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(AP) — There’s one play that works better than all the others for the New York Giants: throw the ball anywhere in the vicinity of Malik Nabers.
The rookie wide receiver caught two touchdown passes from Daniel Jones, made a sensational grab over a defender down the sideline and even broke up a potential interception as New York held off the Cleveland Browns 21-15 on Sunday for its first win.
Jones and Nabers connected twice in the first half as the Giants (1-2) built a 21-7 lead before holding on for dear life.
“I have a lot of trust in him going up and getting the ball,” said Jones, who completed 24 of 34 passes for 236 yards as New York shook off a loss at Washington that prompted a week of criticism toward coach Brian Daboll.
It wasn’t easy.
Despite losing three offensive linemen to injuries, Deshaun Watson rallied the Browns (1-2) and Cleveland had three chances to take the lead in the fourth quarter. But the Giants recovered a fumble and stopped the Browns twice on downs.
The Giants were hardly perfect. They fumbled the opening kickoff and fell behind 7-0 in the first 11 seconds, and newly signed kicker Greg Joseph missed 48-yard field goal that could have helped ice the game.
“Just a normal NFL game,” Daboll said with a straight face.
Nabers is anything but normal.
One of the Giants’ only bright spots through two games, the first-round pick shined again with eight catches for 78 yards, including an incredible grab in the corner of the end zone for his first touchdown.
At 21 years, 56 days, he also became the youngest wide receiver in NFL history to have two TD receptions.
Nabers said Jones gave him specific instructions on the plays in which he was targeted.
“He said, ‘It’s you or nobody,’” Nabers said.
Late in the first half, Nabers snatched the ball away from Browns cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. for a 28-yard reception.
“One hell of a catch,” Daboll said. “When you have a guy like that, it doesn’t really matter the matchup. Throw the ball up to him and trust he’s going to get it.”\
A few plays later, Nabers scored on a 3-yard pass from Jones with his leaping, twisting grab in the back of the end zone.
Nabers smiled when asked if knew he had it all the way.
“I seen where it was going and I was like, eh,” Nabers said.
While those catches were noteworthy, Daboll said Nabers’ biggest play was breaking up an ill-advised pass by Jones that Cleveland nearly intercepted deep in Giants territory.
“For him to have the awareness to knock the ball down, that plays says more to me about Malik than some of the other things,” Daboll said. “Everyone can see the touchdowns, but the unselfish play, the smart play he made was huge.”
The Giants’ defensive front did its job, sacking Watson eight times as the Browns had their second poor performance at home in three weeks — and some major injuries piled up.
Cleveland’s starting left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. (knee) and right guard Wyatt Teller (knee) were hurt along with backup tackle James Hudson III. That forced coach Kevin Stefanski to shuffle his line in front of Watson, who went 21 of 37 for 196 yards and two TDs.
More troubling, All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett may have aggravated injuries to his feet by playing. He was set to undergo an MRI on Monday, and a significant injury to Garrett could alter Cleveland’s season.
“A whole lot of things going on,” Garrett said when asked about his feet. “It’s part of the game. I’m not gonna make excuses. Excuses don’t win this game.”
Other than the fumble on the opening kickoff, the Giants dominated the first half.
Jones was nearly perfect, completing 17 of 19 passes — 12 in a row at one point.
New York’s defense kept the pressure on Watson, sacking him four times with Brian Burns stripping Cleveland’s QB to set up Jones’ second TD strike to Nabers with 11 seconds left in the half to put the Giants ahead 21-7.
Injuries
Giants: CB Dru Phillips (calf) went out in the first half and CB Adoree’ Jackson (calf) got hurt in the third quarter. … ILB Michah McFadden (back) went off early in the fourth. … WR Darius Slayton (thumb) also was hurt in the second half.
Browns: Stefanski said all three linemen will have imaging tests. … Cooper was slow getting up on Cleveland’s second-to-last play but said he was fine.
