JACKSONVILLE — In the second half Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars finally put together the kind of defensive effort they had been looking for all season.

They held the New York Giants to 75 yards and three points and scored two defensive touchdowns in one game for the first time in team history. The defensive effort, along with a clutch fourth-quarter drive by rookie quarterback Blake Bortles, gave the Jaguars a 25-24 victory after they trailed 21-0 in the second quarter and 21-3 at halftime.

The second-half effort was a validation for coach Gus Bradley, who didn’t lose the players when they were 1-10 and trailing 21-0. They not only didn’t give up, they came back to win.

And Bradley said it showed they have strong character

“I’ve said this group has really strong character,” Bradley said. “It’s been tough to show it. Strong character, Gus? You’ve won one game, but I think examples like this somewhat validate it.”

The defensive touchdowns were a key because Bradley has been stressing that the defense needed to get more turnovers and score to help their anemic offense.

Typical of Bradley’s style was that he didn’t have a tantrum at halftime.

“The players needed strength from me,” Bradley said. “They all knew they weren’t playing as well as they could.”

He told them, “Somehow, we’re going to make it 21-10.”

He also told them to “write their own story” in the second half.

They got it to 21-10 on a defensive touchdown when Geno Hayes knocked the ball out of Eli Manning’s hands and J.T. Thomas fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown.

Bortles then threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Marqise Lee, another rookie, to make it 21-16.

They missed the two-point conversion, but got another defensive touchdown when rookie Aaron Colvin picked up a fumble and went 41 yards for a touchdown for a 22-21 lead.

The Giants took the lead again on a field goal 24-22, but Bortles led them on a 58-yard drive and Josh Scobee kicked the game-winner from 43 yards away with 28 seconds left.

Now they host the Houston Texans, a team they play twice in the final four games. They meet again in the season finale.

If they’re going to match last year’s 4-12 season, they must win two of their last four. They will be big underdogs at Baltimore and have a good shot at beating Tennessee at home.

The two Houston games will likely define the rest of their season. They probably need to split them to match last year’s 4-12 record. Last year, they swept Houston when the Texans were 2-14.

This year they’re 6-6 coming off a 45-21 victory over Tennessee so sweeping them again will be a tall order.