Win or lose, the Eagles' season will reach its conclusion on Sunday, but one might be tempted to wonder whether that's the way things had to be. After all, six of their nine defeats were by a touchdown or less. Three of those ended on potential game-winning drives come up just short, and two more were blown fourth-quarter leads.
You might say it was a year of "what ifs" for the Eagles. One or two bounces of the football go their way in any of a handful of their losses, and the outcome could've been different.
Only the Eagles' fate goes beyond simple bad luck though. They may not have gotten some of those bounces as a consequence of decisions that were made in the offseason, and not simply because of the way a bunch of random events unfolded. If you absolutely must ask "what if," try starting in August and work your way back.
What if Lane Johnson wasn't suspended for 10 games?
Easy one. The Eagles have a 4-1 record with Lane Johnson this season and a 2-8 record without, and while that's not all the result of one right tackle, there's no denying the absence hurt. Look no further than the two meetings with Washington for examples.
In Week 6, Johnson's first game out, fifth-round draft pick Halapoulivaati Vaitai wound up being thrown to the wolves - aka Pro Bowl outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan - in his first NFL start. That ended predictably, with Vaitai being taken advantage of for much of the game and especially the first half. He eventually settled down and the Eagles offense improved as the contest went on, but not enough to threaten Washington's eventual 27-20 victory.
Then just a few weeks ago, the Eagles were driving for the game-winning touchdown in the final minute of the rematch, moving the ball all the way down to Washington's 14-yard line with 21 seconds remaining. Injuries had the offense down to their fourth right tackle, Matt Tobin, who also just got hurt it turned out, and wound up getting quarterback Carson Wentz strip-sacked by Redskins outside linebacker Trent Murphy to stop the rally.
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Obviously, Johnson could've got hurt too, though he has yet to miss a game in the NFL due to injury. Regardless, that's not what happens. He got in trouble for taking some supplement he should've avoided, and it had a very clear impact on the rest of the Eagles' season.
What if the Eagles didn't trade both Byron Maxwell and Eric Rowe?
Coming off an up-and-down 2015 campaign after signing an expensive free-agent contract, most people were thrilled when the Eagles packaged Byron Maxwell to the Miami Dolphins to move up five spots in the draft. Actually, it didn't much matter what the return in the trade was. They were thrilled to see his contract go, period.
Was Maxwell overpaid? A little bit, yes - a symptom of signing high-profile free agents. He wasn't nearly as bad as the reputation he got from Eagles fans though, and based on what he did in Miami this season, certainly would've been an upgrade over anything this defense had.
The Eagles dealt Eric Rowe to the New England Patriots, too, mostly because defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz didn't like him for some reason. And again, while Rowe was hurt for most of the year, it's hard to imagine he would've done any worse than the trio of Leodis McKelvin, Nolan Carroll and Jalen Mills this season.
According to Pro Football Focus, Maxwell ranks 11th out of 79 qualifying cornerbacks in opponents' passer rating, limiting quarterbacks to an inefficient 71.6 when targeted. If that statistic is expanded to cover corners who only played 25 percent of their team's snaps (again, Rowe has been injured), Rowe ranks fifth with a 57.9.
We could go back and look at any number of games where having a decent cornerback tandem, or even just one of the two, would've helped. And before anybody says the Eagles needed the Dolphins' pick to trade for Wentz, the Rams went from 15 to 1 in the draft order, so I'm sure the Eagles could've gone from 13 to 2.
What if the Eagles never traded up for Carson Wentz?
Count me among the many who are on the Wentz Wagon. I thought he was the best quarterback in the draft before the Eagles went up to go get him, and nothing I've seen in 2016 has dissuaded me from that. The North Dakota State product looks like the complete package, and what flaws he has exhibited would probably begin to disappear with an improved supporting cast.
That being said, what if instead of investing all of that capital into moving up to second overall - players and draft picks - the Eagles decided to roll with Sam Bradford at quarterback and improve the rest of the roster? What if they stayed at No. 13 or even No. 8 and simply made their selection?
It's tempting to look at Bradford's body of work and the Minnesota Vikings' 6-8 record and conclude he still isn't a franchise quarterback, but his numbers in an offense decimated by injuries were the best of his career. His 71.3 completion percentage leads the NFL, he's thrown 17 touchdown passes to only four interceptions, and his passer rating of 71.3 ranks seventh.
Would the Eagles have won more games with Bradford than with Wentz? Probably not. But would they have one more games with Bradford and another wide receiver, such as Corey Coleman or Will Fuller? Would they be significantly worse off for the future had they passed on Wentz and selected Dak Prescott later? There's no way to tell, but it's at least interesting to consider.
What if the Eagles traded up and drafted Ezekiel Elliott?
Again, I like Wentz and believe he the opportunity to be a transcendent talent in the NFL in the not-so-distant future. Yet it's impossible to look at what Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has been able to do in his rookie season and argue he isn't a transcendent talent right now.
Elliott already has 1,631 yards rushing in 2016 with a 5.1 average per carry and 15 touchdowns on the ground. He's tacked on another 32 catches, 363 yards and score through the air. The kid is every bit as special as people thought he would be - the second coming of Vikings All-Pro Adrian Peterson, if you will.
Now imagine if he were an Eagles uniform. Yes, they would've needed to trade up ahead of the Cowboys like they did for Wentz, which would've been an extremely uncommon move that surely would've been panned by fans and critics alike. And, yes, Elliott is running behind a stud offensive line in Dallas, although the Eagles' line with Johnson isn't a bad unit, either. Put any questions you have aside.
How much better would the Eagles be with Elliott right now?
Who knows how many more wins the Eagles might have if they were feeding Elliott. If nothing else, it might've had the not-entirely-intended impact of crippling the Cowboys this season, especially if they drafted Prescott as Bradford insurance, too. Somewhere in a parallel universe, the Elliott/Prescott-led Eagles are probably sitting at 13-2 right now and preparing to mount an improbable Super Bowl run.
What if the Eagles hired somebody other than Doug Pederson as head coach?
Once more, this is not to say Doug Pederson won't make a fine head coach. His offense works and his players believe in him.
That being said, Pederson did seem in over his head at times. He made baffling decisions at times, such as opting to punt instead of kick a 53-yard field goal in Dallas, which wound up giving the Cowboys the chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter and sibsequently win in overtime. Then there was just his general handling of a rookie quarterback, asking him to wing the ball all over the place instead of leaning on the ground attack, which resulted in numerous, costly first-quarter interceptions.
Meanwhile, you look at what Adam Gase has done with the Dolphins, who at 10-5 are heading to the playoffs. There was word the Eagles were interested in Gase, but for whatever reason, talks never got serious and Miami made quite possibly the hire of the year. Since getting off to a 1-4 start, the team has gone 9-1.
There's no question Pederson cost the Eagles at least a couple wins during the first half of the year, either because of a terrible decision or not-so-great game plan. He didn't exactly come in with the reputation for being an offensive genius like Gase would have, either. None of which is to say Pederson won't wind up being the right coach for this team, but it's hard to ignore what might've been had the franchise taken a few different directions.
