PHILADELPHIA -- During the bye week, Eagles coach Andy Reid muttered strange words to his offense. He told offensive linemen to get ready to be run blockers. He even suggested to halfback Duce Staley that he might do something different -- call "Duce" running plays.

For a West Coast offense advocate such as Reid, running plays are necessary evils. Like most coaches using the West Coast offense, he said he believes a short pass from a three-step drop is as good as a run, but calling those passes puts more pressure on the quarterback.

In many ways, Reid called a game plan that made Donovan McNabb feels as though he was in his second consecutive bye week. Against the Bucs defense, which entered the game Sunday in Veterans Stadium ranked No. 1, Reid relied on a ground attack. Staley had 24 carries for 152 yards. In the first five games, he had only 58 carries 229 yards. Of the 61 Eagles offensive plays Sunday, 34 were runs. In the end, the Eagles ran all over the Bucs 20-10 Sunday.

"That was effective and surprising," Staley said. "Andy stuck to the game plan. He said we were going to run the ball. He told the offensive line to get geared up for the run."

	Duce Staley rushed for 152 yards on 24 carries in the Eagles' win over the Bucs.

Critics of the Eagles' 3-2 start suggested that too much was put on the shoulders of McNabb. Before the bye week, McNabb, who had 61 percent of the team's offensive touches either by pass or by run in those five games, was overused so much in a defeat against Jacksonville that he threw up once while calling out a play. After all, McNabb entered the game as the team's leading rusher, leading passer and leading star.

"By being able to run the ball, Donovan doesn't have to be so tired where he had to throw up," Staley said.

Reid stunned the Bucs by running the ball into the heart of the Tampa Bay defense. The Bucs are considered a little undersized on the defensive line, but the front seven is so fast and so disruptive, few teams run at them. The Eagles went against conventional wisdom. Focusing on simple zone blocking, leads behind the fullback and draw plays, Staley was actually a running back for a change. He had 14 first-down runs for 113 yards.

That never happens with the Eagles.

"I think we finished the first three quarters close to 50-50 (run plays compared to pass plays)," Reid said. "We mixed it up. We're normally in the higher percentage of throws, about 60-40."

Actually, the Eagles ran the ball 37.5 percent of the time in their first five games. Part of the reason is they have a run-by-committee type of offense. Reid mixes in different formations and different personnel groups that utilize the skills of Staley, Dorsey Levens and rookie Brian Westbrook. It's a finesse offense.

What the Eagles did Sunday was anything but finesse. Linemen loved it. Part of the reason for the running plays coincided with the return of guard John Welbourn, who had been out with a broken leg. Welbourn is a more physical guard who tried to power his way at defensive tackles Warren Sapp and Anthony McFarland.

"Going into this game, we knew that running the ball would wear them down," Staley said. "We just had to be patient. Anytime we can take some of the burden off Donovan McNabb and run the ball is definitely a plus."

In the first five games, McNabb had been sacked 19 times. He's had 33 running plays. That's an average of 10 hits a game, not counting those pressures in which linemen charge into McNabb and knock him to the ground. Against the Bucs, McNabb had only six carries. He was sacked twice. That's like a day off for his body. His 4 rushing yards were a career low.

Instead of sacrificing his body, McNabb was able to play mind games with the Bucs defense.

	"	Going into this game, we knew that running the ball would wear them down. We just had to be patient. Anytime we can take some of the burden off Donovan McNabb and run the ball is definitely a plus. "
		— Duce Staley, Eagles running back

"By running outside and inside, it opens up the field," McNabb said. "The safeties get more involved. It puts safety Dexter Jackson on an island where he has to go either way (choosing to defend the run or the pass). John Lynch comes down there and he is so effective in the run game."

Early, because of the importance of this game, McNabb was a little bit off his game. Bucs defensive end Simeon Rice, his former high school teammate, slapped the ball from McNabb's hand and watched it bounce over to linebacker Derrick Brooks, who carried it into the end zone 11 yards for a first-quarter touchdown that gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead. McNabb's next pass was intercepted by cornerback Brian Kelly. When McNabb resorted to a safe third-down running play in the next series, Eagles fans booed.

Reid stuck with his game plan of running the football. In the first half, Staley gained between 3 and 7 yards on most of his first-down runs. By the early in the fourth quarter, those runs were gaining 9 yards.

Finally, the Bucs defense was so tired that Staley busted a 57-yard run to ice the game in the final two minutes. Staley's legs might have been fresh from the bye week, but he was saying bye-bye to the Bucs defense, which suffered yet another defeat in Veterans Stadium.

There were times in which Reid called as many as five consecutive running plays.

"I never do that," Reid said.

Eagles offensive players loved it, particularly Staley.

"Usually, we start the game with a 15-play script that will have only a couple of runs," Staley said. "There were times I would get three plays that were runs in a row. That's very surprising. When you go back and watch the film, you feel good about yourself because we wore down a good defense."

McNabb's head games clicked in perfectly to win the game. With 2:29 left in the first half, McNabb faked a handoff to his left and sent Todd Pinkston down the right sideline. For that particular play, Bucs cornerbacks were playing loose. Pinkston had a free release and suddenly had an open area downfield that free safety Dexter Jackson had to make up.

Pinkston caught a 42-yard touchdown pass on Jackson that gave the Eagles a 10-7 lead.

"We tried the same play just a play or two before that and it was just off by a hair," Reid said. "It was basically the same play from a different personnel group. So we came back with it and we were able to get a nice shot there."

The Eagles had an 11-play field goal drive in the third quarter. The Bucs defense was weary. The Bucs were on the ropes. McNabb kept handing off to Staley in the fourth quarter and pretty soon the Bucs defense wilted. In a 10-play touchdown drive, Staley had four consecutive carries.

McNabb ran to the outside for a 1-yard touchdown that opened a 20-10 lead that was insurmountable.

"If you look back in the first half when McNabb threw that bomb, it is important to continue to do the play-action and continue the run," Staley said. "I think we got them off guard."

The Bucs were caught off guard because Reid surprised everyone by making Staley a running back. The strategy worked.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.