INDIANAPOLIS − There is a lot at stake when the Eagles take on the Indianapolis Colts, starting with the Eagles trying to recover from their first loss of the season.
There’s a sentimental side to it, too, or perhaps a revenge factor for head coach Nick Sirianni.
But first, the Eagles’ two newest defensive tackles, Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph, will make their debuts during the game.
Joseph, 34, was signed Wednesday and went through two practices. Suh, 35, was signed a day later, and went through one practice. Neither had played for a team this season.
The Eagles will need them against Colts’ running back Jonathan Taylor, the NFL’s leading rusher last season. The Eagles have allowed an average of 160 yards per game on the ground the last two games without rookie Jordan Davis, who’s on injured reserve with an ankle injury.
For the Eagles, head coach Nick Sirianni served as the Colts’ offensive coordinator from 2018 until 2020, before taking the Eagles job. He worked for head coach Frank Reich, who was fired two weeks ago after the Colts got off to a 2-5-1 start. Reich was replaced by Jeff Saturday, a longtime Colts offensive who only had high school coaching experience and was serving as an ESPN analyst when he was hired.
The Colts won their first game under Saturday last Sunday.
While Sirianni didn’t go into his true feelings, he made it obvious how he felt when he said: “You know how I feel about Frank.”
Joseph, Suh used early
Joseph was on the field for the first two snaps of the game. And not surprisingly, the Colts didn’t have much success on the ground, gaining 4 yards. Joseph even made the tackle on the first play.
But Joseph came out on third down, a passing down, and Matt Ryan completed a pass to Michael Pittman for a first down. Then Jonathan Taylor gained 28 yards and 9 yards with Joseph on the sideline, taking the ball to the Eagles’ 10 yard line.
Joseph came back into the game at that point. Suh was in as well. But the Colts scored for an early lead.
The Colts had 50 yards rushing on that opening drive, but the majority of those yards came with Joseph on the sideline.
Eagles, Colts inactives
The Eagles listed QB Ian Book, CB Josh Jobe, RB Trey Sermon, G Josh Sills and G Sua Opeta as inactive. As for the Colts, both Pryor and Foles are among the inactives.
3 things to watch
- Watching the new guys: It’ll be interesting to see how much, or if, Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh end up playing. Neither have been on a team this season. Joseph went through two full practices and Suh went through one. Sirianni wouldn’t detail his plans for the two defensive tackles before the game. “One, there’s a little bit of an unknown,” Sirianni said. “And two, I don’t want the Colts to know anything.”
- Life without Goedert: We’ll get our first glance at how the Eagles plan to overcome the loss of star tight end Dallas Goedert, who was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. Certainly, the remaining three tight ends in Jack Stoll, Grant Calcaterra and Tyree Jackson will get more opportunities. But the wide receivers and running backs will have to make up for Goedert’s absence, too.
- Rebounding from a loss: For the first time this season, the Eagles will have to recover from a loss. Throughout the week, there hasn’t been much panic after the Monday night loss to Washington. Rather, there has been a determination to correct the mistakes. It doesn’t take much to realize the four turnovers on offense − one more than the Eagles had through the first eight games − and the run defense were the main culprits.
Prediction: Eagles 27, Colts 23.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
