ARLINGTON, Texas – There’s an old saying: If a football team has two quarterbacks, it doesn’t actually have a quarterback.

Are the Giants — losers of seven straight — brewing a quarterback controversy between close friends Tommy DeVito and Drew Lock after cutting 10-game starter Daniel Jones?

Who will head coach Brian Daboll face on December 8th against the Saints? Does it even matter who plays?

“We have a few days to watch this game,” Daboll said Thursday after a 27-20 loss to the Cowboys in which Lock started in place of the injured DeVito.

“I thought Drew did some good things, but two big turnovers — one on a screen where we had a big chance to make a big play. And then he came out in the second half, ended up in the pocket and got the ball thrown out (for a fumble). Such sales cannot exist.”

It could be a matter of personal preference between Lock – whose career resume suggests he makes both good and bad happen – and DeVito’s more manageable style.

DeVito has not thrown an interception in six of his seven career starts, including this season when he was the first to replace Jones.

Daboll’s preference was evident last season when he chose to stick with DeVito over the chaos caused by Tyrod Taylor until he could no longer justify it in the final two games.

That was evident again two weeks ago when he passed Lock – Jones’ backup – for third-teamer DeVito, hoping to pick up a few resume-filling wins by avoiding disastrous plays.

Things clearly sounded clear again on Thursday when he took a closer look at Lock’s two giveaways – including a pick-six – after the veteran completed 21 of 31 for 189 yards and scored a team-high 57 yards and a touchdown .

Here’s the thing, though: Players may find it easier to absorb a loss like Thursday’s – and keep up with it – than a 30-7 loss like the one the week before with a turnoverless DeVito against the Buccaneers.

Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen – both in the hot seat – must figure out which quarterback gives the Giants the best chance of avoiding a season-ending 12-game losing streak.

A vocal portion of the fan base wants to play the quarterback who gives the Giants the best chance of losing and ending up with the top two draft picks.

Since training camp, Lock had not taken an 11-on-11 snap at full speed in practice. So did he do enough to remain the starter by helping the NFL’s lowest-scoring offense score 20 points for the fourth time in 12 games?

“I’m not thinking about that right now,” Lock said. “If the opportunity comes again, be ready to play and play better than we did today.”

DeVito (right forearm) said after the game that he probably could have played if the Giants had played on the usual Sunday instead of the shortened Thanksgiving week. He added that he didn’t know yet whether he would remain a regular player.

“I was proud of the way Drew competed,” DeVito said. “He took some shots and got back up every time to score a touchdown at the end of the game and potentially have a chance to get the ball back. He showed a lot of toughness, brought the boys to the top and scored points in the end.”

Here are some other thoughts on the Giants:

The Giants’ remaining strength is the ninth toughest in the NFL (0.561 opponent winning percentage).

For now, they are expected to be the No. 1 pick in the draft until the Jaguars’ outcome is announced on Sunday when they host the division-leading Texans.

For the sake of a tank, it would help if the Eagles were still fighting for the No. 1 seed in the NFC (or haven’t won the NFC East yet) and had a reason to play their starters in Week 18.

But the next game against the Saints (4-7) might be the only winnable option left.

In fact, the Giants’ biggest game yet to come may be the Jaguars-Raiders matchup on December 22nd, which will be a game to see which of the other two-win teams in the league join their misery.

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The gap between the Giants and the rest of the NFC is as wide as it’s ever been in this 13-year streak of mostly misery.

The Giants are 0-5 against the Commanders, Cowboys and Eagles, with this season finale being the last chance to avoid a winless division for the first time in franchise history. That’s the price of being overtaken by the previously reliably low-level commanders.

Overall, the Giants are 4-12-1 against their rivals under Schoen and Daboll.

The Cowboys have won eight straight times against the Giants and 15 of the last 16 meetings, including all eight since 2017 at AT&T Stadium.

Quarterback Dak Prescott was injured and couldn’t extend his personal 13-game winning streak over the Giants, but Cooper Rush performed better as a backup than Andy Dalton when the Giants last beat the Cowboys in the 2020 season finale.

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As offensive as it is to Schoen’s personnel evaluation that he let two homegrown first-team All-Pro candidates leave in free agency — running back Saquon Barkley and safety Xavier McKinney — the rationale was that he needed to build up the ranks.

Well, defensively, the Giants have recorded one sack in their last four games and are easier to compete against than any other team in the league (5.1 yards per carry allowed). It won’t be any better if top pass rusher and run stuffer Dexter Lawrence is out for the season (dislocated elbow).

Offensively, the Giants only allowed six sacks and nine more quarterback hits. Just like last season, the whole operation began to unravel when left tackle Andrew Thomas suffered a season-ending injury on October 13th.

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If you were in a turkey nap when the Giants fell behind 27-10 in the third quarter, you were probably surprised to learn that the Giants were just one play away from having the ball and a chance at it Compensation or having the lead.

But on the first play after the two-minute warning, the Cowboys faced a third-and-3. Five of the first seven yards gained to that point were wasted when rookie Elijah Chatman was caught offside on first down.

Rush then completed a sideline out pass to Brandin Cooks to move the chains and run out the clock.

No one wants to hear a team that has lost seven games complain about the referees, but cornerback Adoree Jackson was clearly the victim of a pick play and should have been called offensive pass interference.

“(Cooks) had an option route, so I played head-up at tight end,” Jackson said. “I slid outside so I could be there. The tight end just cut me off and I didn’t run a route.”

This decision was made a few times against the Giants this season, including when Darius Slayton was called for taking Wan’Dale Robinson’s touchdown off the field against the Commanders. The Giants settled for a field goal, resulting in a five-point loss.

Since there is no margin for error in these games, a mistake greatly increases the chances of any defeat.