PHILADELPHIA — Donovan McNabb said a prayer before sprinting through the tunnel to the field and emerged pointing his finger at the sky while an appreciative crowd stood and cheered.

Wearing a bulky protective brace on his surgically repaired right knee, the Eagles quarterback came out firing. McNabb connected on a 27-yard pass on his first attempt in nine months and a 16-yarder on the very next one.

From the pregame ritual to the easy passes, it all seemed so familiar. McNabb was back.

A fired-up McNabb never looked rattled after taking a couple of hits and was near-flawless in his lone quarter in Philadelphia's 27-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Friday night.

"I have a long way to go, but the exciting part is just what we can do," McNabb said. "I tried to get us back to the point where we were when I left. Hopefully, we can get back to that."

The five-time Pro Bowl quarterback finished 6-for-9 for 138 yards, including a 58-yard strike to tight end Matt Schobel. He led the Eagles (1-1) to 10 points on four possessions, before giving way to backup A.J. Feeley.

In other NFL exhibition games Friday night, it was Atlanta 13, Buffalo 10; Minnesota 37, the New York Jets 20; and Tennessee 27, New England 24.

McNabb's helmet popped off when he was sacked on his final play at the end of the first quarter and he watched from the sideline with ice bags on his knees. Otherwise, it was typical McNabb, running and throwing like normal. Just no scrambling.

Not yet.

There's plenty of time for McNabb to burst out of the pocket and take off on a long run. But McNabb doesn't feel like he has to show anyone any proof that he's fully recovered from the injury.

"It wasn't a test for me at all," McNabb said. "I already know I can play this game and play at a high level."

Falcons 13, Bills 10

Bills quarterback J.P. Losman was given every opportunity to produce a scoring drive, but came up empty. Atlanta's Joey Harrington wasn't much better.

The Falcons (1-1) pulled out the win when backup quarterback Chris Redman — filling in for injured third-stringer D.J. Shockley — hit George Cooper for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 2:38 remaining.

The lone touchdown for Buffalo (1-1) came from third-stringer Trent Edwards, who hit Roscoe Parrish for a 10-yard pass in the third quarter.

Losman went 7-of-13 for 78 yards passing, and the Bills' starters managed three first downs despite playing the entire first half.

Vikings 37, Jets 20

Chad Pennington came out throwing this time — a little too often. A week after not attempting a pass, the New York quarterback had two ill-advised throws returned for touchdowns in a loss to Minnesota.

Darren Sharper's 40-yard return came on Pennington's third pass, and Chad Greenway later brought one back 16 yards for the Vikings (1-1), who took advantage of nearly every mistake by the Jets (1-1).

Titans 27, Patriots 24

Vince Young was sacked four times and was tackled just short of the goal line on his final play in Tennessee's victory over New England.

Young was benched for the Titans' exhibition opener for spending the previous night at his house instead of the team hotel. He completed five of 17 passes for 102 yards and ran four times for 9 yards.

Tom Brady went 10-for-19 for 145 yards, a 28-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker and two interceptions for the Patriots (0-2).