“We weathered the storm,” Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson. “It’s not the way the offense wanted to play. We came out slow, didn’t execute. I’m just glad we battled. Not every game is going to be perfect. Not every game is going to look good.”
By Michael Bennett
In the wake of the Eagles’ 33-10 waxing of the Niners yesterday at the rain-soaked Linc, the question raised by Johnson is on the lips of Birds Nation:
What the hell happened to the offense?
Quarterback Carson Wentz was sacked just three times, but he was hit seven times and hurried plenty more. His 211 yards passing and 84.2 passer rating were both the second-lowest totals in each category he’s had in a game this season. Wentz completed 56 percent of his passes, a shade under his 61.6 percent average entering Sunday.
San Francisco sent pressure and delayed blitzes at Wentz and disrupted his timing. There were times when Wentz left the pocket on designed roll outs to get more time to throw.
“We’re seeing blitz quite a bit,” coach Doug Pederson said. “I think we’re probably the number one team, offensively, that’s being blitzed in the NFL right now. Teams are just coming after us, I think, to probably put pressure on Carson. We’ll continue to see it and we’ll continue to work at it.”
Entering Sunday, only Seattle’s Russell Wilson had been hit more than Wentz so far this season.
“We just got to be able to handle it better,” center Jason Kelce said of the pressure. “It’s always good when you’re making mistakes and still winning.”
But without the All-Pro Jason Peters, how long can the line sustain the pressure and keep on winning?
Vaitai was solid in pass protection, though one of the three sacks on Wentz was directly his fault.
“He’s settling in,” Johnson said of Vaitai. “Let’s face it, man, nobody can be Jason Peters. He’s arguably one of the best of all time. (Vaitai) is not trying to fill his shoes. He’s trying to be Big V. Moving forward he’s just going to get better and better.”
Vaitai said he’s still trying to get the mechanics and technique down on the left side.
“I tend to overlook things and I start thinking a lot,” Vaitai said. “I just need to go out there and just calm down, like (Peters) says all the time.”
Next Sunday the Eagles host the Denver Broncos and their highly-respected defensive unit. And after a bye week comes a trip to Dallas before games against Chicago, Seattle and the Los Angeles Rams, all of whom are capable of getting to the quarterback.
So while much of the locker room was in good spirits Sunday afternoon, Johnson knows what’s ahead and the work that needs to be done.
“Anytime you don’t protect well or things aren’t looking good early on, you get irritated, Johnson said. “We demand ourselves to be a very good offensive line.”
