Philly fans boo Donovan McNabb a little and Eagles a lot in 17-12 loss to Redskins

In their most important game of the season, the Philadelphia Eagles lost by five.

And by 5.

That’s the jersey number of Washington quarterback Donovan McNabb, who wore that same number for 11 years in Philadelphia before the Eagles traded him to the Redskins in April.

“We had to come in here and help him get a victory against a team that basically said, ‘You’re not good enough. This is what we think of you: We’ll trade you within the division,’” Redskins linebacker London Fletcher said after the 17-12 victory. “So I think today we got the best of them.”

Along the way, the Eagles lost quarterback Michael Vick, who suffered a rib injury of undisclosed severity on a dazzling run up the middle at the end of the first quarter when he was sandwiched by Redskins tacklers just shy of the goal line. Two different outlets have reported Vick has three broken ribs.

That meant the Eagles had to return to Kevin Kolb, originally the successor to McNabb. Kolb sustained a concussion in the opener and, although he had been cleared to return, was kept on ice because Vick had been playing so well.

Now, in addition to a loss that cost them early control in the NFC East, the Eagles have to sort through more murkiness at a position they had felt good enough about to deal McNabb to a bitter rival.

As for McNabb, he played much better in the first half and finished with unimpressive numbers — eight for 19 for 125 yards with a touchdown and one pass intercepted — but was perfectly happy with the results.

Leading into the game, there was rampant speculation about whether the notoriously tough Eagles fans would cheer or boo the quarterback who led the franchise to five conference championship games and a Super Bowl (but didn’t win it).

In the end, those fans did a little of both. They gave McNabb a standing ovation when he was introduced — with only a smattering of boos — and then booed him with gusto when he lined up to take his first snap.

“You realize that you spent 11 years here and you knew that it was coming,” McNabb said. “But you didn’t expect them to cheer for me the whole game, that just wouldn’t be right. I was just happy about the way that they gave me a standing ovation early.

“I think all of the quarterbacks got booed today.”

Kolb certainly heard his share. He completed 22 of 35 for 201 yards with a touchdown and one pass intercepted, and finished with a slightly higher passer rating than McNabb — 76.0 to 60.2 — but most of his completions were dump-offs underneath.

“We had some chances there,” Kolb said. “You all saw it. We all saw it.”

The Eagles fell behind, 14-0, in the first quarter and blew several opportunities to chip away at that, including a clock-management blunder at the end of the first half. Despite a lengthy replay review and a timeout when they had fourth and goal at the Redskins one, the Eagles couldn’t get their play in fast enough, were flagged for delay of game, and wound up kicking a field goal.

“The whole thing is my fault,” said Coach Andy Reid, who explained the confusion was because of the ball placement. “You have to be aware of when the play clock starts.”

The Eagles had their breakdowns on both sides of the ball. Although their defensive play improved significantly in the second half, they allowed Washington to come in and set the tone. Nowhere was that more obvious than on the Redskins’ first touchdown, when running back Ryan Torain scored on a 12-yard run, plastering safety Quintin Mikell to the turf along the way.

“We had a tough start,” middle linebacker Stewart Bradley said, noting the Eagles “allowed way too many yards, too many easy drives those first few times.

“You’ve got to be ready for teams to do different things when they come out there. Nobody is going to run the stuff they’ve shown the first couple of weeks, and that’s part of playing in the NFL, and part of adjusting to NFC East opponents. We didn’t do a good job of that.”

And now the Eagles have even more adjusting to do — the type they thought was already behind them. They have to do a better job of adjusting to life without McNabb.

Said the Redskins’ Fletcher, referring to the team’s general manager: “I told Bruce Allen that if he ever traded me within the division, he’d have two days of hell on his hands.”

For McNabb, that’s one down and one to go.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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