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Our Philadelphia Eagles writers Zach Berman and Bo Wulf preview Sunday’s matchup against the Indianapolis Colts.

Wulf: Zach, big news week here at the NovaCare Complex, so let’s do things a little differently. Before we get into Sunday’s matchup against the Colts, let’s discuss the two defensive line signings the Eagles made this week. First came Linval Joseph, the 34-year-old who is here to fill in as a nose tackle while Jordan Davis (and now Marlon Tuipulotu) is out.

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“I’ve been training for this moment and it all comes down to the playbook,” Joseph told reporters Thursday. “There’s just different names and calls for stuff. My 13th year, I’ve been a part of every defense they have in the NFL. Now it’s just mastering the calls and being able to do it effectively.”

Joseph explained that he was recovering from elbow and shoulder cleanout surgeries this offseason and was 100 percent around the beginning of training camp, “so I had an extra couple months to get extra strong. This is the best I’ve felt in three years.” Conditioning-wise, he said, he’s more worried about being football sore for the first time next week than he is about making it through a game. He’s keenly aware of the role he’ll be expected to play as a gap filler.

“Being an unselfish guy and being a team guy is what got me here,” he said.

Joseph’s addition made plenty of logical sense as a like-for-like replacement. The eye-popper that followed might seem like a bit more of a luxury. That’s Ndamukong Suh, the 35-year-old former college teammate of Alex Henery who agreed to terms Thursday and practiced with the Eagles on Friday. Suh was a menace against Philadelphia in the playoffs in January and was reportedly waiting for the right opportunity to come along.

“Oh, he got a lot left,” said Darius Slay, who remains close with Suh from their time together in Detroit. “Suh just be chillin’. He rich as hell.”

He’s not joining the Eagles for the money, in other words. All of this has made for a rapid makeover of Philadelphia’s defensive front. Let me fire off a few questions for you.

• Why do you think Howie Roseman was so aggressive in adding both players? Should he have been more proactive in securing interior defensive line depth, or did he always know this fallback option existed?

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• How do you expect the rotation to play out, from a short- and medium-term perspective?

• Are you concerned at all about playing time/ego management with such a suddenly crowded, veteran group?

• Which of the two is the more impactful addition?

• What does it say about the top-down confidence in the defense that these moves were deemed necessary?

• Are you getting any faint whiff of Dream Team here?

Berman: Bo, busy week and great questions. Let’s tackle them one by one, then I’m curious what you think on these.

Why do you think Howie Roseman was so aggressive in adding both players? Should he have been more proactive in securing interior defensive line depth, or did he always know this fallback option existed? 

Because, as the saying goes, opportunity is not a lengthy visitor. The Eagles have a legitimate chance to win it all this season, and this is a way to fortify the roster with experienced players who can fill key roles on the defensive line. Joseph and Suh should be viewed as supplemental players. Even with their history as front liners — Suh in particular — it seems clear through public comments that they’re signing up to contribute to a contending team.

“Championships is what keeps me going,” Suh said. “I have an opportunity to play for one with a team that’s done an amazing job thus far. I feel I can come and help. But I first have to get acclimated and go from there.”

Whether Roseman should have been more proactive is probably more of a question of timing than of player, because it’s hard to think they would have found better options on the trade market than what Suh and Joseph could (theoretically) provide. The timing was likely necessitated by the recent injuries and spurred by the struggles against the run, but it never hurts to have quality depth on the defensive line in a January game. Would it have been helpful to make these signings after the Thursday game versus Houston? Perhaps. There was more practice time and you’d have the veterans for one more game. But realistically, I look at these moves as being about winning games in January more than winning in the next few weeks.

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That’s what I keep coming back to with this: These are moves made because the Eagles believe they’re legitimate contenders.

How do you expect the rotation to play out, from a short- and medium-term perspective? 

My guess is Joseph fills in for Davis in the short term, taking about 20-30 percent of the snaps. That could be ambitious, especially early on, but he’s a pro who has played this role. He’ll be the nose tackle in odd-man fronts. When Davis gets back, defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s creativity will be tested. But it’s better to have two quality nose tackles than scrambling to find one.

I’d be more surprised if Suh plays this week given he just arrived Friday. If and when he does play, my guess is he’s used similarly to Fletcher Cox and he’s part of that rotation at defensive tackle. I’m assuming he’s paired with Milton Williams in even fronts and mixes in on odd fronts. Much depends on how Suh looks when he gets on the field, but the Eagles will have options to mix and match. Perhaps they get him on the field with Cox, something I’m sure would excite Jim Schwartz.

