The Answer, My Friend ...
Your Eagletarian asked Andy Reid if run-starved Eagles fans should pray for high wind the rest of the season. Reid's answer, essentially, was "Yes."
How many years must a man coach a team
Before the light flashes on?
How many tears must a fan base shed
Before the run plan's made strong?
How many times must the talk-show hosts wail
Before we've all suffered too long?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
--Thanks to Eagles fan Robert Zimmerman, pictured at the right, for that contribution. Bob ought to stick with the music thing, he really seems to have something there.
Andy Reid, meanwhile, made it clear at Monday's day-after news conference that he is not changing his approach to offense, on days when the wind does not threaten to send small dogs and untethered garbage cans aloft.
"The weather conditions were the biggest factor" in Sunday's 38 called runs vs. 34 called passes, Reid said, the day after his team shocked the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants by doing what fans have clamored to see for so long -- running the ball in bad weather, eating the clock, dominating the line of scrimmage.
Asked by your Eagletarian if fans should hope for wind the rest of the way, so that the 7-5-1 Eagles might have a shot at the postseason, Reid said: "I think the fans really just want to win. They don't really care if we throw it or run it, they just want to see Ws."
Reid would not concede that a little more than a week after saying he wouldn't beat his head against the wall, sticking with the run if it wasn't working, he effectively did beat his head against the wall, running for minus-5 yards on his first eight called runs Sunday, yet continuing to call the run as much as the pass, apparently only because weather conditions prohibited a lot of passing. Eventually, Brian Westbroom caught the Giants in a safety blitz and jetted 30 yards for the game's first touchdown. Before that run, Westbrook had managed 18 yards on 9 carries.
"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 yesterday, I'm good with that."
On the injury front, Reid said he expected to have Correll Buckhalter (knee) back for Monday's game against the Browns. He said wideout Kevin Curtis (concussion) will be evaluated when practice resumes on Thursday.