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Introducing a new weekly feature here at Birds 24/7. Every Friday, Tim and Sheil will go back-and-forth on a few game-related topics.

Here is the first installment.

What do the Eagles need to do to beat the Broncos? What’s working on offense and what’s not? Tim and Sheil broke it all down on Birds 24/7 on 97.5 The Fanatic Thursday night.

You can listen to the podcast here or download it here from iTunes.

They’ll be broadcasting live from Smiths in Center City from 6 to 7 every Thursday during the season.

Chip Kelly had the following to say about Earl Wolff last week when asked if he was considering starting the rookie safety against the Chiefs.

“No, we’re still — I think Earl is growing, and we’ll continue to grow him, but he’s still making some mistakes out there,” said Kelly. “I think they’re bringing him along and we’re excited about what his future is, but we still don’t think he’s ready to go the whole way.”

The plan was to ease the fifth-round pick in; to feed him game situations in doses before giving him a full workload. The NFL has a way of cancelling your plans without much notice. Patrick Chung went down with a shoulder injury against the Chiefs and has yet to practice this week. Wolff will not only make his first NFL start this Sunday in all likelihood, but do so against Peyton Manning.

Ready?

“Yes I am,” said Wolff.

Todd Herremans’ voice barely rose above a whisper. In the wake of a 26-16 loss to his old coach, on a night where the veteran struggled badly, Herremans stood in front of his locker — the hood of his sweatshirt pulled tightly around his face — answering reporters’ question in a low, pain-filled voice.

“I was just disappointed,” said Herremans, now a few days removed from the Chiefs’ loss. “It was a win I really wanted to get. I was really frustrated by that holding call I had late. Just disappointed, you know?”

Herremans took it hard but seemed no worse for wear this week. He wore the same half-grin that he always does. Was accepting towards the media that approached his back-corner stall, even though he knew the questions would be largely about what is going wrong.

“It’s not like I don’t know that I’ve got to get better,” he said. “I know I’ve got to get better.”

Which team is best set up for a track meet on Sunday? Will the Eagles bring in any wide receiver help? And will Vinny Curry get more opportunities after an impressive debut? We try to answer all of that in the latest mailbag.

When Billy Davis and the Browns’ staff went looking for answers on how to slow down Peyton Manning, their search led them to Philadelphia.

This was last season when Davis was the linebackers coach and Cleveland was prepping to take on the Manning-led Broncos. The defensive coordinator was Dick Jauron, who was on Philadelphia’s staff when the Eagles beat Manning and the Colts 26-24 during the 2010 regular season.  Manning was 31-of-51 for 294 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in that game. Sean McDermott‘s defense registered six quarterback hits and sacked Manning three times.

So what worked?

LeSean McCoy started off his press conference with a smile on his face and the following message to deliver:

“I am 1-0 against Peyton Manning, I am,” he said, drawing laughs.

It’s true. The Eagles beat the Colts 26-24 back in 2010. McCoy ran for 95 yards in that one. Michael Vick accounted for 292 yards of offense and scored twice.

The 2013 version of the Eagles comes in as the No.2 ranked offense in the league, averaging 462 yards per game. McCoy is the league’s leading rusher, DeSean Jackson the second most productive receiver. Chip Kelly‘s attack was all the rage, particularly before a down performance against the Chiefs on Thursday. In this matchup, however, it is being totally overshadowed by the juggernaut on the other side.

DeSean Jackson knows that if the Eagles are to hang with the Broncos on Sunday, their offense is going to have to be in high gear.

“As an offense we just feel like we have to go out there and basically go battle for battle with them, and be able to score as many points as they can and hopefully more,” he said.

The Eagles’ offense cooled off against Kansas City after two strong performances versus Washington and San Diego to open the season. It was no coincidence that Jackson’s game cooled right along with it. He had three catches for 62 yards and was kept out of the end zone Thursday. In the previous two games, he racked up 24 catches, 297 yards and a pair of scores.