Are you concerned at all about playing time/ego management with such a suddenly crowded, veteran group? 

This is something to monitor. On one hand, you have veterans who want to win and have achieved individual accolades. On the other hand, you have players who are used to being on the field in money situations. How will they react when they’re on the sideline during a critical fourth-quarter drive in January? Or, better asked, how will Cox or Javon Hargrave react to ceding playing time in those situations, if that’s how it bears out?

“You just go through and you’re making sure that the guys are getting the reps that they need,” Nick Sirianni said. “The good thing right now is with the guys that we have right now, we’re a little thin on it. So, we don’t have to worry about that right now. … That’s not in the thought process at this particular point, and we’ll manage that when we need to manage that.”

I can’t say this will be a problem. I’m simply saying that it’s important to always recognize the human dynamics within a locker room; they’re not Madden players rotating on the depth chart.

Which of the two is the more impactful addition? 

Short term, I’ll go with Joseph. The Eagles need a Davis replacement and that’s what Joseph provides. Overall, I’d still go with Suh. I think his ability to be disruptive against the run and affect the quarterback will be critical while the Eagles manage the snaps of Cox and Hargrave. I don’t want to sound like Cris Collinsworth saying Golden Tate was officially worth it when he caught the touchdown in the playoffs, but in a similar vein, if Suh penetrates the pocket and sacks Kirk Cousins on a critical third down in the postseason, Roseman will be pumping his fist in his box.

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What does it say about the top-down confidence in the defense that these moves were deemed necessary? 

It says to me they were honest about their deficiencies and are readying for a run. I know there’s a school of thought that this is an overreaction to the Washington game, but I look at this as a coaching staff and front office that realized their personnel, their scheme and their potential. It would be irresponsible for them to be hard-headed or shortsighted and ignore potential reinforcements when there are options available. So I suppose I could answer this as saying they saw leaks that compromised their confidence, but I think it’s better to frame it that they were honest about their personnel. That, to me, is a good sign.

Are you getting any faint whiff of Dream Team here? 

I can see the comparison, but I think you have to be looking for that smell to find it. I think the Dream Team changes were more widespread (starters at key positions), and there were weird conditions at play (such as the lockout-shortened training camp) that made it fundamentally different than essentially adding two reserve defensive tackles who are potentially playing the final season of their careers. If there are residual effects of core players in the locker room, then there could be cause for concern.

This is around the time Philadelphia signed Dannell Ellerbe and Will Beatty in 2017. It’s not apples for apples because Suh and Joseph have bigger names and presumably bigger roles, but the comparison is there’s a reason the Eagles are targeting veteran players with winning experience. If they’re chasing a name, it’s bad. If they’re chasing a profile, it makes more sense.

Where do you stand on these? Also, I wrote about compensating for Dallas Goedert’s absence earlier this week. How do you think the Eagles go about it?

Projected lineups

Wulf: I think I agree with pretty much everything you covered. Maybe it would have made sense to have a veteran backup nose tackle on the roster before, but Tuipulotu was here and Davis played so few snaps it’s not like there was a reason to spell him. Knowing Joseph was there to be signed off the street was a reasonable Plan B. My expectations about playing time are the same — they probably need Joseph to play this week and I’d be surprised if Suh does. Once Davis returns, Joseph will probably be limited to a handful of snaps. Speaking of which, I did not get the sense these signings portended anything negative about Davis’ recovery timetable.

The only Dream Team sensors being triggered in my mind have to do with what you said about this being a locker room with real people, not a Madden simulation. Everything here makes sense on paper, but we don’t really know how Cox will react to being pulled off the field in the fourth quarter of a close game, or how he’ll handle not being the most decorated player at his position on the team. Hargrave is in a contract year — he’s going to want his snaps, too. The only thing the Eagles can do in these situations is vet the players and trust their locker room culture. They bet on the latter in trading for C.J. Gardner-Johnson, which has worked out so far. Suh said Cox was one of the players agitating for his signing, so we know he’s on board for now. And there are people in the building familiar with both new additions (Gannon, among others, was with Joseph in Minnesota; Suh name-dropped Ted Rath, the Eagles’ director of sports performance, as someone he’s worked with at three different stops).

Lastly, I think every defense needs good players to be great. I also think it’s a little disappointing that the absence of one player can so totally affect their performance, although we can also make the case Avonte Maddox’s loss was felt more acutely versus Washington. Either way, it’s not like the Eagles have sacrificed any future assets to bring these guys in, as they did for Robert Quinn, who has yet to make an impact.

