ANDY REID can claim his 100th regular-season victory as the Eagles' coach tomorrow, in a remarkable 11-season run that has included a little of just about everything except a Lombardi Trophy.

Team chairman Jeffrey Lurie and president Joe Banner remain huge Reid boosters; the Daily News has learned they have initiated talks aimed toward extending Reid's contract, which runs through next season. That wasn't something the coach wanted to talk about yesterday during his end-of-the-week news conference, however.

"I love the Philadelphia Eagles, but right now I'm focused in on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," he said. Asked whether he wants to sign up for another coaching stint, Reid gave the same answer. Banner did not respond to a request for comment.

One of the hallmarks of the Reid era is how his team fares coming out of its bye week. Reid's Birds are 10-0 in that situation, heavily favored to make it 11-0 tomorrow when they host Tampa. Post-bye success is something Reid enjoys talking about only slightly more than talking about his contract.

"I don't think there's any secret formula to it. We go back and we do our self-scout and our evaluation and so on [during the bye week]," Reid said. "We've had byes at every level you can imagine, at every stage of the season. I don't see [anything] other than the common denominator of what we try to get done. I don't think that's a secret that other teams don't do. I don't think there's any rhyme or reason for it."

Indeed, Reid's byes have come as late as Christmas (his first season) and as early as Week 3 (2003, when the Eagles opened Lincoln Financial Field by losing their first two games, creating an air of crisis). Reid's first 2 years, the game after the bye ended the regular season. The unbeaten record would seem to indicate that Reid does an extraordinary job of preparing with the extra week, and that his teams always play well in that situation. But if you look closely at the post-bye games, the truth is, the Eagles have been fortunate to win at least a few.

Take, for example, the 2005 post-bye game, played on Oct. 23, at the Linc, against San Diego. The Chargers were ahead, 17-13, with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left and were about to extend that lead on a 40-yard Nate Kaeding field goal. But Quintin Mikell burst through a gap and blocked the kick, which took an amazingly true hop right into the arms of teammate Matt Ware. Ware didn't have to break stride, gathering in the ball and zipping 65 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

"You need breaks," Reid said yesterday, when asked about that day. "That's why I say there's no common demominator here . . . They had a good defense, and they gave us a lot of trouble. We weren't able to get much going."

Mikell recalled that he had been telling then-special-teams coordinator John Harbaugh all afternoon there was space there to exploit.

"The tight end was lining up really wide, to block our rusher off the edge," Mikell recalled. "I kept telling coach Harbs, 'I can go, just send me, on field-goal block.' Finally, he was like, 'All right.' He trusted me. That hole was wide open."

Mikell barely had to leave his feet for the block. He had designs on scooping and scoring himself, but Ware didn't even have to scoop.

"It was like a movie, the way that play worked out," Mikell said. "It was perfect. It bounced right to him. We practice it all the time; I've never seen it perfectly bounce like that to anyone. Except that one."

The Reid post-bye ledger shows some Eagles blowouts - 30-8 over Carolina in 2004, 27-3 over the Redskins in 2006 - but those are outnumbered by the games that turned on a key play or penalty.

In 2007, the Eagles were leading the Jets, 16-9. The Birds faced the prospect of punting from their end zone just before the 2-minute warning. On third-and-7 from the Eagles' 7, Donovan McNabb tripped over a lineman's foot as he pulled away from center. McNabb nearly fell. He regained his balance and hit Reggie Brown (remember Reggie Brown?) for the first down that allowed the Birds to run out the clock.

Last year, the Eagles were clinging to a 20-14 lead with 2:22 left when Atlanta returner Adam Jennings was ruled to have touched a Sav Rocca punt as he tried to back away from the ball. The Eagles' Akeem Jordan recovered, setting up the clinching touchdown. Atlanta, out of timeouts, couldn't challenge what replays revealed was a questionable ruling. The Eagles scored two plays after the recovered "muff," setting their final 27-14 margin.

Maclin starting

 

Turns out that huge ice bag Kevin Curtis wore on his left knee after Thursday's practice was not a fashion accessory. Curtis missed yesterday's practice and was listed as "questionable" for tomorrow. Andy Reid said rookie Jeremy Maclin will start, and might have started anyhow, with Curtis clearly not all the way back from the knee problem that caused him to sit out the Kansas City game.

It's probably time to wonder whether Maclin's ascent could turn out to be permament. Curtis is 31; last year, he had sports hernia surgery, then more surgery in the same area in the offseason.

"Nobody wants to come in and sit the bench; that's not what I wanted to do. Fortunately, I've earned the coaches' trust enough for them to go ahead and put me out there," the first-rounder said yesterday. "It's unfortunate what happened to Kevin, but it is what it is."

Maclin said he thinks he has earned McNabb's trust, though all six of his pro receptions have come from Kevin Kolb. This will be Maclin's first extensive action with McNabb, who is returning from a rib injury suffered in the season opener.

"That's what you practice all week for. 'Five' came back and didn't miss a beat; he's still one of the best quarterbacks going. He's going to put the ball on the money," Maclin said. "It's our job to be there, you've got to be on the quarterback's timing. I'm pretty sure he has faith in us to go out and do that."

Reid said Maclin has "worked very hard, that's where it starts. He's a smart kid, and so that's helped him . . . He's worked hard on the details of route running and studying the defenses that the National Football League presents you."

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