McCoy converted five of six situations of 2 yards or less into either first downs or touchdowns in the win. In the Eagles' last eight games, he has converted 24 of 30 situations of 2 yards or less. For the season, he is 33-for-46.
"He's a tough kid," Eagles coach Andy Reid said of McCoy. "He was getting upset because he had a couple of runs for losses. But he battles. He gets your hard downs for you. Hard yards. I'm proud of him."
McCoy went into the game leading the league in rushing first downs with 71. The closest guy to him was Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew, who had 54.
"When people think of good short-yardage runners, they think of big, powerful backs," said center Jason Kelce. "Bruisers. But Shady, when he needs to, knows how to hit the hole hard."
Because of his speed and lateral quickness and ability to make people miss, McCoy frequently has been likened to Hall-of-Famer Barry Sanders. But he's a much tougher runner. Frequently kept out of the Eagles' goal-line package as a rookie and even part of last year, he's now the go-to weapon inside the 5 when Reid and Marty Mornhinweg have the good sense to run it and not pass it, which still isn't often enough.
But they gave it to him there yesterday. They gave it to him on a first-and-goal at the 1 early in the second quarter with the Dolphins up 7-0. And when he lost a yard on the play, they gave it to him again and he powered his way into the end zone to tie the game.
On the Eagles' next possession, after a first-and-goal pass play from the one failed, they wisely gave it to McCoy again. He sliced through for another score behind several nice blocks, including one by left tackle Jason Peters.
