"It was funny that we were in that situation a lot (on Sunday)," Spikes said, "because most teams don't practice goal-line a lot. We don't. But this past week, we had a couple mental errors in practice and (defensive coordinator) Jim (Johnson) would stop it and say, 'look, we're going to run it over. I want to make sure you get it.' And everything that (the Redskins) gave us was rehearsed (by the Eagles in practice)."

Spikes and his defensive teammates also were grateful for the three straight timeouts in Sunday's game. That helped sharpen their focus.

"When you have a defense back on the goal, you never want to give them a chance to breathe, get a chance to get together," Spikes said. "(The coaches) did that for us, so we were able to talk to each other and we knew what was at hand."

If nothing else, his teammates should appreciate the quarterback's toughness. He was drilled by safety LaRon Landry in the first half. As he warmed up at the start of the third quarter, McNabb felt pain and weakness in his arm. Washington opened the quarter with a long drive, and McNabb's status clearly was in doubt. A.J Feeley warmed up and put his helmet on.

But McNabb stayed in. He said the arm didn't bother him when he was playing, only when he was on the sideline, but this is a guy who once played most of a game on a broken ankle. Mostly, this is a guy who has found ways to win a lot of games in this league. Reid remembers those things, even if the howling wolves don't. That's what made this one hug-worthy.

"As a player, when you fumble and their team comes back and they score, you feel bad. You hang your head," Smith said. "I wanted to keep my head up, not wallow in my sorrows."

No reason to wallow, said quarterback Donovan McNabb: "In situations like that, it's important you have confidence in the next guy."

McNabb told Smith as much. So did Brian Westbrook.

"Even a couple of the trainers came over to me," Smith said. "They were all, like, 'Hang in there. We're going to need you to make a play.' "

Smith did just that in the third quarter, his team trailing by eight.

On third-and-3 from the Redskins' 29, McNabb hit him with a crucial conversion: a 7-yard pass over the middle. Eleven more yards were tacked on for a facemask penalty.

Two plays and 3 yards later, third-and-7 from the Skins' 8, McNabb found Smith over the middle again for Smith's first touchdown since last Dec. 10, the last time he was fully healthy in a game against the Redskins.

The Eagles sacked Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell just once Sunday. They have 25 sacks, but 10 came in their win over the Lions. They've had one or zero sacks in five of their nine games.

McNabb was sacked just twice Sunday. It's only the third time this season that the Eagles have allowed fewer than 3 sacks in a game.

A Washington blitz had created an opportunity; there were three defenders in on McNabb, all of them suddenly irrelevant when the quarterback wristed a toss over their heads. Redskins linebacker Rocky McIntosh had an angle on Westbrook as the ramble began, but center Jamaal Jackson saw McIntosh coming and yelled the name of right guard Shawn Andrews. Andrews was looking outside, where Westbrook was headed. Andrews later explained that he knows to look back inside if he hears Jackson call his name. Andrews looked back, and McIntosh was vaporized.

"I pinned back and gave him what we call 'chicken,' " Andrews said. " 'Chicken' is when you thump a guy, real good."

Downfield, the wideouts and tight end L.J. Smith were pushing the secondary out of the play. Defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin came hard in pursuit, looking for Westbrook to cut back, but Griffin, focused on the ballcarrier, didn't see Jon Runyan lying in the weeds. Defenders tend to regret that. Griffin's chin ran full-speed into Runyan's left shoulder, and Westbrook was able to cut back to the middle, at the Washington 40, with wide-open spaces all around him.