Tonight I'm going to look at Derrick Morgan's stats game by game so far this season, and seeing how his stats compare to our other defenders.

Week 1 vs. Patriots: PFF gave Morgan a 1.0 grade overall. That was good enough to be the 3rd best grade on our team, behind only Akeem Ayers (+2.1) and Mike Martin (+1.5). Morgan's run defense grade was +1.4, best on the team. Tied for second were Ayers (+1.2) and Verner (+1.2). Where Morgan didn't stand out in Week One was in the Pass Rush, where he graded out as a -0.7, which was second worst on the team only to Jurrell Casey's -1.0 rating.

Morgan's stat line in week one: 2 QB hurries (Only people who had more were Klug, Ayers, and Martin with three apiece), 6 tackles, 1 assist, and 5 stops.

Overall, a pretty good performance, especially against the ground game.

Week 2 @ Chargers: Best game of the year so far from Morgan. Had a 2.2 grade overall, good enough for 4th best on the team behind Wimbley (+5.8), Verner (+3.8), and WItherspoon (+3.3). Morgan's run d graded as a +0.4 and his pass rush was 1.6 (Martin (+1.9) and WImbley (+6.2)were the only ones who had better grades).

Morgan's line in week two looked like this: 1 Sack, 1 QB hit, 3 Tackles, 2 Assists, and 3 stops.

While it's not a stat, WImbley and Morgan looked to be held this entire game, and wrecked havoc on the SD offensive line. Normally a D-Line that gets the type of pressure we got is a recipe for success, however our Pass Defense decided not to show up. At all.

Week 3 vs. Detroit: Morgan was given a -0.9 grade in his worst game of the year, which was only the 6th worst grade on the defense. In pass rushing, Morgan received a -1.7 grade, 2nd worst on the team, only to Wimbley's -3.9 rating. Morgan however got a positive score on his run defense with a 0.4 rating, good enough for 4th best on the team (highest grade was 2.6 awarded to Casey).

Morgan's stats were as follows: 3 QB Hurries, 3 Tackles, 3 Stops

Obviously Week three has been Morgan's worst, but not even the worst on the team. The team as a whole could not get a pass rush going, which against a team like Detroit usually spells doom, because you are giving Stafford a ton of time to throw.

Bottom Line: Despite Morgan's week 3 struggles, he has been a good component on this defense, and has the 3rd best overall grade on our defense behind only Verner (+9.7) and Mike Martin (+3.3). In the entire league, Morgan rates as the 17th best Defensive end according to PFF. Hopefully Morgan improves as the year goes on, especially in the pass rush department, but I for one am encouraged by what he has shown so far.

LWSS