“A lot of times guys are focusing on myself. Doing some good things in this offense obviously caused that,” he said. “It’s not a matter where I get frustrated. I understand at times when I run a certain route there might be two guys on me instead of one. I think that will help out the other receivers to be able get open and make big plays to help us win games, so guys aren’t always zoning in on me.”

Jason Peters did not have the type of dominant performance Thursday that we have come to expect from the left tackle. Matched up with Tamba Hali for much of the game, he yielded five quarterback hurries and gave up a sack. Hali is a good pass rusher, but Peters is used to handling good pass rushers.

Part of the issue is that Peters is working with a dislocated finger on his left hand. The injury happened in the opener against Washington (he left that game briefly) and he aggravated it Thursday against the Chiefs.

With the Eagles off since Thursday, Manning is in catch-up mode. And he doesn’t sound particularly happy about it.

“We’re coming off of a short week – it was nice of the NFL to give Philly [10] days and give us six,” Manning said. “So we’ve got to handle that.”

Kelly was informed of Manning’s comments, and was asked if he had any thoughts in response.

“No,” he said.

Is that a nice edge to have?

“Scheduling,” said Kelly. “When do we go play? If we’ve got to play in a parking lot, we’ll play in a parking lot. We don’t care.”

The Eagles worked out wide receiver David Gettis and linebacker Nathan Williams, a source confirmed.

Gettis (6-3, 217), a sixth-round pick by the Panthers in 2010, had 37 catches for 508 yards and three scores his rookie year. A torn ACL in August of 2011 derailed his sophomore campaign, and he was bothered by an injured hamstring in 2012. He was released with an injury settlement earlier this month after hurting his hamstring again this preseason.

Williams ( 6-3, 240) had 12 sacks and 24 tackles for a loss at Ohio State. He underwent microfracture surgery on his knee in 2011 but was able to play for the Buckeyes in 2012.

Michael Vick only completed 43.3 percent of his passes against the Chiefs on Thursday. The last time he had a completion percentage that low was 2006, when he went 9-of-24 (37.5%) against the Saints.

He made poor decisions with the football at times and too many of his throws were off target.

Chip Kelly, though, seemed to come down harder on the offensive line than he did the quarterback following the 26-16 loss to Kansas City.

The Philadelphia crowd started giving Chiefs cornerback Sean Smith the business as he took a seat on the Lincoln Financial Field grass. Michael Vick‘s 13-yard pass to Riley Cooper midway through the third quarter had brought the Eagles inside the red zone. Smith, in coverage on the play, began grabbing for the back of his leg once Cooper stepped out of bounds before sitting down to wait for his trainers.

“I knew it was coming ,” said Smith, via the Kansas City Star. “Everybody thought I was faking, but I had to get an IV ― I’ve got the proof right here,” he Smith said, pointing to a bandage on the inside of his arm.

“It shows how fast-paced that offense is. It’s crazy, you can’t really practice it. So when you see it for the first time, you don’t really know what to expect.”

This has become a recurring theme through the Eagles’ first three games. A player goes down with cramps, the up-tempo drive runs into a red light, and it’s impossible to know for sure whether everything is on the up-and-up.

Chip Kelly‘s phone went off during the middle of his day-after press conference Friday afternoon.

“Sorry guys, hold on,” he said as he worked to stop the ringing, to no avail. Finally, after a little fumbling, he slid the device into his pocket and returned to taking questions.

“Can’t even get a press conference straight,” he said.

Such is the life of a rookie coach in the midst of his first losing streak.

After an explosive start back on September 9 against Washington, Kelly’s Eagles have crashed back down to Earth. Turnovers, mental errors and defensive breakdowns have all been a part of it.

Kelly’s approach has also come under the microscope in a few instances.

Join Tim and Sheil for a live chat during tonight’s Eagles-Chiefs game.