UNC in NFL: Tracking Tar Heels performances in Week 2
By Grant Hughes
Julius Peppers: Defensive End, Carolina Panthers.
What can you say about Julius Peppers? The man is a beast, even at 37 years old.
Peppers dominated the Bills offensive line to the tune of 2 sacks and 6 total tackles in Week 2, making his return to North Carolina in the Panthers first home game of the 2017 season.
Oh, and current Tar Heels Joel Berry and Luke Maye were also in attendance to serve as honorary drummers for the season opener.
His two sacks Sunday came in his return to Bank of America Stadium for the first time since 2009.
The longtime defensive end has played like its 2009, leading the Panthers in sacks through two games.
Peppers continues to produce in his situational role among a deep and talented Panthers defensive line. However, the former #2 overall pick played 59% of the Panthers defensive snaps, an uptick from 46% last week.
The 32 snaps Peppers played this week ranked him third among snaps taken by Panthers defensive lineman.
After the game, Pepper had high praise for his team as he made this bold statement:
"“This is the best defense I’ve ever played on.”"
That statement comes as high praise, for any NFL fan around in the early 2000s knows Peppers played on some tough defenses. The Panthers 6 points allowed through the first two weeks is by far the lowest average in the NFL.
Peppers’ 2.5 sacks in the first two weeks put him a mere 4.5 sacks from tying Chris Doleman for fourth all-time in NFL sacks.
His 146 all-time sacks will be untouchable for a while as the closest active player is Dwight Freeney at 122.5.
Peppers’ homecoming has been a dream come true for all parties, and his contributions to a strong defense could push them further in the playoff conversation.