Michael Vick had to leave the game after the first quarter after suffering a chest injury.

Former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb came to town – got a terrific welcome back cheer from the Lincoln Financial Field crowd – and then, with a suspect supporting cast, knocked off his former team 17-12 in an early but crucial NFC East game that was decided more by mistakes than quarterback play.

“It felt great,” said McNabb, who was just 8 of 19 for 125 yards, a touchdown and interception. “The thing about it is that it’s about winning ballgames and that is one that I take pride in and we were able to do as a team tonight, total team. Offensively, defensively, and special teams played a major factor in what we were able to do today. I’m excited that we’re 2-0 in the division. We are 2-2 right now and hopefully we can feed off of this going into our next week’s opponent.”

McNabb made some big plays near the end of the game and Kevin Kolb, subbing for an injured Michael Vick, was unable to bring his team all the way back. 

For the first quarter, it was all Redskins with McNabb leading his new team on consecutive scoring drives of 39, and 78 yards.

The highlights included a 12-yard touchdown run by Ryan Torain and a 31-yard strike to tight end Chris Cooley in the end zone.

The Eagles could only muster two field goals by David Akers.

Vick, the second highest rated quarterback in the NFL coming into the game, was ineffective before getting knocked out of the game with a rib injury after a 23-yard scramble up the middle to the one-yard line.

Vick’s sacrifice was for nothing as the played was nullified by a holding penalty on Max Jean-Gilles.

In all, the Birds were flagged eight times for 80 yards. In addition to Jean Gilles, offensive linemen Todd Herremans was hit with a key penalty that helped kill a drive in the fourth quarter and Jason Peters was hit at least twice for penalties.

Head coach Andy Reid was hit with a delay of game penalty with the ball inches from the goal line with seconds left in the first half.

As a result the Eagles had to settle for a field goal.

“There were too many penalties, period,” Reid said. “You just start getting things rolling, you get off the field on third down, you have a big play offensively, and then you have penalties. We have to take care of that. We have to be way more disciplined than that. Normally we are, but again that falls on me and I have to take care of that.”

Backup Kevin Kolb, anointed the starter by Reid at training camp, came in and was virtually invisible in the first half even though the four-year player posted decent numbers going 6 of 8 for 66 yards and a passer rating of 99.0.  

Washington went to the locker room with a 17-6 lead.

Neither team could move the ball for most of the third quarter until a Kolb pass to tight end Brent Celek for 12 yards gave the Birds a first down at the Redskins 26-yard line.

Next, Kolb handed off to LeSean McCoy for fives yards. But McCoy fumbled the ball at the 20-yard line and the Redskins recovered.

The score remained the same after three.

The Eagles could not take advantage of any opportunity that came their way: penalties, mistakes and a solid Redskins defense kept the Birds in check until Kolb found Celek in the end zone for a five-yard score with 4:10 left in the fourth quarter.

The two-point conversion failed making it a five-point deficit.

McNabb was held in check in the second half completing just two of 11 passes after hitting 6 of 8 in the first half.

His 18-yard scramble with 3:53 gave the Redskins a first down and effectively, the victory.

Kolb made it interesting driving the Eagles to midfield but his Hail Mary pass with four seconds left was on the mark but dropped by Jason Avant.

“I’ll be thinking about that one for a while,” Avant said.

Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan said McNabb did not play well in the second half in the stat sheet but showed why he believes his veteran signal caller is a winner.

“You got to find a way to win,” Shanahan said. “At the end of the day, you want to come back and do that. And [McNabb] was able to do that. I think he handled himself just like a pro throughout the week. He’s really a classy individual.”

McCoy was the lone bright sport for the Eagles on offense with 16 rushing attempts for 64 yards and 12 catches for 110 yards.

Rookie safety Nate Allen, the player the Eagles drafted with the pick acquired from the Redskins in the McNabb trade, picked off McNabb in the third quarter.

The Redskins were able to hold DeSean Jackson, Celek and Jeremy Maclin to just seven catches between them good for only 61 yards.

Jackson said the Redskins did nothing special to guard him; they just did what they did well. “They did a good job,” Jackson said.