Not even close. That pretty much sums up Sunday's game in Baltimore and where the New York Giants stand in their rebuild.
The Giants were outclassed by the Baltimore Ravens in a 27-13 blowout loss at M&T Stadium. It was their third straight defeat, all against winning teams.
It was also an eye-opener to just how far the Giants (5-10) are from being a real playoff contender, having dropped the past three games to the Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and Ravens by an average of 15.7 points. It didn't matter if quarterback Daniel Jones was healthy or not. Their relevance (they entered Sunday one game back of the Washington Football Team in the NFC East) was only a byproduct of their division's incompetence.
These past few weeks were a dose of reality for New York, and these three losses weren't even to the true upper-echelon teams. That trio is, by most, considered in the second tier or worse of Super Bowl contenders.
The Giants' organization still has a lot of work to do. General manager Dave Gettleman's roster has glaring holes, further accentuating the question of whether he's done a good enough job restocking the cupboard in three years on the job.
The reality is New York still can't score points; it hasn't reached 20 in a game since mid-November. The Giants still have trouble rushing the passer (see below) without a dominant edge rusher on the roster and, conversely, protecting their own quarterback. At one point on Sunday, Jones was sacked on three consecutive plays.
The talent discrepancy was obvious right from the start against the Ravens. Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson & Co. did whatever they wanted from the outset, racking up 147 yards in the first quarter while building a 14-0 lead. It was pretty much over from there, even though the Giants made it respectable late.
The Giants' offense never really got going in the first three quarters, again stalling whenever it reached the red zone. They moved the ball sporadically, but without the explosive playmakers necessary to keep up with the Ravens, any real hope of sneaking into the playoffs (because they play in the worst division in football) slipped away.
The Giants didn't have a play of 20-plus yards in the contest.
QB Breakdown: Jones was back after missing last week's game with ankle and hamstring injuries. He moved much better than two weeks ago against the Cardinals, when he was dealing exclusively with the hamstring injury. He made make some quality throws on the move and did slide in the pocket effectively.
But it was still a tough day overall. Jones finished 24-of-41 passing for 252 yards with one touchdown and no turnovers. He was sacked six times, including on three straight plays early in the fourth quarter and threw his first touchdown pass since Week 9 against Washington when he hit Sterling Shepard for a 3-yard score midway through the fourth quarter.
Eye-popping NFL Next Gen Stat: 7.4 seconds in pocket for Jackson. That's the amount of time Jackson had (unpressured) in the pocket before electing to run for an 18-yard gain on a first-quarter play.
The Giants' game plan had two inside linebackers -- David Mayo and Tae Crowder -- playing essentially as outside linebackers and down linemen to emphasize containment on Jackson. On this play, Mayo was the fourth lineman alongside Dalvin Tomlinson, Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams. No one really got close to Jackson on the play.
The lack of a pass rush has been a problem for the Giants, and it was only exacerbated on this play with Mayo and Williams supplying no pressure as the ends. The Giants had one pressure in the first quarter while allowing 14 points. They did not record a sack.