His one big mistake really hurt, an underthrown out route to Sidney Rice that Samuel read perfectly and picked off for a 44-yard return and a 16-7 lead.

“I think we rattled him kind of toward the end,” defensive end Trent Cole said. “He had to get rid of the ball quick and move around. He was probably getting tight from a lot of pressure.”

McNabb wasn’t perfect. He threw an interception, lost a fumble in the third quarter and took an 8-yard sack to push the Eagles out of David Akers’ field-goal range. But the Vikings didn’t capitalize on the turnovers and left plenty of receivers open in the middle of the field — particularly Jason Avant and tight end Brent Celek — for McNabb to target.

He guided the Eagles out of dangerous territory twice in the second half, starting drives at their own 5 and their own 4 and chewing up precious time even though they ultimately punted.

“Whoever said that guy can’t move still is a liar,” Minnesota’s Jared Allen said. “He was running around out there quite nice.”

Though he was benched briefly in November, before the Eagles won four of their last five to sneak into the playoffs, McNabb set a franchise record for yards passing this year and helped Philly make the postseason for the seventh time in nine years. There were some bad games, but he’s still in the league’s upper crust of quarterbacks.

“Donovan did a great job today leading this team. Basically putting the team on his back,” Westbrook said.

He added: “That’s what you expect from a superstar quarterback like Donovan.”

Jackson snapped back after his big mistake, throwing a pair of first-down passes on the next possession to put Peterson in position for a 3-yard, slicing run to pull Minnesota within 16-14.

But the Vikings couldn’t get any rhythm in the second half. Peterson didn’t have any more holes, and the Eagles applied plenty of pressure to keep Jackson from bouncing back.

DeSean Jackson, the slithery rookie Childress reverently referred to this week as a “human pogo stick,” led the Eagles to six of their 16 first-half points. He returned a punt 62 yards — a big weakness for the Vikings — to set up the first field goal by Akers, and caught a 34-yard pass up the sideline preceding another three-point kick.

The only short field the Vikings had came after Allen, who had two of their three sacks, knocked the ball out of McNabb’s hand and gave them the ball at their own 46. But they promptly went three and out, and soon after came Westbrook’s big catch and run.

The Eagles brought the blitz, and Jackson just had no answer.

“You don’t want to be down two scores in the fourth quarter to those guys,” Vikings center Matt Birk said. “It’s like blood in the water for them.”

Notes: Jackson had 109 yards of punt return yardage, to just 1 yard by the Vikings on four Eagles punts. ... Peterson had 17 yards on eight carries after halftime. ... The Vikings lost S Darren Sharper to a sprained ankle in the second quarter. ... Akers went 4-for-4 in his field-goal attempts.