The Washington Post's Dan Steinberg and Keith McMillan break down the Redskins' dramatic Week 3 victory over the Giants. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)

The Washington Post's Dan Steinberg and Keith McMillan break down the Redskins' dramatic Week 3 victory over the Giants. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)

Faced with their most desperate situation of a young season that already seemed to start slipping away, and with injuries to starters mounting by the minute, the Washington Redskins responded with resolve and pulled off a 29-27 victory over the New York Giants Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

In the homestretch of Sunday’s game, Washington had backups playing at left tackle, left guard and center. And on defense, the Redskins used backups at free safety, cornerback, nickelback, and inside linebacker. Those players all played key roles in helping secure the victory.

Likewise, both offensive coordinator Sean McVay, and defensive coordinator Joe Barry on this day responded to their biggest areas of criticism, directing their units to improved showings in the second half of Sunday’s win.

McVay was critcized for his seeming lack of commitment to the run game as Washington had attempted 89 pass plays and just 29 rushing plays in the first two games of the season. The lack of balance heaped pressure on the shoulders of quarterback Kirk Cousins, and made an already-struggling offense easier for defenses to stop.

Meanwhile, Barry had faced scrutiny over his perceived reluctance to alter his game plans in-game. With opponents thriving through the air, Barry primarily had stuck with keeping cornerbacks Josh Norman and Bashaud Breeland on their respective sides of the field rather than have Norman travel with the best receiver. Foes ran the ball with ease, yet few alterations took place along Washington’s defensive front as well, and players had publicly raised questions about the lack of in-game adjustments made to their strategies.

1 of 84 Full Screen Autoplay Close Week 16: Washington 41, Bears 21 at Soldier Field Week 15: Carolina Panthers 26, Redskins 15 at FedEx Field. Week 14: Redskins 27, Philadelphia Eagles 22, at Lincoln Financial Field. Week 13: Arizona Cardinals 31, Redskins at University of Phoenix Staduim Week 12: Dallas Cowboys 31, Redskins 26 at AT&T Stadium Week 11: Washington 42, Green Bay 24, at FedEx Field. Week 9: Washington 26, Minnesota Vikings 20 at FedEx Field. Week 8: Washington 27, Bengals 27, at Wembley Field in London. Week 7: Washington 17, Lions 20 at Ford Field. Week 6: Washington 27, Eagles 20 at FedEx Field. Week 5: Washington 16, Ravens 10 in Baltimore. Week 4: Washington 31, Cleveland Browns 20 at FedEx Field. Week 3: Washington 29, NY Giants 27 at MetLife Stadium. Skip Ad × Here are the best photos from the Redskins season so far View Photos A look at the standout images from Washington’s games in 2016. Caption Washington went 8-7-1 and missed the playoffs by a whisker. Here’s a look at the standout images from 2016. Reed celebrated his touchdown, which he hoped would set the stage for a dramatic Washington win. Nick Wass/Associated Press Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

However, both coordinators altered their approaches on Sunday — especially in the second half — and reaped the rewards of victory.

McVay seemed intent to go with his same pass-heavy approach as the Redskins had a 2-to-1 pass-run ratio through three quarters. Coincidentally, the team had difficulty extending drives and settled for four field goals in the first half.

But in the fourth quarter, with his team trailing 27-26, McVay scrapped the pass-heavy attack and went with a steady dose of the run, although starting center Kory Lichtensteiger and left guard Shawn Lauvao were out with injuries. Left tackle Trent Williams had moved to left guard, backup Spencer Long to center, and fellow reserve Ty Nsekhe to left tackle.

Despite that, the Redskins committed to run in the fourth quarter, pounding the ball on 12 plays, and passing just five times.

As a result, Washington’s running backs cranked out 52 rushing yards after managing only 30 in the first half.

A possession that began at the 25 with 7 minutes 53 seconds left and featured eight run plays, chewed up 6:02 and led to a 37-yard go-ahead Dustin Hopkins field goal.

“That’s the best feeling in the world when you can win the game by eating up the clock and running the ball,” Williams said. “When the clock is winding down, and you’re trying to take the lead and everyone thinks you’ll be in the two-minute drill with an empty backfield, but Coach changed it up. They put the onus on us to move the line of scrimmage and open up the holes. Matt [Jones] did a great job.”

Matt Jones breaks a tackle attempt from Giants safety Landon Collins. Washington finally committed to the run, with a 12-5 split in the crucial fourth quarter. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Meanwhile on defense, Barry remained evasive during the week when asked about his coverage tactics and plans for covering Eli Manning’s talented cast of receivers, Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz and Sterling Shepard.

But once the game kicked off, the coordinator unveiled personnel groupings and schemes previously unused this season.

Through two games, Barry had used Norman primarily on the left side of the field (aside from the fourth quarter of the loss to Dallas, when he sent Norman everywhere Dez Bryant went) and Breeland on the right, and Dashaun Phillips as the nickelback, covering slot receivers. But against the Giants, Barry had Norman follow Beckham off the bat, lined up Breeland opposite the slot receiver, and used eighth-year veteran Greg Toler at the other outside position.

The three roamed the field and swapped positions, depending on where the Giants’ receivers lined up. Barry adjusted on the fly as Breeland suffered a high ankle sprain seven plays in and did not return. Phillips reclaimed his role as nickelback. And Toler and fellow backup Quinton Dunbar alternated on the outside opposite Norman.

Additionally, Barry used a new rotation at strong safety, playing starter David Bruton Jr. on first and second downs, but yanking him on third downs and sending Will Blackmon (a former cornerback who is more reliable in pass coverage) into the game on third downs. And in the fourth quarter, rookie Su’a Cravens saw more time at inside linebacker, where he served as an additional contributor in pass coverage.

The plan didn’t operate flawlessly, as Phillips surrendered a 23-yard touchdown to Shepard, and Norman and Blackmon had a miscommunication that led to a 26-yard catch-and-run by Beckham. And the Giants converted 3 of 5 first-half third-down plays.

Blackmon did force a fumble late in the second quarter, however. And improvements came in the second half.

Barry had to make more substitutions as free safety DeAngelo Hall left the game with a possibly-torn anterior cruciate ligament. Blackmon replaced him, and Duke Ihenacho split time with Bruton.

But the coordinator also dialed up more blitzes to get more pressure on Manning, and as a result, the Giants converted only 1 of 4 third-down attempts in the second half. Meanwhile, Dunbar capitalized on his increased playing time by intercepting Manning in the end zone early in the fourth quarter. Then, in the final minute of play, Cravens intercepted Manning once more.

“We making adjustments here? Oh, good,” Gruden said with a chuckle, jokingly referring to the criticisms and questions of the week about Barry’s lack of adjustments. “I think second half you saw a little more aggression. We did some good things. Got some more pressure. You don’t see a lot of sacks, but they got pressures, making Eli throw quicker than he wanted to, and you saw key plays in big situations. It was a flip-flop from our first two games to this game: key situational plays, we made in this game . . . Hats off to our defense for getting off the field when we needed them to and making big plays.”

A week after questioning a lack of adjustments, defensive end Ricky Jean Francois, like his teammates, praised his coaches.

“Oh, I’m pleased. I am very happy. We did what we had to do. The coaches put trust in us,” he said. “The biggest thing with any coaching staff in the NFL is if you have trust in your players. If you make those adjustments, you’re going to trust your players to come through at any given time. It don’t matter what the situation is, and we had some crazy situations out there, but they trusted us. They made adjustments, the same way Eli made adjustments, and we came out with a W.”