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Eagles coach Chip Kelly praises fans for growing home-field advantage

Even before the very first possession, the increasingly loud support of Eagles fans may have influenced Sunday night's 27-0 whooping of the New York Giants.

Even before the very first possession, the increasingly loud support of Eagles fans may have influenced Sunday night's 27-0 whooping of the New York Giants.

Head coach Chip Kelly did a fair share of joking during his weekly Monday morning interview on SportsRadio 94 WIP. He apologized for ruining host Angelo Cataldi's week with a win that left nothing to complain about. Kelly joked that during the bye week, "I'm going to take a long walk by a pond and think about what transpired." He denied being happy late in the game: "Nah, I was just tired. It was really late."

He also joked that Flyers head coach Craig Berube, who was at the game, would "probably punch me" if Kelly tried to give the hockey team a pep talk. Kelly, noting the Flyers had a big game Tuesday night, said he'd "watch a little hockey" -- which Keith Jones, cohost and ex-Flyer, took as meaning Kelly would attend the game.

Kelly wasn't kidding, however, about the power of the crowd.

"I'll tell you what, one thing our team loves is playing at home," Kelly said. "We started out last year not very good at home. But winning eight straight there's a direct result of what type of atmosphere our people have created at the Linc."

Clearly, during the the game, crowd noise created problems for quarterback Eli Manning in calling out signals his offensive teammates could hear, broadcasters and reporters have widely noted.

Stadium renovations, which added 1,600 seats before the season, have been credited with helping amplify the hooping and hollering.

"It seems like it's building," Kelly said of the value of the so-called "12th man" at the Linc. "A credit to them. It was an electric atmosphere last night."

No statement was being made by taking the ball first, he said.

"I felt like, with the crowd, kind of the juice that was going on there, I just wanted to capitalize on hopefully being able to get off to a fast start," Kelly said.

Another factor in beginning with the ball was that he thought the team had a great week of training (what you talking about, practice?), which "always" translates into good play in the following game, he said.

Kelly also said the improvement on the defense was more a result of players improving than any change in scheme, and he praised the play of lineback Connor Barwin and center Dave Molk, in response to specific questions.

Kelly said he was hopeful about the condition of Darren Sproules but was awaiting medical reports about the running back's knee.

A podcast of the Chip Kelly interview can be heard here.

Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com. Follow @petemucha on Twitter.