PHILADELPHIA -- Though they started the day by confidently celebrating on the Eagles' emblem at the 50-yard line, the Redskins sneaked out of Veterans Stadium a humbler team.
|  | | Darrell Green got beat for two TDs, then made up for them with a late interception. |
They knew they were lucky to beat the Eagles 17-14 on Sunday. Dan Snyder's $100 million team hit the Pennsylvania Lotto to win this one. The game-tying, fourth-quarter touchdown by backup running back Skip Hicks came two plays after inexperienced Eagles free safety Damon Moore, after making only his third career interception, fumbled the ball away trying to switch hands on a return.
Then, with 23 seconds to play, quarterback Donovan McNabb did the inexcusable. Rolling out to his right under heavy pressure, he underthrew a throwaway pass directly into the hands of Redskins cornerback Darrell Green. His 33-yard return set up the game-winning, 24-yard field goal by Michael Husted, who hasn't made a field goal longer than 29 yards this season and is destined for the waiver wire.
"We are not going to keep winning games like this when we are playing sloppy all the time," wide receiver Albert Connell said. "This is the National Football League. Anybody can come up and beat you when you play like this."
Deion Sanders said afterward that players don't care how they win as long as they win. He added that only reporters get caught up in the ugliness of victory. But the ugliness of the mistakes and the sloppiness put the Redskins coaches on alert. They may be 4-2 with three victories being determined by a field goal, but they are also one play a game from a costly losing streak.
"We're still making errors and giving up plays defensively that we shouldn't," Redskins coach Norv Turner said. "Offensively, it seems that in today's game, we made a combination of mistakes. The fumbled punt, the missed field goals and the penalties. There were a lot of stupid things that shouldn't be happening to us."
The Redskins entertain with great defense and better drama, but they are making their margin of error tighter each week. Wide receiver Irving Fryar, a leader who stabilizes angst in the locker room, had to be carted off the field with neck and shoulder injuries. If he is out indefinitely, Fryar becomes the fourth offensive starter lost this season.
"We've lost Cory Raymer, who is the captain of our offensive line," quarterback Brad Johnson lamented. "We've lost Tre' Johnson, a guard who is an inspiration to the team. We've lost Michael Westbrook, a playmaker. We talked about it in training camp, but there is only so much that our depth can take.
"We've adjusted well being 4-2, but it's tough on us."
If Fryar is out, the Redskins face tough games against Baltimore, Jacksonville and Tennessee without any four-receiver packages. Their only receivers without Fryar are Connell, Andre Reed, James Thrash and Derrius Thompson, who was inactive Sunday. If the receiving troops weren't so thin, they wouldn't have Connell in uniform next week.
Connell had to be restrained by several teammates after a prolonged, nasty shouting match with his position coach, Terry Robiskie. Turner said after the game that he will deal with the Connell outburst once he gets back to Redskins Park on Monday afternoon. A fine is likely. A suspension isn't likely because the Redskins need Connell for the Ravens game.
"Because of my emotions, I made stupid mistakes," Connell said. "When you're in a big game and you try to fly off the handle like that, it's good that your teammates are behind you. Several came over to me and said that they had my back."
Connell was upset because Brad Johnson wasn't throwing to him. Blame part of the problem on the Eagles' defense. After giving up a 69-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, the Eagles defenders settled into a good game plan.
They rolled a safety to Connell's side to take away the Redskins' only deep-threat as a receiver. Johnson was content to let Stephen Davis do the running and settle for short passes to Larry Centers and tight end Stephen Alexander. Connell had only one catch for 5 yards in the first half.
Sideline confrontations involving Robiskie aren't uncommon. He coaches his players aggressively on the sidelines, and sometimes emotions spew over. Connell overdid it, though, and the television cameras caught every second of it.
"That's just him coaching," Connell said. "We needed everything at halftime."
Connell, in fact, caught five passes for 78 yards in the second half.
"This is an emotional game, and we were trying to get some things done on the sideline," Turner said. "Emotions got out of hand, but we got it under control."
A few other Redskins' problems rose to the surface. For example, it's not easy for Green to make the adjustment from being a 17-year Hall of Fame starter to being a third-down nickel specialist. McNabb burned Green for two touchdown passes Sunday.
"The problem of playing today is that my ratio drops," Green explained. "If I play four plays and they catch three on me, that's not a good ratio. If I play 15 plays, and they beat me for five, that's a better ratio. It's a different place to play for me after starting for 17 years. It's a fun challenge, though."
Fun, of course, if you slip away with the victory. Which was why Sanders was his amusing self after fumbling one punt and being saved by instant replay on a fumbled punt in the fourth quarter that could have lost the game.
The score was tied at 14 with 2:42 left. Sanders shed one tackler, and the ball slipped from his hands as James Bostic brought Sanders to one knee. The officials' on-field call was a fumble and the Eagles' ball at the Redskins' 24. Turner got a call from his coaching box upstairs and made a replay challenge that he won.
"I knew I was fine," Sanders said. "When they do not show it on the screen, you're fine. I was not even worried about mine. I felt like I was down, and they didn't show it on the screen. When they feel like they have something, they show it on the screen and play it a thousand times."
That's right, Deion, give the game ball to Veteran Stadium replay control.
Another worry for the Redskins is the pounding taken by Davis at halfback. He left the game briefly in the fourth quarter with a bruised shoulder. Davis gained 50 yards in his first six carries. He gained 34 on his next 17.
With injuries mounting among the receivers and the offensive line, the Redskins feel as though they are the NFL's version of "Survivor." And they need a new kicker after Husted who, despite kicking two game-winners, hasn't made any field goals outside of 30 yards.
"Obviously, I have a major concern there," Turner said of his kicking game. "I don't know what the answer is, but we have to search for answers."
Imagine if they lost.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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