Gil Brandt has been around forever. His roots are with the Cowboys.

That said he speculates that Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, formerly of Oregon would be a great candidate for the vacant USC job.

"He has never been in pro football before this season, and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure he's made for it," Brandt assessed on NFL.com. "He reminds me of Steve Spurrier and Bob Stoops; they were destined to be college coaches.

"Being around him a little, I know he's a rah-rah, enthusiastic guy. Guys like that don't cut it for very long in the NFL. What he did at Oregon, transforming an OK program when he got there to what it is today, is nothing short of remarkable."

Brandt realizes the NCAA sanctions assessed Oregon during Kelly's regime would be a tough sell. The NCAA slapped an 18-month show-cause penalty on Kelly. Brandt said it would "make his re-entry into college football problematic, but not impossible."

Kelly is 1-3 with the Eagles after going 46-7 at Oregon. Former Eagles head coach Andy Reid is 4-0 with the Chiefs.

The entire Brandt piece breaking down coaching candidates is edgy, well done and available at the following link:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000251997/article/jack-del-rio-among-top-candidate-to-replace-lane-kiffin-at-usc?campaign=Ext_Email_1st10_20130930&cvosrc=Ext_Email.Epsilon.1st10_20130930

Thanks to PopPop for this officiating ditty involving the Eagles, albeit in a roundabout way.

For too many years Andy Reid was incapable of winning a challenge for the Eagles.

Today his challenge turned the game around for the Chiefs, which obviously shocked referee Terry McAulay. More on that in a moment.

The Chiefs were nursing a 10-7 lead in the third quarter when Reid challenged the spot of Eli Manning's 17-yard completion on third down to Victor Cruz. McAulay agreed with Reid, that it wasn't a first down.

Anyone else NOT a fan of a horse on the field?

McAulay reversed the call saying "Philadelphia will not be charged a timeout." You can imagine what Big Red must have looked like after that.

At any rate the Giants were forced to punt and Dexter McCluster ran it back 89 yards for a touchdown. And the Chiefs kept pouring it on.

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Though Patrick Chung is listed doubtful for the Eagles-Broncos game, the coaching staff didn't bring him along just for the ride.

It's been awhile since Kurt Coleman was popular.

Chung is going to get a chance to show them his injured shoulder won't be a liability against Peyton Manning. That opportunity comes in the pre-game warmup.

Even a limited version of Chung couldn't hurt as the alternative is starting rookie Earl Wolff at safety.

Veterans Kurt Coleman and Colt Anderson also are available but don't have the size of Wolff or Chung, for that matter. Veteran Nate Allen is the other starting safety.

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Just in case their ‘A’ game isn’t enough, the Eagles packed something to help them get the job done here today … O2.

McCoy tells Vick where he stashed the O2.

Even if the altitude issue is mostly in the heads of Eagles players, as the coaches and training staff have preached, it helps to know an honest gulp of air in this Mile High City is only an oxygen mask away. (Always put your mask on before helping others.)

“We’ll have oxygen tanks on the sides of the benches,” Eagles veteran pass-rusher Trent Cole said. “So if we ever need it we’ll go to them. And we have backups. We have oxygen tanks and backups.”

Cole doesn’t expect the altitude to be a problem. He doesn’t think it was a big deal when he and the Eagles were crushed here, 49-21, in 2005.

Running back LeSean McCoy hasn’t played a game in altitude. Conversations with players on other teams convinced him not to think about it.

“I think it’s a mental thing,” McCoy said. “There’s so much air, it should be alright.”

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Trent Cole wouldn't divulge any trade secrets.

Trent Cole celebrates a sack.

But it's pretty obvious the Eagles are modeling the game plan for their Sunday game against Peyton Manning and the Broncos based on the one that throttled the quarterback in a 2010 loss against the Eagles. Manning was a member of the Colts.

Additionally blaming wide receiver Riley Cooper for the double-coverage DeSean Jackson is getting is ridiculous.

It also misses the point of the Chip Kelly offense, which was painfully obvious to the Eagles' head coach during a news conference this past week.

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Referee Peter Morelli and his crew work Eagles-Broncos.

The Eagles are 7-7 in games officiated by Morelli, including 4-5 on the road since the 2000 campaign.

Who you looking at?

Among the longer road trips, the Eagles' nrecord with Morelli includes a 21-7 victory at Arizona (2002), a 9-13 loss at Oakland (2009) and last season a 14-31 setback at Seattle, one of the most humbling defeats of the Andy Reid era.

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The Eagles added offensive tackle Jason Peters to their injury report.

Bill Davis.

Peters has an issue with a finger that offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said was a liability in the previous game. Peters was able to practice fully.

Safety Patrick Chung missed his second straight day of practice due to a shoulder contusion.

Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis is hopeful but not necessarily optimistic Chung will play Sunday against the Broncos in Denver.

"It's up in the air," Davis said. "He took a big jump from yesterday to today. Hopefully every day is a jump. With the injuries he's dealing with ... He's a tough man. If he can go he will go. It's a tricky injury. Right now I'm not sure."

