New Orleans ? Statement game? The Giants had better hope not.

If they came to the Big Easy to get a better read on their 5-0 record built largely against the NFL’s junior varsity, then the Saints declared in no uncertain terms that the Giants need to do better than that.

After a 48-27 thumping at the Superdome Sunday against a well-rested opponent coming off a bye week, the Giants left as dazed and confused as any reveler staggering home from a long night on Bourbon Street.

“It’s not the way I imagined it,” said quarterback Eli Manning, the New Orleans native playing in the building where his father starred for so many years. “If you play this game long enough, you’re going to have a bad week.”

But this week?

This was supposed to be where the Giants could finally measure themselves against the best after beating up on the worst. There was no better litmus test than the unbeaten Saints, who have played as well on both sides of the ball as any team this year.

Instead, it turned into a statement game for New Orleans, which can legitimately lay claim to being the best team in the NFL. Only Indianapolis and Minnesota are in that conversation; the Giants dropped out.

What makes the loss all the more problematic is the schedule that awaits the Giants: After racing out to a 5-0 record against teams with a combined record of 6-19 through last week, their loss to the Saints will be followed by tests against the defending NFC champion Cardinals, the Eagles and the Chargers. After a bye in Week 10, the Giants will play the Falcons, Broncos, Cowboys and Eagles again. Not a layup in the bunch.

But the Giants remain undeterred. Come to think of it, there wasn’t one player who reacted with much more than a shrug over what happened.

A case of early-season denial? Nah. More like the perspective of a team that has overcome these types of disquieting losses over the years.

I asked Antonio Pierce if he felt this was as disappointing a regular-season loss as he’s ever experienced, and his answer was unequivocal.

“No,” Pierce said. “It’s Week 6. We’re 5-1, going back home to play the Cardinals. We’ll chalk up this game and move forward. It’s a statement game to everybody else, and it was a big challenge and we didn’t step up. But there are 10 games left.”

And yes, the Giants have recovered from thumpings before. Do you recall that meltdown at Giants Stadium on Nov. 25, 2007, when Manning threw four interceptions in a 41-17 loss to the Vikings to fall to 7-4? A few months later, they won the Super Bowl.

“I’m just happy this happened now rather than later, because later would have been a disaster,” defensive end Osi Umenyiora said.

But Umenyiora, part of a defense that failed to get a single sack of quarterback Drew Brees, did acknowledge that the Giants were continually outguessed and outperformed by the Saints.

Time to panic? Of course not. The Giants are too good and have been through too much to freak out now.

“No, there’s no panic at all,” Umenyiora said. “It was an aberration. It’s not going to happen again. I’m sure of it.”

For the Giants’ sake, they’d better hope he’s right.