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As for Goedert, you wrote about how the Eagles are likely to replace him. I’m interested to see how this plays out. There’s a path where this means a lot more Zach Pascal on the field in 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end) because his blocking ability makes them less predictable. I also think there’s a path where they lean the other way and play more 12 personnel, trusting that A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith can win on the outside, while it takes Jack Stoll and, probably, Grant Calcaterra to do the job of one Goedert. Especially if they want to pound the running game, that might be what we see. There’s no doubt the ceiling is not the same without Goedert, but it should still be a top-10-level offense. I also think we might see Jalen Hurts run more without Goedert, under the adage, “If you can’t block him, read him.”

Spinning it to Sunday’s game, we covered the Colts’ side of things with Zak Keefer on Birds with Friends this week and we’ve been lengthy already, so let’s keep it short. Give me one matchup you’re watching and your prediction.

Projected lineups

Berman: The matchup that most intrigues me is not around players, but around downs. The Eagles’ third-down defense was a problem versus Washington. The Commanders converted 12 of 21 third downs. Washington’s 12 conversions were tied for the most by any team this season. A big reason was because of the number of times the Commanders reached third-and-short; the average distance to go was 4.6 yards — the lowest for any opponent the Eagles faced this season — and they had six third downs with 1 yard to go and five with 2-3 yards to go.

The Colts rank No. 24 in the NFL in third-down offense with a 37.3 percent conversion rate, but they converted 54.5 percent of their third downs in Jeff Saturday’s first game — the second-best performance of their season. It shouldn’t be a surprise that their two highest-scoring outputs are their two best third-down performances.

Simply said, the Eagles must do a better job of getting the Colts into known passing situations on third downs, allowing the edge rushers to pressure Matt Ryan and Gannon to trust his cornerbacks. If this game becomes handing the ball to Jonathan Taylor on third-and-2, it’s a bad outcome for Philadelphia.

“When you’re playing a game in third-and-short all day and it’s not known pass on third down, it’s a hard way to go for us,” Gannon said. “We don’t want to play like that, and we know that, and we have to get cleaned up.”

On to my prediction …

The Colts are a tougher team than perception this season may indicate. You think of a team that fired its coach and benched its quarterback, and you don’t expect it to be 4-5-1 with some of the talent the Colts possess.

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However, Indianapolis has scored more than 20 points just twice this season. It will be a challenge for the Eagles to stymie Taylor, but the addition of Joseph should help the run defense if he’s ready to play, and my guess is Gannon knows what’s coming. I don’t think the Eagles needed a wake-up call, but I expect a prepared team traveling to Indianapolis. The Colts will quickly realize this is not the Raiders’ defense.

Look for the Eagles to move the ball effectively against Gus Bradley’s defense, showing a patient approach to feed Brown and Smith and sustain long drives. It won’t surprise me if Pascal has his best game of the season. And they won’t turn the ball over three times.

The Eagles get back in the win column and Thanksgiving tables in the Delaware Valley are happier places. Eagles 24, Colts 16

Wulf: I want to see the Eagles impose their will in the running game against a good run defense. Indianapolis comes in ranked fifth in defensive rushing DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average), allowing just 3.8 yards per carry, the second-best mark in the league. Because of the game script, the Eagles got away from their running game against Washington and it would stand to reason they’d like to avoid doing that again. Remember, last year’s trip to Las Vegas was supposed to be the switch flipped for when the Eagles became run-heavy, but it had to wait a week because that game got away from them. That was a Bradley defense, which it will be again. If the Eagles are dared to maintain long drives down the field, I think they can handle that challenge. They have taken pride in running the ball on highly ranked run defenses before, and with Brown and Smith both carrying minor injuries, this might be a game to ride Miles Sanders and Hurts’ legs.

I’ve sort of changed my mind about this game as the week went on. Earlier, I thought the Eagles would bounce back with an easy victory as Sirianni would use his spite over the Frank Reich firing to really push the envelope. This is the team’s first real test at handling adversity, which I think they’ll ace from an intensity standpoint. There are just enough moving parts that I think it’ll be a little more difficult than they’d like. It’s a slog of a game and the Colts get the ball at the end with a chance to tie it before Williams, the forgotten man in the suddenly star-heavy defensive line room, comes up with a strip-sack to ice the victory. Eagles 24, Colts 16

P.S. Embarrassing that we picked the same score. We need to spend more time with other people.

(Top photo: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)

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