When Ryan Howard is in one of those slumps, you wonder whether he worries just a little about ever hitting another home run. What if he just lost the ability? Then, when he hits one out, you wonder if he's more relieved than he could ever let on.

When the Flyers struggle to score, or the Sixers' shooting goes frosty-cold, or Donovan McNabb's passes keep bouncing in front of receivers - same thing: Does it cross their minds, even for a moment, that they've simply lost whatever gift they had?

OK, maybe this says more about the observer than the observed. Great athletes have great confidence as part of their makeup.

But that thought crept in during Andy Reid's unusually relaxed news conference yesterday. The coach seemed mighty relieved after Thursday night's 48-20 blowout of the Arizona Cardinals - the kind of relieved a person might feel if he'd been worried about losing his skills before finding out everything was fine.

That mood might explain why Reid was willing to engage in a revealing back-and-forth with reporters on a topic that had raised the blood pressure of Eagles fans as much as any other. It started when Bob Grotz of the Delaware County Daily Times asked Reid to define "efficient balance" in his offensive approach.

(The identities of the reporters are relevant because of their relationships with Reid. The coach likes to use Grotz as a foil because the veteran scribe has a Columbo-like knack for asking "one more question" in an effort to get a little better answer.)

"I tried to explain that," Reid said. "Efficient balance is . . . say you are running the Football and for the first eight carries you average 1.2 yards, and you're throwing the Football and averaging 10 yards per throw. To me, you're probably going to throw the Football a couple more times than you're going to run the Football.

"Efficient balance would be to get it up around 4 yards - 31/2 to 4 yards per carry - then let's have a good completion percentage, and let's go to work."

At this point, Reuben Frank of the Burlington County Times suggested that Reid was much more likely to drop the running game when it started slowly than to drop the passing game - ever.

(Frank has covered the team since 1987 and is as good as anyone in the universe at finding illuminating and unusual statistics. That explains why Reid reacted as he did, with a smile and a concession.)

"You're probably right," Reid said. "I don't know how to answer that. You're probably right. You're probably going to throw a stat out of your little book at me and I'm going to just agree with you and move on."

Just like that, Reid good-naturedly acknowledged one of the things that most flummoxes his critics. He likes to throw the ball a lot more than he likes to run it.

But at least he's consistent: When the running game starts slowly, he calls more passing plays. When the passing game starts slowly, he calls more passing plays.

The players have talked about this for years, saying they felt they had to run the ball well early to keep the running game in the coach's good graces.

"I'm not going to sit there and bang my head against the wall by running the Football every snap if I'm not gaining a yard," Reid said.

When the passing game starts off ugly - and a timing offense really can look bad when it's not in sync - the mantra has always been the same: "Keep firing."

Reid says it. McNabb says it. Marty Mornhinweg says it. Brad Childress used to say it.

So this disparity is no secret. It was simply refreshing to hear Reid acknowledge his bias, almost as if it were some kind of genetic inheritance.

The Cardinals' defensive strategy dictated the early reliance on the run. When the Cards adjusted, the Eagles were able to exploit them even more by throwing effectively.

"That's what's so great about this offense," Reid said. "When one thing isn't working, you go to the other. You just have to make sure one thing is working."

It is clear that "one thing" will always be the passing game as long as Reid is the coach. No one expects him to change that. The passing game is what got him from tight ends coach in Green Bay to top Football man for going on 10 years in Philadelphia. The irony is that some perseverance with the unloved running game ultimately would make the favored passing game better.

It is an irony Reid seemed to appreciate, if only for the moment.

Contact columnist Phil Sheridan at 215-854-2844 or psheridan@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com