When Julius Peppers left the Panthers in a contract dispute in the offseason of 2010 I thought for sure he would never come back. Peppers seemed bitter because of the failure to reach a long term deal and he did not want to play on the franchise tag yet again. At the time I questioned whether he wanted to stay in Carolina at all, that he was being difficult because he wanted to leave. That was my lasting impression until recently I have to admit.
Looking back at his final season, this is the type of performance I hope to see yet again. In particular the Vikings game mentioned in this excerpt.
Julius Peppers - Wikipedia
2009 seasonThe 2009 season would be the last for Peppers as a member of the Panthers in his first stint with the team. Peppers began the season well by recording 5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass defensed, and 1 blocked kick in a Week 1, 38-10 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. But Peppers went without a sack during the next two games against the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys, both losses as the Panthers started the season 0-3, causing Panthers linebacker Jon Beason to question Peppers' intensity on a radio show in Charlotte, North Carolina. Beason would later admit that he was wrong about saying this about Peppers and said he thought that Julius would go down as one of the best players to ever play in the NFL.[25]
Peppers bounced back in Week 5 of the 2009 season against the Washington Redskins by recording 5 tackles and 2 sacks in the Panthers first win of the season. In Week 8, in a 34-21 win against the Arizona Cardinals, Peppers recorded 2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception for a 13-yard touchdown, and 1 pass defensed earning him his third NFC Defensive Player of the Week Award. In Week 9, in a 30-20 loss against the New Orleans Saints, Peppers broke his right hand, but continued to play with a cast on his hand over the next few games.[26] In Week 15 against the Minnesota Vikings, Julius Peppers played one of his best games of his career, although only recording 1 tackle, 1 sack, and one pass defensed, Peppers also had 5 quarterback hurries and was all over the field, causing sports writer Peter King to say that Peppers looked like Lawrence Taylor and Deacon Jones rolled into one dominant force.
Peppers played so well he caused Vikings Pro Bowl left tackle Bryant McKinnie to be benched by Vikings head coach Brad Childress. Peppers' effectiveness not only prompted Childress to switch tackles, but to also consider making a quarterback change, which Vikings quarterback Brett Favre strongly resisted. Childress said he wanted to protect Favre, who he said was getting his rear end kicked and was taking a beating.[27] In Week 17, which came on January 3, 2010, in a 23-10 win against the New Orleans Saints played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, Julius Peppers played in his final game as a member of the Carolina Panthers during his first stint with the team. Peppers recorded 3 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 pass defensed. The interception Peppers recorded was, at the time, thought to be the final play of his Panthers career,[28] but Peppers would eventually return to his home state team before the 2017 NFL season. Julius finished the season with 36 solo tackles, 6 assisted tackles, 10.5 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 2 interceptions, 5 passes defensed, 3 stuffs, 1 blocked kick, and 1 defensive touchdown.
Peppers was voted to his fifth Pro Bowl and also earned Second-Team All Pro honors. On February 22, 2010, Adam Schefter reported that the Panthers would not place the franchise tag on Peppers, leaving him an unrestricted free agent, free to pursue a contract with another team.[29]
The one criticism of Peppers back in the day was his lack of consistency. Some games he just looked average while other he was completely dominant. I surmise it could be that his average games were actually much better when not compared to his dominant games.
The Vikings game was one of the dominant ones. I took a look back in the archives to get a feel for this game. It was week 15 and the Panthers (5-8) had just been eliminated from the playoffs the week before. The Vikings on the other hand had just clinched the NFC North. To everyone’s surprise, the Panthers crushed.
Panthers Spike the Vikings 26-7 - Cat Scratch Reader
DE Julius Peppers is showing only a single tackle and 1 sack in the NFL.com box score but he terrorized Favre all night. The announcers mentioned they think LT Bryant McKinnie got benched mid-game for repeatedly getting bulled over by Peppers. He earned his 7 figure game check tonight and I bet Brett Favre would agree.
The Vikings blogger at the time agreed as well.
Some might call this a trap game, and some might say the Vikings got complacent after clinching an NFC North title earlier in the day. I'll call it something else: Getting crushed. Don't make excuses for this Vikings team, because they don't deserve it. I don't care that the field was in lousy condition, I don't care that the game was outdoors, and I don't care about what was happening around the division. The Vikings got killed out there.
So let me start by not setting the bar too high for Peppers. He is 37 years old now so double digit sacks would be exactly that. He hasn’t had less than 7 sacks since the 2007 season so i think that is a good expectation, 7 to 9 sacks. Here’s a reminder of what a dominant Peppers looks like. Note: I tried to find one that was all Panthers games but they are hard to find these days.
Peppers only needs 7.5 sacks to pass Chris Doleman for 4th all time in career sacks. He would need another 10 to pass Kevin Greene. So that’s 17.5 over the next two seasons to make his final marks in the record book. I look forward to watching this unfold on the field. Color me excited to see it unfold.