Eagles Load Up Run Defense With Ndamukong Suh, Linval Joseph

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman watched his team lose one game and decided he wasn't going to mess around.

Following Philadelphia's loss to the Commanders on Sunday, Roseman signed a pair of veteran defensive tackles — 34-year-old Linval Joseph and 35-year-old Ndamukong Suh — on consecutive days this week. The moves are an effort to shore up the Eagles' struggling run defense, which ranks 31st in opponent EPA per rush and 28th in DVOA.

How much Joseph and Suh have left in the tank is unclear, but they should at least be upgrades in rotational roles while rookie Jordan Davis is injured. Joseph, a two-time Pro Bowler with the Vikings, was solid for the Chargers last season. Suh, a five-time All-Pro and member of the 2010s all-decade team, had 37 pressures and six sacks with the Buccaneers last year. He was an impactful player in Tampa's Super Bowl run two seasons ago.

Joseph and Suh were dominant run defenders in their primes. That was a while ago, but both players have tons of experience and will at least be well-rested.

Aggressive moves like this make it clear that Roseman and the Eagles are all in on winning a championship this year, and why wouldn't they be? Even after their first loss of the season, they control their destiny when it comes to being the No. 1 seed in the NFC, thanks to their victory over the Vikings in Week 2. If Philadelphia can get its run defense to be at least average, it would be hard to find any weaknesses on that roster.

Now the question is this: will the Vikings and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah respond with any moves of their own?

The Vikings, like the Eagles, are 8-1 heading into Week 11. They have a clear path to at least be the No. 2 seed in the conference and have plenty of time to make a push for the top seed, which comes with a first-round bye and home field advantage throughout the postseason. They've set themselves up to contend for a title this season, so an argument could be made that they should be looking for any possible way to improve their roster before the playoffs begin.

The issue is that the options for adding an impactful player at this point in the year are slim. The big name still out there is WR Odell Beckham Jr., who makes a lot of sense for the Vikings for a variety of reasons. Minnesota wasn't one of the five teams ESPN's Adam Schefter recently named as contenders to land Beckham, though, and signing him to a multi-year contract could be tricky with the Vikings' cap situation in the coming years.

Still, adding Beckham would give the Vikings another dangerous receiving threat alongside Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, Adam Thielen, and K.J. Osborn.

Outside of Beckham, it's unclear if there are any veteran free agents who could make a difference. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see if Adofo-Mensah responds to the Eagles' latest moves by pursuing Beckham or someone else. If it comes down to these two teams in January, the Vikings will want to be as prepared as possible.

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