That has been the New York Giants’ recurring weekly message emphasized by head coach John Harbaugh, who wants his team to take it one week at a time and focus on crossing the finish line first.

The outside noise is what the media and fans worry about, and it’s hard to ignore the ramifications of tonight’s game if the Giants win.

“We want to go 1-0, but this game is more than 1-0. It’s 2-0, just because the last game ended in a tie that we should have had. So, both of us are fighting to get this game,” said receiver Malik Nabers.

He added: “We’re trying to go 2-0 since we lost the last one, well, since we finished off in a tie last time, which we should have won. But this game is as important as every game, we’re going to try to go out there and give our best shot to get this dub.”

Nabers’ math is loose, since the first game ended in a tie, but a win would still give the Giants the head-to-head tiebreaker, which is used at the end of the year to separate division teams with identical records who are jockeying for a postseason berth.

This week, the Giants can gain a competitive advantage over the Washington Commanders. A Big Blue win (or should we say a Big White win, given tonight’s “White Out” theme) would deliver the knockout punch to a division rival.

It would drop the third-place Commanders, whom the Giants haven’t defeated since 2023, to 2-6-1 and set them up to face the Philadelphia Eagles (2-7), whom the Giants beat last week, in a fight for last place in the division.

As a bonus, if the Cowboys, who are still hot on the first-place Giants’ heels at 4-5, lose their Week 10 home game against the high-flying San Francisco 49ers, the Giants should be in great shape in their quest to win the NFC East.

How will it all turn out? Will a Commanders team that has won only one of its last five lay it all on the line in a last-ditch effort to salvage its season?

Follow along with our live blog, which will include game highlights, scoring plays, reactions, injury and statistical notes, and more. And then don’t forget to join us after the game for postgame reaction.