Green Bay Packers Julius Peppers peaking at the right time

When the Green Bay Packers signed Julius Peppers to a 3-year contract this past offseason, I was among the many who were surprised. After four seasons with the Chicago Bears that ended with a downswing and his release, the 34-year old Peppers seemed to be a untraditional signing by GM Ted Thompson, who typically prefers to build organically through the draft.

Peppers has come to life for the Packers, however, providing the biggest play of their Divisional Round win over the Dallas Cowboys despite being the oldest player on the field. The veteran star now needs to continue being the most valuable member of the defensive unit if the Packers hope to pull off an upset against the Seattle Seahawks.

The 2nd Overall selection in 2002 (picked between David Carr and Joey Harrington, yikes!), Peppers spent eight seasons with the Carolina Panthers before his move to the Chicago Bears. To put his age in perspective for fans of the Packers, 2002 was the same year that the Packers selected Aaron Kampman in the fifth round.

Peppers possesses some of the greatest raw physical talent that the NFL has seen in this generation, and has turned that into a brilliant career, but there has always been a sense that he has left something on the table. His four seasons in Chicago all saw a higher sack total than the 7.0 he posted this season, but his tendency to become invisible for stretches of games severely limited his true impact on the defense.

With the Green Bay Packers, Julius Peppers seems to have been awakened by the sense of mortality that comes with the ending of a career. The situation is very similar to that of Charles Woodson, the last big free agent signing by the Packers, who came to Wisconsin in 2006 amid doubts that his best years were behind him. Woodson would go on to win the 2009 Defensive Player of the Year and star on the 2010 Super Bowl team. Age is a much greater factor with Peppers, but each of these players seem to have found the perfect place to end their careers while chasing a championship.

Like Woodson, Peppers is incredibly valuable to this team because he represents “something else” that defenses must game plan against. 2013 saw Clay Matthews record just 7.5 sacks, the second lowest total of his career, because opposing lines were able to double-team him without the threat of a secondary pass-rusher. The presence of Peppers not only allows he and Matthews to disrupt the backfield, but it limits the need for Dom Capers to commit Linebackers and members of the secondary to blitzing.

This dynamic has allowed the savvy Peppers to become the big-play threat that Green Bay needs against elite teams like the Seattle Seahawks. To defeat a team as strong as Seattle’s, an impact defensive play is often needed to change momentum, and Peppers will be first in line.

He recorded 2 INT in 2014, both of which he returned for highlight-reel touchdowns, and his six forced fumbles are as many as the rest of the defense combined. Peppers is turning it on at the right time with four sacks over his last four games, and no play has been bigger this season than his forced fumble on DeMarco Murray in the 3rd quarter this past Sunday.

The Cowboys were up 14-10 and driving at the time, and DeMarco Murray had nothing but green grass in sight beyond Peppers. The fumble was recovered by Datone Jones, and outside of the no-catch by Dez Bryant, no play helped the Packers more on Sunday.

“It was a great play by Peppers,” Murray said after the game. “He was washed out but he came back in and reached around. I thought that I was through the hole and he made a hell of a play. Yes, I felt the play was about to break wide open.”

Julius Peppers must continue to be Green Bay Packers MVP on D

By Keegan Matheson | Jan 13, 2015