EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Winning the NFC East is an afterthought for Joe Judge and the New York Giants. It has been the entire season, and it has nothing to do with their second straight loss coming in the form of a 20-6 debacle Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.

The first-year head coach has preached focusing on today, not what may happen in the future or what has already occurred. He was this way when the Giants were 0-5, 1-7 and later in first place in the division.

It has been a calculated approach with a team that anyone without blue-tinted glasses can see still has a long way to go talentwise. The Giants (5-9) were clearly outclassed against the Browns (10-4) and Arizona Cardinals (8-6), just like they were early in the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-3) and Los Angeles Rams (9-5).

"There may be a time that we talk about [winning the division] in the future, possibly, based on what the situation is," Judge said. "That being said, it's always been my belief to keep focused on what you're doing right now. We can't do anything about Dallas [in Week 17] right now. That's a week away. We can only control Baltimore. Anything that may or may not come after that doesn't even exist yet. Wasting mental energy and focus on something that doesn't exist, to me, is just wasted time."

What remains most important to Judge is this team continues to trend in the right direction as it prepares for the Ravens (9-5) at home on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, Fox). After all, he took over an organization that had the worst record in football over the previous three seasons (12-36). And even though the Giants have hit a speed bump in recent weeks, there is little doubt they are a better team than earlier this season.

That is important. The Giants might be one game behind the division-leading Washington Football Team (6-8), but that is more because of the pathetic state of the NFC East than their own success. If they played in any other division, their playoff hopes would have ended in October. Their four-game winning streak would have been little more than a bright spot in a rebuilding season.

Judge knew where this team stood before the season kicked off. The roster needed significant work then, even before they lost running back Saquon Barkley. It needs work now, as evidenced by their lack of offensive difference-makers and any semblance of an edge rusher. The Giants had rookie seventh-round pick Carter Coughlin and journeyman Jabaal Sheard as their primary outside linebackers on Sunday, with backup inside linebacker David Mayo thrown in that mix as well.

It should not be a surprise given those limitations -- and with two safeties playing cornerback -- that the Giants struggled defensively against the Browns. It's also why it's not realistic to expect New York, which has scored the second fewest points in the NFL, to be a factor if it does sneak into the playoffs.

And what, really, would be the benefit? That young quarterback Daniel Jones and the team gets a quick taste of the second season? There should no delusions that these Giants are going to beat the Green Bay Packers (11-3) or New Orleans Saints (10-4) during a magical playoff run. This isn't 2007 or '11. Not even close. Those Giants teams had been competitive for years.

"I don't think our progress as a team is going to be measured necessarily on making the playoffs ... I'm not downplaying playoffs. It's the National Football League. We're all here to compete. We're all here for the highest prize in all of sports. We all know what that is," Judge said. "I'm a firm believer in just keeping our sights on what the immediate goal is and the long-term goal will take care of itself."

This is why Judge hasn't been shy about having a long-range view, and it's the correct approach. The goal should always be to win the Super Bowl, not sneak into the playoffs with a losing record. It will take another year or two before the Giants can even pretend to be real contenders.

In the meantime, that means downplaying talk of winning the division. Stressing growth and improvement. Not just Judge, but the entire team. Live in the moment. Worry about getting better and the next opponent. Everything else is just noise.

"I don't really understand the question," tight end Evan Engram said, as if he had seen a ghost, when asked if the Giants needed to win the NFC East for this to be a successful season. "But I think our goal is to go win the division. That means our goal is to make the playoffs. Obviously, we put ourselves in that position to. It will be disappointing if we don't.

"I guess not?"

It's not as if they don't hear the noise. They're human. But there seems to be an understanding this is a process.

"I love where the team is at," Giants veteran safety Logan Ryan said. "I've never been 1-7 before, either, but we've fought, and we've fought, and we've fought. We've been counted out, left for dead, we won some games, surprised some people who didn’t believe in us, then everyone believed in us, now people don't believe again.

"It doesn't matter, we are where we are, we've got two games in front of us, we got to go out there and win. And that's all that matters."

And if they don't, playoffs be damned, this season can still be looked at positively from a growth perspective.