ASHBURN, Va. -- During their first practice of the week, if the Washington Redskins players didn't understand the importance of Sunday's game, they were quickly reminded. They saw a change in the coaches' demeanor.

As one player said, "There was a lot of truth being told." In other words: If a player messed up, regardless of who it was, the coaches got on him.

That's the tone the Redskins needed to set. Because this is rather basic: If the Redskins don't beat the New York Giants on Sunday, they will have dug themselves too deep a hole. Sunday's game in many ways is their most meaningful game remaining.

They've already lost to the Giants once. If they lose again, they would fall two games behind New York with five to play -- and they'd lose on tiebreakers if they finished with the same record. If Washington wins Sunday but loses to Dallas the following week, it might not sit well with Redskins fans but that's a better scenario than losing to the Giants and beating the Cowboys.

Winning both, of course, would be ideal.

"It's a one-game season," Redskins coach Jay Gruden said. "If we have any desire at all to play 17, 18 or 19 games we have to take care of business Sunday. That's the most important thing. We've got to get their best effort physically and mentally. It's got to be their best focus of the season, not far, not even close. I think the guys are revved up."

The problem: New York has defeated Washington in five consecutive games with four of them by double figures. During this streak, the Giants are 13-24 against the rest of the NFL.

"It's just a matter of us playing up to their level of physicality," Gruden said. "They've out-physicaled us the last three times."

The players have listened.

"This has to be the most executed week," Redskins end Ricky Jean Francois said. "This is for the division title."

Even if the Redskins win, there's a long way to go. So they could win this game and lose the division title. But again, because of the hole they would dig with a loss, the NFC East title would be difficult to win with a loss.

The Redskins have been a resilient team all season. They've won games after trailing 24-0 and won by 33 the week after a 17-point loss. Then they lost by 28 points this past week, a stinging reminder of how they need to play in order to win.

That's why Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins said, "We have an edge to us."