Respect and relevance.

The Giants, even in a gut-wrenching 14-9 loss last week at Buffalo, in which the oddsmakers had given them little chance to be within two touchdowns of the Bills, gained respect in the midst of a season that was piling up with lopsided losses.

Sunday at MetLife Stadium against the Commanders may be their last chance at remaining relevant.

The Giants (1-5) cannot afford to lose to the mediocre Commanders (3-3) at home. A drop to 1-6 would render the Giants’ season, already on the precipice of irrelevancy, into an abyss. With a softer schedule upcoming, they have a chance to climb out of this hole from 2-5, but virtually no chance to do so from 1-6.

As it is, the Giants have played two homes games this season and lost 40-0 to Dallas and 24-3 to Seattle. So, if nothing else, they owe their fans some semblance of competence.

Perhaps the Commanders are just the elixir the Giants need.

Since 2017, the Giants are 7-4-1 against Washington and they’re 32-71-1 against everyone else. The Giants are 6-2-1 against Washington in the teams’ last nine meetings. Starting quarterback Daniel Jones has a 5-1-1 career record against Washington.

Jones, however, is listed as “questionable’’ on the injury report after not having practiced in full all week as a result of his lingering neck injury that kept him out of the Buffalo game.

That likely will leave the Giants’ season in the hands of veteran backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who performed admirably in the Buffalo game save for his brain-freeze decision to audible from a passing play to a failed run from the Bills’ 1-yard line on the final play of the first half with 14 seconds remaining and no timeouts.

The gaffe cost the Giants three points; three points that would have helped them win the game later. Three points for a team that’s averaging fewer than 12 points per game leaves zero margin for error.

Nonetheless, Taylor went 24-for-36 for 200 yards and didn’t turn the ball over. He helped lead the offense to 317 total yards, 20 first downs and 10-of-19 on third downs. Those are winning numbers.

The only thing missing, which prevented the Giants from upsetting Buffalo, was their ineptitude in the red zone, an area that was emphasized tenfold this week in practice.

So, barring a swift recovery on the part of Jones, in Tyrod the Giants will trust on Sunday. And they’re comfortable with that.

There was some chatter this week that their offense looked better with Taylor running it than it had all season, other than the second half of the win at Arizona last month.

What if Taylor plays and performs exceptionally well on Sunday? What if he’s the reason the Giants defeat a Washington team with a stout defensive front?

Then who would play next Sunday against the Jets?

Just asking.

Taylor’s teammates, to a man, on Friday praised his poise.

“He’s just a leader of men and keeps everyone even-keel, and he went out and proved on Sunday night that he still has it,’’ veteran offensive lineman Justin Pugh told The Post.

“I’ve known Tyrod for a long time,’’ tight end Darren Waller told The Post. “When I was trying to get reinstated back into the league, I threw with Tyrod for like three years in the offseason. His composure and his ability to make big-time throws doesn’t shock me at all. He doesn’t ride the roller coaster.’’

That was a rather ironic statement, because Taylor’s career has been a roller coaster. He started for three years in Buffalo with some success: He went 7-6 in 2015 — with 20 touchdowns and only six interceptions and was voted into the Pro Bowl — 7-8 in 2016 and 8-6 in 2017.

He has started only five games since 2017, though, after stops with the Browns in 2018, the Chargers in 2019 and 2020, when after starting and winning the season opener, a team doctor accidentally punctured his lung with a needle while trying to administer a pain killer for cracked ribs before the Week 2 game.

Enter Justin Herbert, who had just been drafted, and Taylor never threw another pass for the Chargers.

Taylor has carried on with his career, certainly wondering what might have been had it not been for that bizarre misfortune.

“That’s the quality I admire most about him, because at some point in time things are not going to go your way in this league,’’ said Waller, who has overcome substance abuse addiction and league suspension. “I feel like in life you grow a lot more when things don’t go your way than when they do.’’

If that’s truly the case, then the Giants should have been doing some significant growing the past six weeks, because not a lot has gone their way.

Maybe their 34-year-old backup quarterback, in his 13th NFL season, can save them on Sunday and keep them relevant.