CLEVELAND – A game that could not have started worse for the Giants could not have ended better.

Trailing by seven points just 11 seconds into the game - the fastest they had fallen behind since the 1970 merger - the Giants rallied to take a 14-point halftime lead and survived a scoreless second half because the defense dominated the final 10 minutes of the game. The result was the Giants' first victory of the season, a 21-15 decision against the Cleveland Browns in Huntington Bank Field.

Now 1-2, the Giants have little time to celebrate; they host the Dallas Cowboys Thursday night.

"It feels good to get on the board, to get rid of that donut," said linebacker Brian Burns, who got his first sack with the Giants, forced one fumble and knocked down two passes. "We needed that going into the short week against the division opponent, so it's good to get that off the board."

"I think it was a big win for us," said defensive tackle and captain Dexter Lawrence, who had 2.0 sacks and four quarterback hits. "We were making a lot of mistakes in the first two games. And the mindset in this game was just going out there and having fun, enjoying every moment that you have, and having intense focus every single snap that you have. And it showed out there."

The Giants had a large contingent of contributors.

Daniel Jones completed 24 of 34 passes for 236 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Malik Nabers added to his record-breaking rookie season with eight catches for 78 yards and by becoming the first player in history with 20+ catches (23) and three touchdowns in his first three career games.

Devin Singletary rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown and clinched the victory by declining to score another; he went down on the one-yard line after running 43 yards with two minutes remaining, making it impossible for the Browns, who had no timeouts left, to regain possession.

The defense hit Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson 17 times, sacked him eight times for 48 yards, and became the fourth team to have nine different players with at least a half-sack since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.

"I don't think there was too many plays where he didn't get hit," linebacker Bobby Okereke said. "We had a great game plan. (Defensive coordinator) Shane (Bowen) called an aggressive game. We were getting after him. We got after him early, it was successful, and we stayed after him."

The game certainly didn't begin as if the Giants would be in control most of the way.

Eric Gray returned the opening kickoff 24 yards before he was hit by cornerback Tony Brown II and fumbled. The ball was recovered at the Giants' 24-yard line by Grant Delpit. On the Browns' first offensive play, Watson threw a touchdown pass to Amari Cooper. Just 11 seconds had elapsed, and the Giants trailed, 7-0. It was the earliest into a game the Giants allowed a touchdown of any type (offense, defense, or special teams) in the 55 seasons since the merger.

But it proved to be the last low moment for the Giants in the first half.

"That showed, I think, in terms of being on the road, it's cranking there, a touchdown right after the fumble, just to stay locked in and committed to the next-play mentality," coach Brian Daboll said. "(It) doesn't always turn out your way and today it did. I give our guys a lot of credit."

The turnaround was not immediate. The Giants went three-and-out on their first offensive possession and on the first play of their second series, Jones was intercepted by Ronnie Hickman. But the turnover was nullified when Greg Newsome was penalized for roughing Jones.

Given new life, the Giants never looked back. They drove 81 yards in 13 plays, the last Singletary's one-yard touchdown run up the middle.

In the second quarter, the Giants drove 93 yards in 14 plays, with Jones hitting Nabers – who kept his feet inbounds after jumping to secure the ball – for a 3-yard touchdown. The score was set up by another spectacular Nabers reception, when he extended his arms over cornerback Martin Emerson, Jr. – who was in front of him – and secured a game-long 28-yard catch.

"D.J. told me if (he) throws it up there, it's me or nobody," Nabers said. "He was like, 'Don't let it get picked.' I tried my best to put my hands in front of his hands, did a great job of snatching it away."

The Giants took command of the game late in the second quarter. On a first down from the Cleveland 40-yard line, Burns sacked Watson for a 9-yard loss and forced him to fumble. Rookie Elijah Chatman recovered the ball at the 30, with 32 seconds left. That was plenty of time for the Giants, who started the drive with Jones' 12-yard pass to Nabers and ended it when the duo hooked up for a 5-yard touchdown with just 11 seconds left.

More Nabers history: he is the youngest (21 years and 56 days) wide receiver in NFL history with two touchdown receptions in a game, surpassing Tampa Bay's Mike Evans (21 years and 73 days old on Nov. 2, 2014).

"I had high expectations," Nabers said, "but I feel like having that dawg mentality that I got, it's just showing every time I'm out there on the field, no matter what play it is."

The second half was not nearly as productive for the Giants' offense. Singletary fumbled the ball away on the third play, but the Browns failed to turn the takeaway into points when Dustin Hopkins missed a 53-yard field goal attempt.

The Giants then punted on five consecutive possessions before Greg Joseph was wide right on his first field goal attempt with the team, from 48 yards.

"I think we had a lot going in the first half and had a good rhythm," Jones said. "We executed well and converted on some third downs. We felt like we had a lot of momentum. Then in the second half, just couldn't really find that rhythm and couldn't get that start we needed on some of those drives. But we fought and played resilient football. Hats off to the defense, they did a great job the whole game really, especially that second half."

Cleveland moved to within striking distance at 21-15 when Cooper caught his second touchdown pass, a 6-yarder, and Jerry Jeudy added a 2-point conversion with 11:33 remaining. But the defense smothered the Browns in their final three offensive possessions, holding them to 49 yards.

Azeez Ojulari recovered the ball after Watson mishandled a shotgun snap. Cleveland followed with two fourth-down failures, the first when Lawrence sacked Watson, and the second when wide receiver Cedric Tillman dropped a perfectly placed Watson pass with 2:23 left.

On the next play, Singletary broke through for a 43-yard gain and, with prompting from wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson, slid to the ground before he reached the goal line.

"We're not trying to score anymore," Robinson said. "We're just trying to run out all the time and I'm seeing him run, I'm like, 'Go down, you're getting a little close.' He did it right."

The Giants had discussed what they wanted to do on the sideline.

"We executed the plan right there," Singletary said. "I knew I was gonna go down if I was able to get the first down. I just got the most we could get out of it."

When he did, the Giants had the much-needed first victory.

"It feels good to go one and zero today," Singletary said.

Sure beats the alternative.