EAST RUTHERFORD — It took only three plays for the Malik Nabers primetime show to take center stage at MetLife Stadium. The rookie wide receiver motioned to the left side of a formation, used a double-move to create separation from a cornerback and glided downfield for a wide-open 39-yard completion from Daniel Jones on the Giants’ first drive. The only problem? Jones didn’t hit on another deep ball the entire game. The reality, along with crucial drops by receivers, ultimately limited the Giants’ offense too much Thursday night in their 20-15 loss to the Cowboys. “The result stinks, but I thought there was improvement,” head coach Brian Daboll declared postgame, as Big Blue Nation collectively sighed. This has to be getting painful if you’re a Giants fan. Five losses in five games to the Cowboys under Daboll, with a grand total of five touchdowns in those games — zero on Thursday. Look, Daboll has done a solid done as play-caller since taking over those duties this season. He has designed some good plays and made screen passes a legitimate weapon in this offense. And it’s hard score touchdowns when you can’t run the ball, which was alarming against a Cowboys defense that had allowed the most rushing yards over the first three weeks. Still, nothing but field goals on your home turf against a division rival, especially coming off a big win in Cleveland, isn’t going to make anyone feel good about the direction of your franchise. That’s why it was so puzzling to hear Daboll and one of the Giants’ receivers showering the quarterback with praise after this game. “I’m proud of the young man,” Daboll said. “He’s made good decisions, he’s thrown the ball where he needs to throw the ball.” “He’s a baller. Back against the wall, he always answers the bell,” Wan’Dale Robinson added. “I can’t ask for anybody better and a better leader for this team.” By no means did Jones play poorly in this game given the Giants’ pathetic 26 yards on 24 carries in the running game and multiple drops in the receiving game. But he had excellent pass protection and didn’t even attempt a pass into the end zone — let alone throw for a touchdown. What exactly in the standard here? Consider this: Jones now has 91 completions this season, and that first pass to Nabers on Thursday is the only one that has gained at least 30 yards. It’s not as though the Cowboys were simply scheming to take away downfield throws. Jones had several underthrown deep balls to open targets in this game, including one to Nabers in the second quarter that could have been a touchdown but was nearly intercepted. He also had a pressure-free “free play” downfield to Darius Slayton because a lineman jumped offside, and yet even that ball was intercepted. “Just got to hit them and get a guy a chance to make a play,” Jones said. “I’ll look at it and see where we can improve. I thought for the most part we moved the ball well in the pass game. Maybe we didn’t hit a 30-yarder, but we hit 15-, 20-yarders and moved it well. I’ll look at where I can improve on those down the field opportunities.” It’s clear that this Giants offense is going to rely heavily on receivers gaining yards after the catch, and that makes sense when you have elusive weapons like the 5-foot-8 Robinson at your disposal. The issue is that when you don’t generate big plays and have to repeatedly inch your way down the field, the margin for error is too small. “I think some of the explosives could’ve came from just us making some plays on the outside and not having some drops,” Robinson said. “I don’t think we would’ve been talking about that if we would’ve made those plays — I know for myself especially.” Robinson said he thought he would’ve scored on his 5-yard screen catch when the Giants faced third-and-goal at the Cowboys’ 8-yard line in the third quarter if he got the ball a bit sooner. He tried to outrun a linebacker and break a tackle, but unfortunately Dallas made a good play. That was just one of many little miscues that cost the Giants in the red zone. “Just didn’t execute in those positions,” Jones said. “We got behind the sticks with some penalties and some unforced errors, and just didn’t execute the same as we had leading up to that point.” The offense averaged 11 plays and 52.6 yards on five field goal drives, it dominated time of possession (35:37-24:23), and it didn’t even punt the ball until there was 3:04 left in the third quarter. Yet none of that mattered because the Giants never reached the end zone. It was a closer defeat to the Cowboys than usual in the Daboll era, yes, but ultimately the same old result as this franchise faces a 1-3 record and home fans who are surely growing restless once again. “We don’t feel good about losing,” Jones said when asked about playing a more competitive game with the Cowboys after two blowouts last year. “We didn’t do enough to win, and we’re frustrated. We’re not discouraged. I think we’re still confident in our team and what we can do, but no, we don’t feel good about losing.”