What is wrong with Julius Peppers? I mean, he is having another TERRIBLE year, right? Just ask the fans:

Not good enough for the myriad of fans who call into talk radio and post on message boards about Peppers' lack of productivity. Charting Peppers' plays has become a cottage industry, with claims he faces fewer double teams and sometimes quits before the play is over.

All we have to do is look at the results, only three sacks season-to-date, which is the only real measure of defensive ends job. If only he could match the production of elite DE's Jared Allen, Dwight Freeney or this weekend's opponent Charles Grant. Wait a minute. They all have three sacks too.

Yeah, but if Peppers was doing his job then the Panthers pass defense would be so much better...they would be1^st in the NFL instead of the laughable 2^nd. He's completely lost the confidence of his coach, see for yourself:

 "Our body of work is not done yet," coach John Fox said, when asked if Peppers was playing better than last year. "He's played very well for us, good enough for us to be 4-2. I think right now we're the third-ranked defense in the league and I think he's been a big part."

Well of course the coach is going to back up his player, he doesn't want to destroy Peppers fragile psyche. How about one of the New Orleans tackles Peppers may face this weekend? Certainly he must see the film and agree Peppers has gone soft.

"In our business, any time you lose, the first thing people look at is the star players," said New Orleans right tackle Jonathan Stinchcomb, whose team faces the Panthers Sunday. "They got behind early and ... it just changed the landscape of the game. So to single him out and say he's off, I don't know about that."

Stinchcomb went to UGA so we know he's not too bright. BTW, he and former UGA DE Charles Johnson will be having an up-close reunion this weekend.

So how does Julius live with himself, he of the puny little 3 sacks? Certainly he has to be having nightmares about his failure to get to the QB:

"Being a defensive end, of course that's what I'd like to do every play," Pepper said of pass rushing. "But that's not the defense we play. ... I can't say what other teams do as far as letting their ends rush the quarterback. But as far as our D, we have our chances. We also have times when we've got to do other things, too, and play other responsibilities."

Obviously this whole post is tongue-in-cheek as I am so tired of people questioning this guy's performance. He's fine and I'm fine with what he's been doing. As Fox said, we are only six games into the season. Once the season is over can we evaluate Peppers not just on his individual stats but also on his contribution to the defense as a whole.

See, Peppers is Always Getting Grilled