To say that the match between the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams got off to a torrid start would be a gross understatement. LA got the ball first and tore down the field on a drive punctuated by a 15-yard Matthew Stafford scramble, clearly his longest of the current NFL season.

Darius Slay and Reed Blankenship were injured and lost on the next play, another long winner for the Rams. Blame it on friendly fire for that.

They were replaced by Isaiah Rodgers and Tristin McCollum. They would return, but Isaiah certainly made his mark, forcing a fumble. Unfortunately, the officials almost killed the call.

So here is the rule (as written as explained by a rules expert during the Eagles vs. Rams broadcast). Even if the on-field officials miss a team’s head coach throwing the challenge flag, replay assistance can fall by the wayside by saying, play must be stopped. It also appears that it doesn’t matter that another offensive play is called.

Proof of this is what we saw while watching the end of the Rams’ first offense on Sunday Night Football. The referees in this one missed a clear fumble. Nick Sirianni threw the red flag in the nick of time and somewhere in there called out his assistant coaches for not advising him to challenge the game quickly enough.

We know that’s a lot. The moral of the story is that the Birds have the ball. The officials ultimately got the call correct, and the performance in the NFL is still terrible.

The Eagles are in an early dogfight on the road.