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SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- **Playing against an experienced and very physical San Francisco front seven, the new-look Eagles offensive line had its share of ups and downs in Sunday's 26-21 loss at Levi's Stadium.
The Eagles were unable to get a running game going, quarterback Nick Foles was harrassed for much of the game and outside of a fourth-quarter drive on which the Eagles drove 90 yards and gained six first downs, the offense managed very little.
"It was a tough day for everybody on offense," said Todd Herremans, the right guard who moved to right tackle on Sunday. "We just couldn't get anything going."
"We never got into a rhythm," said right guard Dennis Kelly, who played left guard last week. "We had a few plays and then we couldn't sustain anything."
The Eagles started Jason Peters at left tackle, Matt Tobin at left guard, David Molk at center, Kelly at right guard and Herremans at right tackle. Both Tobin and Molk made their first NFL starts against the 49ers.
"I thought I played pretty well. Some things I would like to do again, but overall it was a good experience for me," said Tobin, who saw a lot of 14-year veteran Justin Smith inside. "I tried to get him early before he could bull rush me. As an offense, we just could not get anything going. They were tough up front."
Molk replaced Jason Kelce, who underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia on Tuesday after suffering the injury last Sunday. Molk wanted to watch the film of the game before saying too much about the performance of the offensive line.
But for those who watched, it was pretty clear what was happening: San Francisco generated pressure at the line of scrimmage in its base defense and didn't have to blitz much at all. The 49ers took away LeSean McCoy and the running game. The screens and short passes didn't work well for the Eagles.
And when quarterback Nick Foles dropped back to throw deeper passes, he didn't have much time to set his feet and step into his passes.
"We need to do a lot better than we did today," said Herremans, who could slip back to right guard if Lane Johnson, who returns to the team on Monday, is able to play against the Rams on Sunday. "We just weren't consistent at all."
Johnson is eligible to play after serving his four-game NFL suspension. His return is welcomed. Now it's a matter of seeing just what kind of game shape he is in after missing a month of action.
"They were experienced and good up front," said Molk of the 49ers. "That's a really good defense. They pressured the line of scrimmage. They beat us. You have to give them credit for that."
