Insider: 28 things to watch in Colts-Eagles

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis interim coach Jeff Saturday picked up a win over a disappointing Raiders team in his debut.

The test gets much tougher this week.

The Colts return from two weeks on the road to host a Philadelphia Eagles team that has the NFL’s best record at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in a game televised on WTTV-4.

Philadelphia (8-1) is coming off of its first loss of the season, a close loss at the hands of Washington, and Indianapolis (4-5-1) is trying to stay on the outskirts of the AFC playoff race.

Jonathan Taylor vs. the Eagles run defense

1. The Colts unleashed the real Jonathan Taylor last week, piling up 147 yards against the Raiders, and Indianapolis needs to get Taylor going against Philadelphia if the Colts want a shot at the upset. The Eagles have been the NFL’s best pass defense this season, but they have also been one of the league’s worst run defenses.

2. Indianapolis needs to stick with the running game even if Taylor doesn’t hit another home run. Washington averaged only 3.1 yards per carry in the win over the Eagles last week, but the Commanders still pounded it on the ground 49 times, earning a bunch of third-and-shorts that made for easy conversions. Washington converted 12 of 21 third downs last week.

3. Philadelphia lost rookie nose tackle Jordan Davis to an ankle injury at the beginning of November, and Marlon Tuipulotu this week, but the Colts’ interior trio of Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly and new right guard Will Fries still has their hands full. Eagles starters Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave are both excellent; Hargrave leads the Eagles with seven sacks, and Cox has added 3.5.

4. The Colts piled up 207 rushing yards against a solid Las Vegas run defense, and now they get to unleash Taylor on an Eagles run defense that has given up more than 100 yards in six of its nine games.

The Colts passing game vs. the Eagles' pass defense

5. By the same token, Indianapolis needs to stay out of obvious passing situations, and likely minimize the passing game altogether. Philadelphia’s defense ranks first in the NFL in passing DVOA, tied for first in interceptions (13), second in yards per attempt (just 5.0) and fifth in sacks per attempt.

6. Philadelphia is exactly the kind of pass rush that Colts general manager Chris Ballard has always talked about building. The Eagles are incredibly deep. Philadelphia has five players with more than three sacks, and four edge rushers — Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham and Robert Quinn — who have been front-line pass rushers. Reddick is second behind Hargrave with 6.5 sacks, but just about everybody on the Eagles line can get after the passer.

7. Rookie left tackle Bernhard Raimann has been coming on the past couple of weeks, but he’s still plagued by bouts of inconsistency, and the Eagles have the edge rushers to take advantage.

8. Back in the lineup for the first time in two weeks, Colts starting quarterback Matt Ryan avoided a turnover against the Raiders, but the Eagles are going to be a much tougher test. Philadelphia, like the Patriots, have turned their pass rush into turnovers, tying for the league lead in interceptions. Safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson leads the NFL with six interceptions, and the Eagles’ pair of starting cornerbacks, Darius Slay and James Bradberry, have three apiece.

9. Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. has never backed down from a challenge, and he’s going to have to keep his calm against Gardner-Johnson, one of the league’s best antagonists. Gardner-Johnson is out there trying to start something, and he’ll likely be in Pittman Jr.’s vicinity quite a bit.

10. The Slay-Bradberry tandem has been so good that Ryan might need to focus on slot receiver Parris Campbell and tight end Kylen Granson, two players who have been coming into their own lately. Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce have tough matchups on the outside. Indianapolis

11. Philadelphia just doesn’t give up passing yardage. The Eagles haven’t allowed an opposing quarterback to throw for more than 250 yards this season, and they’ve held opponents to 200 passing yards or fewer in five of their last six games.

12. Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards is a playmaker. Edwards is sixth in the NFL with 86 tackles, has two sacks, five tackles-for-loss and five passes defended, and he’s always around the football.

