner told me last month about his benching for Manning in 2004. The Giants were 5-4 at the time, but then head coach Tom Coughlin was wise enough to look at his roster and know his team was too flawed to make a postseason run.

“I think Coughlin’s approach was, we’re not a great football team,” Warner said. "Is it better to start the future and start building and get our young quarterback ready for that run two years from now, three years from now?

“Eli got seven games to start before Year 2. Was he farther along Year 2 than he was in Year 1? Without a doubt. If you’re ready to move to the next guy, you want to give him every opportunity to go through growing pains so when you start the next season, he’s ready.”

Manning had the kind of game that the MetLife Stadium crowd has seen too many times to count over the past few years. He was spotted a 7-0 lead on a drive that didn’t require him to throw a pass, then missed his first four throws as the offense sputtered and Buffalo took control. He had a killer interception on a pass batted at the line with the team in Bills territory near the end of the first half, and another likely Pick 6 in the fourth quarter that the Bills dropped.

He wasn’t nearly good enough to elevate this flawed team. But this debate really isn’t about what Manning can and can’t do any more. The team as a whole isn’t, and each game that comes and goes before the Giants leadership accepts that is one fewer start to aid Jones’ development.

Here are five observations from the Bills 28-14 victory:

1. ADD RUN DEFENSE TO THE LONG LIST OF WOES

Frank Gore is 36, but the Giants made him look like as spry as a teenager on Sunday afternoon. Then again, it didn’t seem to matter who was carrying the ball for the Bills, because this Giants defense struggled to stop everyone.

The Bills rushed the ball 34 times for 151 yards and three touchdowns. One week after Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott made the Giants pass defense look silly in the opener with a perfect passer rating, the Bills had a much more routine level of dominance. They weren’t flashy, but they’re 2-0 in MetLife Stadium this season.

The Giants, meanwhile, have a defense that can’t rush the passer or stop the run. That’s not good.

2. WELL, ONE GUY NAMED JONES HAD A BIG DAY

T.J. Jones had a productive training camp, leading the team with 12 catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns. And the Giants cut him anyway. That Aug. 31 decision was reversed when Jones was added back to the roster to help the depleted receiving corps, and given his solid day, the team should keep him around this time.

Jones not only caught the touchdown pass that cut the Bills lead to 21-14 in the fourth quarter, but had a 60-yard punt return near the end of the first half. His value as a returner alone should make him a valuable back-of-the-roster guy.

3. WHERE WAS EVAN ENGRAM?

The Giants’ issues at wide receiver are well chronicled. This was by far the weakest position on the team, and that was before Golden Tate was hit with a four-game suspension and Sterling Shepard was out with a concussion. Now? Put it this way: When Bennie Fowler is your top target on the outside, you’ve got some personnel issues.

But the Giants do have one of the best pass-catching tight ends in the NFC. So where was Evan Engram early in his game? He was targeted four times in the first three quarters, catching two passes for a measly four yards. He also had a key drop on a third-down play as the Giants were trying to get anything started in the third quarter. (He had 33-yard catch in garbage time.)

This offense needed a big day from him, but he was missing in action.

4. HALFTIME BOOS WERE WELL EARNED

The Giants were booed off the field at halftime, and to be clear, they earned that send off. They had two chances to score in the final two minutes and blew them both.

First, they had a 48-yard field goal attempt ruined by the usually reliable Zak DeOssie. He snapped high on the attempt, and while holder Daniel Jones made a nice play to get the ball down, kicker Alrick Rosas missed the 48-yard attempt wide left.

But the defense actually forced a Bills punt, which returned T.J. Jones returned 60 yards to the Bills 32. The Giants had plenty of time and another chance ... until Manning’s pass was intercepted by a diving defensive tackle Ed Oliver.

Boo away, folks. Boo away.

5. HE WAS WIIIIDE OPEN

The Giants have enough problems covering opposing receivers when they, you know, actually bother to cover them. On the Bills first scoring drive, the defense simply forgot about fullback Patrick DiMarco, who was standing alone along the Giants sideline calling for the ball.

Allen quickly snapped the ball and hit him, and while the play was only a three-yard gain after cornerback Janoris Jenkins hustled over to knock DiMarco out of bounds, it was just another example of confusion in James Bettcher’s defense. Allen was a perfect four-for-four on the drive with three rushes for 16 yards, so no matter what he did, the Giants couldn’t stop him.

Oh, and Allen’s first incomplete pass? Josh Brown was three full strides behind the Giants defense for what would have been an easy 52-yard touchdown. Allen simply overthrew him.

Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.