The New York Giants let a chance to widen their lead in the NFC East slip away with a 24-21 loss to the Washington Commanders Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, but head coach John Harbaugh said the defeat doesn't change the team’s larger goals.

The Giants entered the game at 5-2-1 and fresh off a road win over the Philadelphia Eagles. A victory would have created further separation in the division. Instead, Washington improved to 3-5-1 and now holds the series tiebreaker after the teams played to a 27-27 draw in Week 5.

Harbaugh called the result a missed opportunity while stressing that the season remains in front of his team.

“It would have been great to win the game, but it doesn’t change our goals or our opportunity going forward,” Harbaugh told reporters. “So, it’s a tough loss. It’s the National Football League. You’re going to lose some games. And everybody in this league is good. The Commanders are good. Everybody’s good.”

He described the locker-room mood as disappointed rather than defeated. Players believed they would find a way to close out the game, especially after two late defensive interceptions, but the offense couldn't finish the job.

“I think our guys are tough,” Harbaugh said, adding that they won't "curl up."

“We have a good spirit. It’s not one of fear. It’s one of power and courage. We will continue fighting.”

Harbaugh told the team the same message he delivered to reporters. With eight games remaining, he framed the stretch as a series of difficult contests in which the Giants simply need to win enough games to secure the division.

“It would have been nice to open up a lead in the division,” Harbaugh said. “We didn’t open it up as much as we could have if we had got the win. We’ve got a lot of tough games. What do we have, [eight] games left? So it’s going to be seven dogfights. That’s what it’s going to be. So we’ve got to win enough. And this was one that got away. We’ve got to find a way to get the next one. And the next one after that. And the next one after that. And get as many as we need to win the division.”

The Giants remain in first place in the NFC East. Their focus now turns to the next opponent and the details required to keep chasing improvement.