Between the Lines: Julius Peppers' Effort Leaves Something to Be Desired

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Julius Peppers isn't happy. He wanted to be anywhere but in Carolina this year, but when the Panthers franchised him, he was left with no choice but to return to the Panthers for another season.

Things could be worse. He's getting paid $16.7 million this year as the team's franchise player. After watching every snap of the Cowboys' game, it's hard to say he's earning it.

Two years ago, Peppers picked up only 2.5 sacks in an extremely disappointing season. But he bounced back last year to record 14.5 sacks. With the way he played on Monday, it's hard to see him getting back to double digits this year.Peppers finished the game with one tackle and one assist. He had no quarterback pressures and no sacks. He now has nine tackles and one sack in three games. For the Panthers' defense to work, Peppers has to create havoc. It's not happening.

Worse than the stats was the lethargy with which he played the game. If you're being charitable, you could say that Peppers played against the Cowboys with a lot of hesitation, as if he wanted to make sure he didn't get caught out of position. Instead of firing off the ball he took choppy steps and stood around. If you're more inclined to be harsh, you could say that he's trying to play his way out of Carolina.

When the Cowboys ran the ball, they were able to run right at Peppers. Tight end Jason Witten showed he could block Peppers single-handedly, like he did on three different occasions including runs of 10 and 18 yards. They were also able to fool Peppers, like they did on a Patrick Crayton 14-yard reverse. Peppers was left unblocked, but he found himself out of position as the backside contain when Crayton ran right on by him.

When the Cowboys ran away from Peppers, they didn't worry about Peppers using his speed to track down the ball carrier from the backside. With few exceptions he often stood around on those plays and just stalemated with left tackle Flozell Adams. One exception came when he ran downfield to jump on the pile on a run up the middle by Felix Jones, although he wasn't credited with an assist. Peppers' best play against the run came when he cut inside on a third and goal and helped tackle Tashard Choice to help force a field goal attempt. It was Peppers' only tackle on a running play.

But run stuffing has never been Peppers' biggest strength. He's one of the league's elite pass rushers as he's shown by racking up five different double-digit sack seasons. Against the Cowboys, Adams handled him with no problems. Carolina did move him around a little bit. He got a little better rush when lined up against right tackle Marc Colombo, although Colombo was able to push him past Tony Romo as Romo stepped up into the pocket. It was the same story when Peppers moved inside to defensive tackle. Peppers got penetration against guard Leonard Davis, but Davis then rode him outside as Romo stepped up.

There were even two plays when a Cowboys back was able to cut Peppers and handle him on pass plays. Peppers had no hurries or sacks, but he did have one tackle on a pass play where Romo decided to tuck and run. After rushing upfield on a speed rush, Peppers did cut back to track Romo down five yards downfield.

But that was it. There were more pass plays where Peppers simply stood up at the line and was content to give a half-hearted effort than there were plays where he came close to sacking Romo. The Cowboys did double-team Peppers on eight of his 59 snaps, but that was more a case of giving respect to a once-great defensive end rather than by need.

If you didn't know Pepppers' reputation and watched Monday night's game, you wouldn't pick him out as the Panthers' best defensive player. That title would probably go to linebacker John Beason. He wasn't even the Panthers' best defensive end on Monday--that would go to Charles Johnson. While Peppers was ineffective as a pass rusher, Johnson got to Romo to nearly force a fumble on one pass play (Romo's arm was coming forward so it was ruled an incomplete pass), he had two other plays where he nearly got to Romo.

Peppers wasn't even significantly better than his backup Tyler Brayton. Brayton had four tackles, blew up one running play with solid penetration into the backfield, made another tackle on a run away from him because he hustled down the line and nearly got to Romo on a pass play--all in significantly less playing time than Peppers. He may not have Peppers' ability, but Brayton's effort was an equalizer on Monday.

Being outproduced by his backup isn't what you would expect out of a $16.7 million man. But if Peppers keeps playing like he did on Monday, he may get his wish: it's hard to imagine the Panthers spending nearly $20 million to franchise Peppers next yearpers next year to get production like he's given in the first three weeks.