The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - Donovan McNabb tried to shed the running quarterback label, insisting he was a pocket passer who only scrambled when plays broke down.

This season, McNabb seemed hesitant to run, often passing up chances when he had open lanes or waiting too long and getting sacked.

But he just couldn't help himself in last week's playoff win against Green Bay. With his receivers forced outside, McNabb had all the room he needed to run for 107 yards - an NFL postseason record for quarterbacks.

Combined with his 248 yards and two touchdowns passing, the Eagles beat the Packers 20-17 in overtime to reach their third straight NFC title game Sunday against Carolina.

McNabb shrugged off the record, saying he ran out of necessity.

"I just tried to protect the ball," McNabb said. "I knew they were blitzing, I looked at my first and second read and I knew I was about to get hit, so I just tried to protect the ball."

Coach Andy Reid had a simpler explanation.

"It looked like he was the one guy that they didn't account for," Reid said.

Not account for McNabb's running with leading rusher Brian Westbrook out with an injury?

Perhaps it was because McNabb has tried to become a quarterback who makes plays with his arm instead of his feet at the first sign of trouble. Still, when the Eagles needed to run, McNabb delivered. He ran 41 yards in the first quarter. And then he had runs of 22 and 24 yards before throwing the game-tying TD pass.

"Instead of sitting back there and patting the ball, I tried to pick up what I could get, move the chains, and put us in a position to score," McNabb said.

McNabb rushed for only 355 yards this season and never had more than 55 yards in a game, though he was sacked 43 times - the most in three years - and the Packers sacked him eight times.

Last season, he had 460 yards and two 100-yard games in 10 games before he broke his leg. He had a 125-yard game against Washington in 2000 when he finished with a career-high 629 yards rushing.

While McNabb used to be an option out of the backfield, the Eagles used a running trio this season led by Westbrook. Even with Westbrook out for the playoffs with a triceps injury, Duce Staley and Correll Buckhalter were non factors for most of the game, gaining 57 yards on 14 carries.

Reid had no complaints with McNabb's scrambling.

"He ran for over 100 yards, that was pretty good," Reid said. "He threw the ball well, we got 300 yards-plus (381) of total offense and we can live with that. That's good stuff."

Reid said limiting Staley's carries was probably a mistake, though a 14-0 deficit changed the play calling.

"We probably could have run a little bit more, period," Reid said. "We didn't have a lot of success early with it and then when we got behind, it snowballed from there."

When the Eagles needed clutch runs in the game-tying drive in regulation and the winning one in overtime, they went to Staley.

With the Eagles trailing 17-14, Staley broke off left tackle and went 22 yards on the first play of the drive. The run, however, was lost after McNabb's fourth-and-26 completion to Freddie Mitchell which set up David Akers' game-tying field goal.

In overtime, Staley had an 11-yard run to Green Bay's 14. Two plays later, Akers won it with a 31-yarder.

McNabb knows he'll be on the move again against the Panthers, though he only ran twice for 6 yards when the Eagles beat Carolina in November.

"I don't know how we're going to do it because he's crazy, a double threat," Carolina defensive tackle Brentson Buckner said. "You can say all you want to take away the throwing option, but then he takes off and is running like Eric Dickerson. All you can do is go out there and line up, stay technically sound and hope for the best."

REDSKINS: More than 5,000 people have added their names to the team's season-ticket waiting list in the week since Joe Gibbs was brought back as coach. The list has more than 80,000 names, and the Redskins expect it to top 100,000 by the start of the season.

PRO BOWL: Packers tight end Bubba Franks and Seahawks guard Steve Hutchinson were added to the NFC squad as injury replacements for Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey (knee) and Saints guard LeCharles Bentley (knee).

CHIEFS: Defensive coordinator Greg Robinson resigned, after telling coach Dick Vermeil after Sunday's 38-31 playoff loss to Indianapolis that he would do so if it was in the team's best interests. Kansas City's defense was 29th overall and 30th against the run this season.

VIKINGS: Former Jets assistant Ted Cottrell reached a tentative agreement to become Minnesota's defensive coordinator. Vikings spokesman Bob Hagan said details will not be released until a contract is signed.

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