A Giants defense that had allowed 80 points in its first two games allowed only 83 yards after halftime, and stopped the Washington Redskins on four plays from first-and-goal at the 1 in the final minute to preserve a 24-17 victory today.

New York scored the game's final 21 points and rallied from a two-touchdown deficit.

Burress, who had three drops and no catches in the first half, had five receptions for 86 yards in the second. The ankle injury that caused him to miss two practices last week didn't seem to affect him on the game-winning score — a 33-yard catch-and-run in which he received the ball in the left flat and put a move on Carlos Rogers before outrunning Sean Taylor to the end zone with 5:32 remaining.

The Redskins drove for a chance to tie in the final minutes. A 27-yard punt return by Antwaan Randle El put the ball at New York's 35 with 2:19 to play. Jason Campbell kept the drive alive with a 15-yard pass to Santana Moss on fourth-and-8, and a 20-yard strike to Randle El put the ball at the 1.

But the Redskins couldn't finish the job. Campbell spiked the ball on first down, even though there seemed to be plenty of time to set up and run a play. Mike Sellers dropped a pass in the flat on second down, but he probably wouldn't have scored anyway. Then Ladell Betts was stopped on running plays on third and fourth downs.

The Giants (1-2) appeared to still be in free fall when they trailed 17-3 at halftime, but they recovered for a victory that keeps them out of sole possession of last place in the NFC East. The Redskins (2-1) were looking to start 3-0 for the second time in three years.

The Giants essentially won the game on third downs in the second half. They converted seven in a row on offense — all but one of them was third-and-5 or longer — and their defense held the Redskins to three straight three-and-outs and recovered a fumble before their bend-but-don't-break performance at the end.

Reuben Droughns scored on a pair of 1-yard runs — New York's first rushing touchdowns of the season — and Mathias Kiwanuka had a pair of sacks — doubling the defense's output for the year. Eli Manning completed 21 of 26 passes for 232 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Derrick Ward ran for 94 yards on 26 carries and had six catches for 26 yards.

The Redskins set up the game's first touchdown with a play that combined two elements largely missing from last year's 5-11 season: sacks and takeaways. Andre Carter got credit for the sack with a blindside hit on Manning that jarred the ball loose, and London Fletcher recovered to give Washington a first-and-goal at the 6. Clinton Portis scored on a 1-yard run two plays later.

Moss' sliding, over-the-shoulder catch against double coverage for a 49-yard gain set up Washington's next score. Moss used his basketball skills three plays later to throw a pick on cornerback Aaron Ross to spring Chris Cooley for an 8-yard touchdown reception.

Late in the second quarter, defensive lineman Demetric Evans dropped into coverage and tipped Manning's pass to Fletcher for the Redskins' first interception in five games. The play set up Shaun Suisham's 47-yard field goal, giving Washington a 17-3 lead on the final play of the half.

The Giants roared back in the second half, opening the third quarter with a touchdown drive in which they converted third-and-6, third-and-7 and third-and-8.

The Giants later had another TD drive with conversions on third-and-6 and third-and-5. The third-and-5 was a 6-yard run by Ward, who initially was ruled to have fumbled the ball before a Giants replay challenge verified that his left elbow hit the ground before the ball came loose. Droughns' second 1-yard TD run came two plays later, tying the score at 17 with 12:33 remaining in the game.