The Philadelphia Eagles started the 2016 NFL season 3-0. Not only were the Eagles the talk of the NFL, they were the talk of Philadelphia. Much of the talk centered around a pair of rookies. A rookie quarterback in Carson Wentz. A rookie head coach in Doug Pederson. What if the bye week didn't come in week 4, when the offense was rolling in terms of no turnovers overall and no interceptions thrown by Wentz. A team that were NFL leaders in time of possession as well as giveaway/takeaway ratio. Defensively a team that was among the league leaders in sacks. Week 5 in Detroit after victories at home vs. Cleveland, away on Monday Night Football vs. Chicago and back at home vs. Pittsburgh to a tune of 34-3, the team came out sluggish at Ford Field. The team battled back to take a lead in the 4th quarter. The offense had the ball with a chance to run out the clock. A pitch on 3rd down to Ryan Matthews was called. What if it wasn't and the Eagles went to 4-0. Instead it was called and a fumbled happened. The Lions offense cashed in to take the league. Only down 2 with a little over one minute remaining all Philadelphia needed was a game winning field goal. Early in the drive following a few short completion, Wentz went deep to Nelson Aghlor and the rest they say is history. Darius Slay came down with the bomb attempt, Carson Wentz threw his first career interception. Lane Johnson following another performance enhancement test that didn't go in his favor, missed the first of 10 games. What if that suspension didn't happen. The Eagles were forced to re shuffle their offensive line. Redskins Ryan Kerrigan had a career day as well as his pass rushing team mates which resulted in a Washington win. Wentz spend most of the day under siege. What if the Eagles were able to hold onto the lead in Dallas. Some calls by Pederson with the lead eventually allowed Dallas back into the game and ultimately win in overtime. Which helped send the two teams in different directions for the remainder of the season.
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