LeSean McCoys 60-yard run Sunday night came on his 23rd carry of the game.
That is why he has to keep getting the football.
That is why 14 carries or 16 carries isnt enough.
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Because late in games, no running back in the NFL is better than McCoy.
McCoy added to his rapidly growing body of work as one of the best fourth-quarter tailbacks in NFL history Sunday with a game-clinching 60-yard run down to the 2-yard-line in the Eagles 17-10 win over the Giants at MetLife Stadium.
McCoy now has fourth-quarter runs from scrimmage of 46, 50, 60 and 66 yards in his three-year career.
His 5.7 career rushing average in the fourth quarter is second-best among all NFL running backs since 1991, trailing only Jamaal Charless 6.3 average. The NFL maintains quarter-by-quarter stats only since 1991.
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On Sunday night, McCoy gained just 53 yards on his first 22 carries. The Giants were doing a terrific job containing him, he didnt have any cutback lanes and he seemed to be losing yards as often as he was gaining yards.
Just a matter of time.
I just thought that at some time LeSean is going to pop one, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said.
Mornhinweg kept giving McCoy the ball, and on his 23rd carry, he uncorked the second-longest run of his career with just over a minute left in the game.
They did a good job containing me, McCoy said. I felt like they came out and said, You know what? Were not going to let McCoy beat us, the way they played their defense. But we found a way to get it done and iced the game out.
McCoy is now averaging a ridiculous 7.2 yards per carry this year in the fourth quarter. Of his 148 career fourth-quarter carries, 36 have gone for first downs and 24 have gone for 10 yards or more.
Keep feeding him the ball late in games, eventually something huge will happen.
In the Eagles losses to the Cards and Bears, McCoy had a total of just four fourth-quarter carries.
Sunday, the Eagles stuck with the running game, and eventually McCoy delivered. Like he always does.
Any time youre facing a team that can get after the quarterback like the Giants can, the run game is crucial, right tackle Todd Herremans said. Even if youre only getting one yard, two yards, minus-one, minus-two. Keeping the defense honest and making them not so theyre screaming up-field is very important.
Despite doing virtually nothing the entire game, McCoy finished with 113 rushing yards Sunday, his fifth 100-yard game of the year.
With six games to go, he leads the NFL with 1,019 rushing yards, 78 more than Maurice Jones-Drew.
McCoy is on pace to become the second player in NFL history -- and first since Hall of Famer Jim Brown in 1963 -- to rush for over 1,600 yards on 300 or fewer carries.
How can you explain McCoys constant late-game heroics?
Reid said its a combination of McCoys unique skill set and the nature of the defensive looks teams give the Eagles when theyre trying to run out the clock.
What teams end up doing, you get down into that area when youre in your four-minute offense and running it and they want to get the ball back, theyll bring a lot of people up on the line, he said. So if you break that level one then youve got room to go.
And then hes patient enough to allow that to happen. A lot of guys will rush in there and wont allow the linemen, the blockers, to get a nice fit on their players. So hes patient enough to do that and then you dont have to give him a lot of room. When he hits it, he hits it.
In his career, McCoy is averaging 4.8 yards per carry in the first quarter, 3.9 in the second quarter, then 5.4 in the third and 5.7 in the fourth.
And heres some overwhelming evidence that the more McCoy gets the ball, the tougher he is.
As a pro, McCoy is averaging 4.9 yards per carry on his first 20 carries of a game and 6.4 yards after his 20th carry of the game (26-for-166).
Hes well-conditioned and hes got that steely mentality that hes accumulated over the last few years, Mornhinweg said. He doesnt wear down. He gets even a little bit better.
If McCoy had scored on his 60-yarder Sunday -- Prince Amukamara knocked him out of bounds at the 2-yard-line -- he would have become the first player in NFL history with five career fourth-quarter touchdowns of 40 yards or more. McCoy, Barry Sanders, Antowain Smith, Robert Smith and Fred Taylor all have four.
It felt good, McCoy said. It would have felt better if I had scored.
McCoy had more yards on that one run with a minute left than he had in the games first 59 minutes.
He has seven career runs of 40 yards or more. Five are in the fourth quarter and three have been in the final 6minutes of a game.
Keep giving him the ball. Eventually, something good is going to happen.
Bottled in the whole day, he said. But thats cool. They want to do that, thats fine. Weve got plenty of playmakers in this locker room who can make plays. DeSean Jackon played outstanding. Riley Cooper came up big. Vince Young played good. Whatever a defense gives, thats what well take.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com.