Giants beat Browns for first win of season as Daniel Jones, Malik Nabers hook up for two touchdowns

CLEVELAND — With the Giants in danger of falling to 0-3, this was a must-win game for them on Sunday.

They received the opening kickoff — and 11 seconds in, they were down a touchdown on the road.

Those 11 seconds, in which Eric Gray fumbled on the opening kickoff and Deshaun Watson threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper on the Browns’ first play, could have ruined the Giants’ season.

But the Giants overcame the unsightly start, found some grit, ordered some good ol’ defensive pressure (eight sacks from nine different players) and found a way to earn a 21-15 victory.

“We believe in what we do and I think it showed there,” coach Brian Daboll said. “Right after the fumble, just to stay locked in and committed to next-play mentality. It doesn’t always turn out your way, but today it did. I give the guys credit.

“Just a normal NFL game,” he said. “Competitive. Showed a lot of resiliency, particularly how the game started.’’

The win had added meaning for Daboll.

“This is the third anniversary of my grandmother’s death, which is today, the 22nd,’’ he said. “She raised me, and I was kind of giving her the business after the first two plays — like what do you have in store for me?”

Daniel Jones threw touchdown passes of 3 and 5 yards to rookie Malik Nabers in the second quarter as the Giants responded to the stunning start with 21 straight points. They held a 21-7 halftime lead and held on after Watson threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Cooper and a two-point conversion pass to Jerry Jeudy with 11:33 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we got into a rhythm, made some plays early in the game,” Daboll said. “At the end, we made a play to seal it and Motor did a great job.”

“Motor’’ is running back Devin Singletary, who put the team ahead of his individual statistics. Rather than score an easy touchdown that would have given the Giants at least a 12-point lead just before the two-minute warning, he gave himself up at the 1-yard line after a 43-yard run so the Giants could kill the clock and prevent the Browns from getting the ball back.

That was as smart a play as it was unselfish. And, in Singletary’s mind, it helped him redeem himself.

“Man, guys are just sticking together,’’ he said. “No matter what happens, we have each other’s backs and we’re just going out and executing how we need to.”

Singletary had scored on a 1-yard run to tie it at 7-7, but it was the touchdown that wasn’t that allowed him to move past an earlier fumble.

“Yeah,” he said, “No matter what happens, we have each other’s backs. They didn’t let me put my head down and told me to stay locked in. They said they were going to need me and I was glad I was able to help us get the win today.”

Falling to 0-3 in any NFL season often portends a long season to come. Now the Giants can move past that. And consider, it was Giants co-owner John Mara who said in August that he expects “us to take a big step forward.” This may not be a “big step forward,” but it beats another step backward.

Five seconds into the game,   it felt as if the Giants could be deep-sixed, as Gray lost the ball.

“That’s what we talked about since OTAs,” Daboll said. “We talk about resilience, and commitment to one another, teamwork, attitude. There are going to be ebbs and flows to every game, there’s ebbs and flows to every season. That’s something we preach internally.”

The Giants continued to get great contributions from Nabers, who again was spectacular. He was targeted 12 times and made eight catches for 78 yards and the two touchdowns.

“He’s had two good weeks in a row,” Daboll said. “Handled the noise well, did a good job not turning the football over. Red zone. He’s locked in, and he’s been that way. Again, it’s one game, but it beats the alternative. We’ve got a lot of work to do. But I’m proud of the players.”

Jones was 24-for-34 for 236 yards and the two touchdowns, his best game of the season. In the first half, he was 17-for-19 for 178 yards and had a 140.8 rating.

Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen seemed to turn up the pressure, and his players said they liked the more aggressive approach. On about half of their defensive plays, the Giants brought an extra man.

“Yeah, it was great,” Daboll said. “I don’t know if we had eight sacks or something like that. It was pressure, too. When you look at it, how is the game being played? It’s not just the pass rush. [If we are] up 21-3, that’s a whole different game. Conversely, when you’re down, it’s hard, so there’s going to be more pressure on a quarterback.

“That’s the hardest thing to do is to protect the quarterback when you know they have to throw it. So I thought so far it was one of our better games with complementary football.”

By Kimberly Jones

kimberly.jones@newsday.comkimjonessports

Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.