The altitude at Denver's Sports Authority Field is the least of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly's concerns as he builds his game plan for Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. Photo courtesy ESPN.
Outside of how exactly the Philadelphia Eagles hope to contain Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos offense, the biggest issue facing Chip Kelly this week is what the effect of the high altitude will have on the coach's ability to run his high octane offense.
The thin air isn't something the Eagles first-year head coach is concerned about.
"I think what makes a difference when you play at altitude is who you play against," Kelly told reporters Tuesday at the Novacare Complex. "We played against Colorado state a few years ago and it didn't make a difference but against the Denver Broncos it will. Football is an Anaerobic sport so I don't think it effects you as much as you may think, a lot of it is mental."
Still, it will be interesting to see what effect the thin air at Sports Authority Field will have on an offense that ideally runs a play every 18-22 seconds and a defense that has been on the field a combined 80 minutes of game time the last two weeks.
Even if altitude plays little role in the outcome of the game, slowing down Manning will be tantamount.
"Manning and Brady are probably the two best against the blitz that I've ever seen," Kelly said. "We were fortunate to practice against Tom during training camp and now a chance to see Peyton up close and personal."
Through three weeks Manning has posted 1,143 passing yards and an unblemished touchdown to interception ratio with 12 touchdowns to zero INTs.
The head coach says, don't expect any change in defensive personnel this week, which may be eye opening after the Eagles inability to get off the field on third down late in Thursday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
