The Giants won a game.

In a season where this could be an extremely difficult task for them, each and every one of them must be analyzed and appreciated.

Beating the Browns 21-15 on the road in Cleveland meant the Giants were recovering from losses in their first two games. The fact that they looked like world-class players when they scored 21 straight points to take a 21-7 lead and then had to hold on after a scoreless second period shows that this team has few room for error. That they held on means everything for a team that knew what a 3-0 deficit would have done to their ability to make something of this season.

Here's how they achieved victory number 1:

— He already gets special treatment as a player, by his opponents and also by his own coach and teammates. Malik Nabers was targeted another 12 times — up from 18 targets last week against the Commanders. He caught eight balls for 78 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown catch on a leap and a 5-yard touchdown catch 93 seconds after the first. Nabers blamed himself after a costly drop late in the fourth quarter of last week's 21-18 loss to the Commanders, and it would be interesting to see how he responded to that mistake. After all, Nabers said he let the veterans on the team down by trusting him to make plays, and he failed when his team needed him. As it turns out, Nabers responded just fine, and the veterans in the locker room told him he was too hard on himself.

“After I saw that, I told him, 'You didn't let anybody down, this is going to happen and we're professionals, we're going to make some plays and miss some, that's what all the greats do,'” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said. “It's all about reacting and that's what the greats do.”

More on Nabers: With his 23 passes caught, he is tied with Anquan Boldin as the second-best player in his first three NFL games. Puka Nacua of the Rams holds the record with 30 catches in 2023, his first year in the league.

What's more, Nabers (21 years and 56 days old) is the youngest player in NFL history to have two touchdown catches in one game. Mike Evans (21 years, 73 days old) did this in 2014.

— Sometimes it's more interesting to hear what the opponent talked about after a game than what the Giants said. Deshaun Watson couldn't stop thanking Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen for changing the tendencies the Browns expected from the Giants defense. Bowen hasn't been a blitz-heavy playmaker in the three seasons he led the Titans' defense, and in his first two games with the Giants, he continued to rely on his front four to apply pressure whenever possible. In his first two games, the Giants blitzed on 25 percent of their pass rush plays. Against the Browns, Bowen upped that number significantly, blitzing on more than 55 percent of the Browns' dropbacks. The Giants scored seven of their eight sacks as a result of those blitzes.

One point for Bowen.

“I think you have to give their DC Shane a lot of credit for doing something different than we did … obviously we expected pressure, but as much as they created it, you just have to prepare for the worst,” Watson said. “And they did a good job of trying to create some mismatches and confusion up front to throw off our timing in the passing game. So to correct that, we have to win our matchups and try to find the right protection to figure out what pressure they're creating from the outside and, yeah.

“Not a team that applies a lot of pressure. But you know, in this game, that's what they wanted to do. So they applied a lot more pressure than usual, especially on the first attempt, and at distances that they don't normally apply. The second and long attempt is usually man coverage, but they played a lot of man coverage and applied pressure. They planned it well.”

— If you were a minute late to the TV, you missed the Giants falling behind 7-0. It happened 11 seconds into the game after Eric Gray lost a fumble on the opening kickoff and Watson hit Amari Cooper for a 24-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game. It was the fastest touchdown the Giants have allowed since the 1970 merger.

— Did you activate Devin Singletary on your fantasy football team last week? If so, we don't want to hear any whining about him sliding to the ground at the 1-yard line after a 43-yard gain with two minutes left. Singletary was doing his best to make sure the Giants would win the game. They were up by six points and all the Giants had to do after Singletary's slide was kneel on the ball three times to secure their first win of the season.

“Motor has done a great job,” coach Brian Daboll said, referring to the nickname everyone uses for the Giants’ starting running back.

Singletary narrowly made it. It looked like he was going to run the ball into the end zone, but his slide missed the goal line by inches.

“We're not trying to score anymore, we're just trying to run out all the time, and when I see him running, I'm like, 'Get down there, hurry up, you're getting a little closer to the goal,'” said receiver Wan'Dale Robinson. “That's what he did, and that shows what a pro Motor is.”

Yes, Singletary knew exactly where he was.

“I just wanted to make the best of it,” he said.

As for not scoring, Singletary is aware that he may have upset some fantasy football players.

“I know they're mad at me,” he said. “I know what that means.”

— The trade for Brian Burns meant the Giants no longer needed Azeez Ojulari as their starting outside linebacker, but that move didn't mean Ojulari wouldn't play a role on defense. The 24-year-old managed a sack, two quarterback hits and recovered a fumble from running back Jerome Ford in the fourth quarter. Ojulari is in the final year of his contract and is taking on a backup role, doing more with fewer snaps.

“I just try to play for my team when I'm out there,” he said.

— The Giants' eight sacks were their highest total in a game since their 36-7 victory over the Titans on Dec. 7, 2014. The Giants are the fourth team in league history with nine different players with at least half a sack in the same game since 1982, when individual sacks became an official statistic. They have recorded 13 sacks in their last two games, with Lawrence and (here comes a surprise) safety Jason Pinnock leading the way with three sacks each.