Vaitai, offensive line pass first test without Peters

PHILADELPHIA » The issue that met the Eagles at the beginning of the week was addressed Sunday to some satisfaction.

The offensive line, for one game, anyway, survived the loss of Hall of Fame worthy Jason Peters and any corresponding upheaval. Or at least so said the final score: Eagles 33, San Francisco 49ers 10.

“It was weird not seeing the Big 7-1 out there,” Lane Johnson said of Peters. “But to be honest with you, I think Big V (Halapoulivaati Vaitai) played well and settled in. Early on, we missed some protections and a few calls in the protection-run game. Other than that, in the second half, I think we came back and did a lot better.”

Carson Wentz was sacked three times and avoided a few others. Some of that, though, resulted from the 49ers’ relentless blitzing, often in ways the Birds did not necessarily expect.

“We’re seeing blitz quite a bit,” Doug Pederson said. “I think we’re the No. 1 team that’s getting 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 on it.

“I don’t know if it necessarily disrupted Carson. Obviously, it made him move around a little bit in the game. But later on, we were able to fix the protection. He used his backs a little bit more out of the backfield, and then even sometimes in the run game.”

Pederson chose to keep the disruptions to a minimum, replacing Peters with Vaitai rather than moving Johnson from the right side to the left. Though there was some early pressure on Wentz, the 23-point final cushion provided some comfort.

“I felt like (Vaitai) did OK,” Pederson said. “He settled into the game and did a nice job. I’ll evaluate the film and get a chance to make the necessary corrections.”

Vaitai, a second-year pro, was playing in his 15th career game and making his first start at left tackle. He’d made seven previous starts at right tackle.

“I’m still trying to get the mechanics down, the techniques down,” he said. “But I have great guys like Lane giving me positive vibes.”

Those vibes mattered in the second half, when the 49ers did not register a sack.

“It was just game-planning on the run,” Vaitai said. “We came in at halftime and switched some things up. And then we came out and blocked a little better.”

He was satisfied with his debut as a starting left tackle.

“I feel like I am pretty decent at left tackle,” he said. “There are a lot of things that I need to improve and work on. But I feel pretty good about it.”

Added Johnson: “I think we weathered the storm. It’s not the way the offense wanted to play. We came out slow and didn’t execute. I’m just glad with the way we battled. Not every game is going to be perfect or look good, but we found a way to win.”