4 Storylines I'm Watching Most For Eagles In Week 2: Jeffery Simmons Could Feast on O-Line

The Philadelphia Eagles were able to emerge from Week 1 with a victory, and now will head to Nashville for their first road test of the season. The Eagles have actually won all five of their road openers under Nick Sirianni -- going 5-0 on those games.

If there's a reason to understand why the Eagles have fast starts every season, this is it. The Eagles don't take many weeks off, and while they are not at their best in September, they are good enough to get out of that game with a win.

They did it in Week 1. They'll likely do it again this week.

What storylines are worth monitoring in Week 2 against the Titans? These are the four I'm paying attention to.

Jeffery Simmons vs. Eagles interior offensive line

Simmons is making the rounds this week for his comments on Jalen Hurts, which were wrong based on the numbers. He's still a really good player and a First Team All-Pro defensive tackle that's coming off 11.0 sacks last year.

While Simmons didn't have a sack in Week 1, had had three pressures and a 13.0% pressure rate. He's going up against an interior of the Eagles offensive line that allowed 3 pressures and 5 beats in Week 1, a pressure rate allowed per dropback of 2.94% and beat rate allowed of 4.81%.

And the Eagles won't have Landon Dickerson, as either Drew Kendall or Willie Lampkin will be in the lineup (likely Kendall). The interior of the offensive line will be challenged this week.

Is Makai Lemon going to be better in Week 2?

Lemon did not have a good debut in the NFL. The Eagles didn't do him any favors either with the bubble screens and passes behind the line of scrimmage, which resulted in three catches for -5 yards and a -1.7 yards per catch.

There were plays when Lemon was open in the passing game, but it's unclear if he had a route in the passing game or was a downfield blocker. How will the Eagles use Lemon this week? Will Lemon even be the slot receiver?

The Eagles gave Lemon over 60% of the snaps in Week 1 and Hollywood Brown didn't have any. Nick Sirianni indicated that will change for Brown, but how much will it come at the expense of Lemon?

Can Lemon actually help this offense if he's targeted? Or will he be a deterrient?

Will pass rush be better with/without Jonathan Greenard?

Greenard is itching to get back on the football field, but that's up to the Eagles. He's still limited in practice this week and the Eagles will make the decision Friday if he'll be out or not.

If Greenard plays, the Eagles pass rush gets a significant boost -- whether he's limited or not. Nolan Smith had a good Week 1 and Jalyx Hunt needs a bounce back week. The reserve edge rushers on the Eagles didn't do much either, and A.J. Epenesa barely played.

What if Greenard doesn't play? The pressure is on Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith to carry the edge rushers again. Dan Moore allowed a beat rate of 5.1% and a pressure rate of 5.1% in Week 1, so Smith should have the advantage there.

Let's see if the Eagles get more pressure on the quarterback this week.

Keep Jalen Hurts in the pocket -- I dare you

Let's touch on the Simmons comments on leaving Hurts in the pocket. If the Titans allow Hurts to be a pocket quarterback, it's going to be a long day for them on Sunday.

Hurts has 34 TD to just 8 INT inside the pocket over the last two seasons. The only quarterbacks with a passer rating higher than Hurts over the past two seasons are Jared Goff (111.4), Lamar Jackson (110.4), and Joe Burrow (107.6). The only quarterback with a highesr TD/INT ratio than Hurts from inside the pocket is Jackson (4.3).

Hurts is one of the elite quarterbacks inside the pocket. The numbers show it.

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