13. Colts right tackle Braden Smith was held out of practice with a minor back injury Friday, and if he’s not able to go, Indianapolis might go with Matt Pryor, who’s been benched out of three starting spots this season. Veteran Dennis Kelly is available, but Pryor went into the Raiders game when Smith left briefly last week.

14. Kickoff return man Isaiah Rodgers might have some opportunities, as long as he’s healthy after dealing with an illness late in the week. Philadelphia has given up 24.4 yards per kick return, 28th in the NFL.

How much will the Colts miss Kwity Paye?

15. An edge rush problem might be brewing for the Colts, who lost Tyquan Lewis for the season three weeks ago and won’t have Kwity Paye due to an ankle injury. When Paye hasn’t been in the lineup, Indianapolis has struggled to get a consistent pass rush, and the Eagles have two excellent tackles in Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson.

16. DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart have been dominant inside, but the Eagles are uniquely positioned to make life difficult on those two. The presence of Mailata and Johnson likely means Philadelphia can focus on double-teaming Buckner on passing downs, and the mobility of Jalen Hurts pushes the Eagles running game to the outside, away from the black hole Stewart has created in the middle.

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17. Yannick Ngakoue ranks second on the Colts with five sacks, but he hasn’t provided the consistent presence off the edge that Indianapolis needs to take attention away from Buckner.

18. Hurts can get himself out of a lot of trouble, but he can also get himself into trouble. The Eagles have given up 23 sacks this season, and they’ve given up three or more sacks in five different games.

19. Hurts has been both remarkably efficient and explosive in the passing game for Philadelphia this season. The third-year quarterback is completing 67.9% of his passes and averaging 8.4 yards per attempt, second-best in the NFL behind Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

20. Colts cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore and Isaiah Rodgers are playing excellent football, but they’ll be tested by former Titans receiver A.J. Brown, who’s helped unlock the big-play element of the Philadelphia offense. Brown has 44 catches for 725 yards and six touchdowns this season, averaging 16.5 yards per attempt.

21. DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia’s other starting receiver, has been more of a possession target this season, but he’s been a good one, and he’s got the speed and skill to create problems downfield if the Colts don’t pay attention.

22. Philadelphia’s offense is dealing with a difficult loss this week. Tight end Dallas Goedert suffered a shoulder injury after the Washington game; Goedert had been deadly over the middle of the field. Goedert has 43 catches for 544 yards and three touchdowns, and Philadelphia will have to count on Jack Stoll, a former undrafted free agent who has just four catches this season.

23. With Stewart at the point, the Indianapolis run defense is second in the league in yards per carry allowed, but Philadelphia will likely stick with the run even if the Colts are making it difficult, and Hurts is a different kind of running test than most of the quarterbacks Indianapolis has faced this season. Hurts has 94 carries for 354 yards this season, and although he’s averaging just 3.8 yards per carry, and he leads the Eagles with seven touchdowns.

24. Philadelphia running back Miles Sanders is averaging 5.0 yards per carry, and if the Eagles have watched tape of the Colts defense without Paye, Philadelphia will likely attack the edges of the defense, trying to stay away from Buckner.

25. Indianapolis has picked off just four passes this season, and Hurts doesn’t put the ball in jeopardy often. The Eagles quarterback has thrown just three interceptions this season.

26. Outside of a fluky, four-turnover performance against Washington on Monday night, the Eagles have been better at protecting the football than any other team this season. Philadelphia has turned it over just seven times, and a Colts defense that doesn’t have Shaquille Leonard has just nine takeaways, tied for 25th in the NFL.

27. When the Eagles get into the red zone, they score. Philadelphia’s third in the NFL in the red zone, converting touchdowns 72.7% of the time, and fourth in the NFL in goal-to-go, scoring 89.4% of the time. The Indianapolis defense ranks 21st and 23rd in those categories this season.

28. Third downs are going to be a battle. Philadelphia’s offense is fourth in the NFL on third down, and the Colts defense has been the third-best defense in the NFL on that down, limiting teams to just 33.3% conversions on the NFL’s money downs.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts vs. Eagles: 28 things to watch