Julius Peppers to Green Bay Packers fans: ‘We’re going to get better’

By Arty Vezikov | Sep 17, 2015

It’s easy to panic after just one game of football. After all, it’s the first meaningful game we’ve witnessed in eight months so extensive scrutiny should be come as a default. Though the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears 31-23 on Sunday, many fans choose to draw negative takeaways from the game.

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Perspective, folks. Yes, Matt Forte gashed the Packers defense for 141 yards on only 24 carries and a touchdown, adding another 25 receiving yards on five catches. Let’s not forget the circumstances, however. The Packers were missing arguably their most pivotal player from the secondary in safety Morgan Burnett as well as linemen Datone Jones and Letroy Guion due to suspension.

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The team’s thumper in the middle of the field, Sam Barrington, also went down before halftime as he has been dealing with an ankle injury all training camp. Green Bay officially placed him on the IR Tuesday.

No one is in the business of making excuses here. Certainly not Julius Peppers who had a gentle reminder to those worrying about the first game of the season. Peppers played a heck of a game and scored a +3.3 according to Pro Football Focus, second on the team only to quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

“It definitely wasn’t our best performance but it was good enough to win and that’s all you can ask for every week,” stated Peppers in a locker room interview following the win.

Peppers is right; the Packers got a big win on Sunday. It was a divisional game against a long-time rival on the road. This was John Fox’s debut in Chicago and he was looking to make a statement.

“It’s a process; we’re going to get better from here and that’s why we continue to go back to work.”

Peppers finished the day with four tackles and 1.5 sacks. Early in the first quarter, as we discussed earlier, he made a phenomenal play when he bullrushed the right tackle and brought down Jay Cutler, only to pop the ball loose and even have the awareness to recover the ball.

It was a close call and official review showed Cutler’s knee was down prior to losing the football. Regardless, this was a game-changing play because the ten-yard sack brought up a fourth down and forced a punt.

On the previous drive, Peppers and B.J. Raji combined for a sack of Cutler again on third down, forcing a field goal attempt on the ensuing fourth down. It’s plays like these that give a defense confidence that carries through the rest of the game.

The run defense struggled last season, evidenced by their ranking of dead last in the league for the first eight weeks of the season. That was when adjustments were made, highlighted by Clay Matthews’ move inside, a move defensive coordinator Dom Capers proclaimed to be an effort to get the best 11 players on the field.

There was significant improvement during the late stretch of the season and players were looking to carry that progress over into this season. The loss of Barrington heavily complicates things as the Packers will likely look in-house for his replacement.

And facing Chicago week one was only the beginning of the test. The Packers have to face Marshawn Lynch this week and Jamaal Charles the following week.

In my opinion, the progress of the team’s run defense will be critical if the team hopes to return to the conference championship. We already know what the offense is capable of so it is on the defense to prove it can carry its own weight.

It’s a long season for the Packers and they have plenty of work ahead of them. Starting off the season with a win won’t hurt, though. Stopping the defending NFC champions this Sunday will also go a long way to proving doubters wrong.

Next: Packers Week 1: Under the Scope

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