By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Way back in January, when the Eagles hired Doug Pederson to be the next head coach, you would have probably thought it was pure insanity to believe the Eagles could start the season 3-0.
But here we are, three weeks into the season and the Eagles have three wins.
Is it a surprise? Certainly to Eagles fans, who are riding a wave of excitement. But to Doug Pederson, not so much.
"I told the team way back in OTAs that it just takes a little bit of belief," Pederson said. "Belief in the themselves, trust the process, believe in the coaches, the coaches believe in one another and that's what they did tonight. Am I surprised? A little, but at the same time I know that locker, I know those guys and I know what they're building."
A big reason for the Eagles early season success has been the promotion of Carson Wentz, who took over as the starting quarterback eight days before the season opener. Wentz is now off to the best start in NFL history for a rookie quarterback. Pederson credits the rookie's preparation, with help from those around him like Frank Reich, John DeFilippo and Chase Daniel, as a primary reason.
"When you've prepared so much as a player, particularly at the quarterback position, and the game can slow down for you, good things can happen. He continues to make plays, he continues to protect the football, he protected himself tonight. Everything right now is going in the right direction."
Once again, the Eagles defense put on an excellent display. Holding one of the NFL's best offensive teams in the first two weeks to just three points while creating two turnovers is certainly making a statement. For Pederson, the amount of success they have had is a credit to a four-man pass rush leaving extra bodies to play in coverage.
"When you can put pressure with four, it leaves you with seven to defend and cover," Pederson said "Antonio [Brown]'s a great receiver and he got his catches and yards, but the best thing was that we kept him out of the endzone. To keep our defensive line fresh and rotate those guys and get after Ben [Roethlisberger] like that, it's huge because it allows those seven defenders in the back to play sound defense."
Even with a 3-0 start, the Eagles and Pederson aren't looking too far ahead. The team enters a bye week where rest is crucial before hitting the road for four of their next five games. Pederson said that this early in the season, it's important to keep the belief high.
"It's still a young season, only three games. This was a good benchmark," Pederson said. "The Steelers are a good football team. They're going to be there at the end. But for our guys, it's a little glimpse of that belief I've been talking to them about all spring and summer. If we just do our jobs, then I do feel like good things can happen.
"By no means have we accomplished anything yet. The season's still extremely young. But what they did tonight just proves that they're coming together as a football team."