For the Broncos, cornerback Champ Bailey has returned to practice on a limited basis after a mild Lisfranc sprain.

Merrill eyes Brent Celek's lunch truck. He did a turkey burger.

"He's day to day," Broncos head coach John Fox said on a conference call. "He's a lot closer this week than last week."

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With 12 touchdown passes in three games. Peyton Manning is on pace to blow up the NFL record of 50 held by Tom Brady.

Barwin's shirt not a fit this week..

...  Around the 13th game of this season.

The Eagles were part of Brady's history in 2007. They could be part of the TD record redux as they oppose Manning and the  Broncos Sunday at Sports Authority at Mile High.

The Eagles rank 30th in the NFL in yards allow, surrendering  438.3 yards per game.

Chip Kelly thinks Manning and Tom Brady, who the Eagles played in the preseason, are among the best quarterbacks ever. Right now Manning has something Brady does not.

"He's got a lot of weapons," Kelly said.  "You got [Wes] Welker, [Demaryius] Thomas, [Eric] Decker. Wherever you want to put them in.  Three really good running backs. It's a tough challenge for us this week."

The Broncos are coming off a 37-21 win over the Raiders Monday night.

The Eagles have been idle since their 26-16 loss last Thursday to the Chiefs.

The Eagles allowed Brady just one TD pass the year he set the  NFL standard. A.J. Feeley threw three scoring passes but also three interceptions in a 31-28 Birds loss in Foxboro, Mass.

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The NFL confirmed Friday that it fined Eagles middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans for the forearm that knocked Malcolm Floyd of the San Diego Chargers out of their game last Sunday.

Fined.

Ryans was billed $21,000 for the hit that left Floyd with a neck injury on the first play of the second half.

The blow sent Floyd, who was carted off the field, into Eagles safety Nate Allen. Allen wasn't fined.

Floyd caught five passes for 102 yards in the game.

Look for Ryans to appeal the fine arguing that he raised his forearm to protect himself before the collision.
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Chargers pass rusher Dwight Freeney told Pro Football Talk on NBCSN he doesn't know how the Eagles will get through a 16-game season without losing a quarterback ... or two.

It's football, Dwight. Know what I mean?

"The problem with that offense is the quarterback position and the pounding the quarterback takes with that," Freeney said. It's not college anymore, and it's going to be very interesting to see if a team can actually have a starting quarterback, or backup quarterback, last through the whole entire year with this type of athlete, not a college athlete."

The Chargers sacked Michael Vick just once last week but put several hits on him, including one in the red zone that temporarily knocked him out of the game. Freeney didn't get the sack.

"You're talking about a guy who may be 300 pounds, running a 4.8 (40-yard dash), whatever it is, hitting your quarterback every time he carries out a fake, whether he has the ball or not," Freeney said. "Will the quarterback to be able to last the whole year? That's the question.”

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 interview with Erik Kuselias and San Diego Chargers LB Dwight Freeney. During the interview

The full piece airs at 6 p.m. on NBCSN, 

“That's one thing you do like, because they don't really stress protection.

Kuselias: “You’re saying, you don’t believe against NFL defenses, 16 of them in a 17 week period, you don’t think they’re going to be able to hold up?” 

Freeney:  “No. I don't.”

Always seeming to be one cornerback from disaster, the Eagles signed Roc Carmichael off the practice squad of the Houston Texans.

While the Eagles list cornerback Bradley Fletcher (concussion) probable for their Thursday night game against the Kansas City Chiefs, they lost their only bit of experienced depth in Brandon Hughes.

Hughes strained a hamstring last Sunday and has landed on short-term injured reserve. He’s eligible to return eight weeks from today.

 

Brandon Boykin ... nursing a quad.

Nickel cornerback Brandon Boykin is nursing a quadriceps issue. He’s also probable for the Chiefs along with tight end Brent Celek (shoulder), center Jason Kelce (thumb), offensive tackle Dennis Kelly (back) and linebacker Mychal Kendricks (groin).

If you’re keeping track the contingent of former Texans on the includes linebackers DeMeco Ryans and Connor Barwin, tight end James Casey, wide receiver Jeff Maehl and punter Donnie Jones.

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Andy Reid.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman told TuesdayMorningFootball.com he's looking forward to connecting Thursday with Andy Reid, now the head coach of the Chiefs.

The Chiefs take on the Eagles, who Reid coached 14 seasons before being fired last January.

"Andy is a close personal friend of mine and a mentor to me," Roseman said. "He’s a phenomenal coach and an even better person, he’s someone that I root for every week except this one.

Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman.

"There’s a lot of appreciation and respect for what he did, for our city, our football team and what he brought to it. Our fans are very knowledgeable they know what he meant to our city for the years he was here and I think they’ll wish him a lot of luck."

Reid told Kansas City media he appreciated Eagles fans.

"The fans are phenomenal," Reid said. "When you walk off the field, and you go underneath the stadium the fans are right there. So they are very excited, and we were very excited about the win."

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