So Sunday at the Giants, the Eagles gained minus-5 yards on their first eight called runs. What did they do then? They kept running, and eventually Brian Westbrook broke a 30-yarder for a touchdown against a safety blitz.
Afterward, Westbrook seemed to understand that something rare had occurred, even if Reid did not.
"He was very committed to it, and I give a lot of credit to him because usually we're not that committed to it," Westbrook said after Sunday's game. "He saw that we were getting it done. We always try to tell him 2 or 3 yards is not that bad, and we had a couple carries where it was just 2 or 3 yards, but he stayed committed to it, and sooner or later that turned into 5 or 6 yards, then we had the big run down the middle.''
This was not exactly Reid's perspective, a day later - that he'd been talked into doing anything out of the ordinary.
"I wouldn't say I was beating my head against the wall. I thought we ran the ball pretty good,'' Reid said. "Beating the head against the ball is when
you're gaining 1 yard per carry. When you're gaining like we were [Sunday], I'm good with that."
But, see, you weren't gaining . . . that is, until, well . . . oh, just never mind.
So, run-starved fans should pray for wind the rest of the way?
"I think the fans really just want to win,'' Reid said. "They don't really care if we throw it or run it, they just want to see W's."
Gee, from the gist of our e-mails, we could have sworn they were a bit more discerning than that. Guess not.
OBSCURE STAT
The Giants hadn't lost a game in which they didn't turn the ball over since Dec. 5, 2004, against Washington.
The Eagles and Giants ran three end-around plays, two by the Birds. Combined, they lost 21yards.
