John Smallwood: Longest running mystery: Does Eagles coach Reid get it?

AT THIS POINT, it probably wasn't even fair to broach the subject with Brian Westbrook.

He's been asked some variation of the same question countless times during this most peculiar Eagles season. Each time he's tried his best to provide an understandable answer.

Still, with the Eagles preparing to play at Minnesota in an NFC wild-card game on Sunday, there is an aura of uneasiness concerning the Eagles' offensive game plan.

Logic based on success would suggest that the game plan include a healthy dose of Westbrook running the football - even if Minnesota has the NFL's top-rated run defense.

Eagles coach Andy Reid once again said he considers Westbrook the top running back in football, along with Minnesota's MVP candidate, Adrian Peterson.

Vikings head coach Brad Childress, the Eagles' former offensive coordinator, conceded that the Birds' offense is "kick-[butt]" when Westbrook is operating on all cylinders.

Peterson suggested to the Eagles that they give Westbrook "the ball on every down."

So why is there a fear that Westbrook and the running game could again get lost in the details come Sunday?

"You're right," Westbrook said before taking a long pause when asked how he could be overlooked in the game plan. "I don't have the answer for that. I just don't have the answer."

I've heard all of Reid's thoughts concerning the running game.

I've listened to explanations about passing in the first half to get leads and then running in the second to balance things out.

I don't care about any of that because I know only things that matter.

When Westbrook runs the football, the Eagles almost always win. When he doesn't run the football, they almost always lose.

Westbrook has been active for 14 games this season.

The Eagles were 6-1 in games in which he rushed the football 15 times - which, by the way, is not an extraordinary number of carries.

Conversely, the Birds were 2-4-1 when he rushed fewer than 15 times. As a side note, one of those victories was against Pittsburgh when Westbrook got hurt but his backups combined for 16 carries, and the other was last week's 44-6 mauling of Dallas when he wasn't needed after rushing 13 times.

The Eagles are 8-0 when they have rushed at least 25 times, 1-6-1 when they haven't.