Bears Fan with Questions about Peppers

[CatMan72]

I was always a Peppers fan and it was always clear to me that he shut it down at times. I equate it to the comments Chris Gamble made about Randy Moss after our game against the Patriots last year when Randy was invisible... if teams make it tough for Peppers early in the game, or if he just doesn't feel right, he shuts it down and conserves himself for some other day.

I think Peppers will play very well for the Bears this first season, he's got something to prove.

[JungleCat]

I don't know if he's worth what he's getting paid, time will tell, but I think he'll do fine with the Bears.

[cookinbrak]

These are the only guys speaking the truth. The only games he didnt play well in were games 2 and 3. The rest of the season, he was creating pressure and misdirections along with tackles and sacks. And there were a few games that he played with a broken hand, which hindered his performance, that alot of posters conveniently forget because of blind hate.

This is true. It's mostly sour grapes. Search Chris Harris on here and go back a couple of months- he goes from "best safety...hardest hitter...forces turnovers" to "old and slow...bad in coverage....costs too much" in a matter of hours, once he was traded.

[ladypanther]

I think Pep will be highly motivated and have a great year. He has something to prove (Panthers held him back). He is a freak...can be awesome...mystery is why even 2nd string rookies handled him sometimes (Panthers fault I am sure). If Cutler has another terrible year, Pep may lose interest as the season progresses. He needs a good offense to keep him motivated. Pep can dominate a game and it is a thing of beauty to watch when it happens. I am sure Favre is not happy he is now a Bear.

[SorthNarolina]

I think he'll be motivated for his first few seasons in chicago. He's making a ton of money and the excitement of changing teams will probably keep him happy. He just got unhappy here which led to him disappearing at times.

[Panthro]

He is a product of UNC and therefore is garbage

[Lumps]

As long as you have a teammate who will call him out you should be good.

That was our savior last season.

As far as the other season's, he got most of his stats vs. absolutley horrible teams. The year the Lions went 0-16, look up those year's stats on Pep and where they came from and you'll be very disappointed. Then he had another horrible year for whatever reason. That brings us to 3 years out of 7 here that he was just a dud, which is going on half the time he was here. However other than those years he was a beast, and that cannot be argued. He obviously has motivation problems, but you guys are giving him 21 million, so maybe that will help who knows.

[SorthNarolina]

As long as you have a teammate who will call him out you should be good.

That was our savior last season.

As far as the other season's, he got most of his stats vs. absolutley horrible teams. The year the Lions went 0-16, look up those year's stats on Pep and where they came from and you'll be very disappointed. Then he had another horrible year for whatever reason. That brings us to 3 years out of 7 here that he was just a dud, which is going on half the time he was here. However other than those years he was a beast, and that cannot be argued. He obviously has motivation problems, but you guys are giving him 21 million, so maybe that will help who knows.

How was he a dud almost half the time? His only bad year was 07.

[Wither]

This is true. It's mostly sour grapes. Search Chris Harris on here and go back a couple of months- he goes from "best safety...hardest hitter...forces turnovers" to "old and slow...bad in coverage....costs too much" in a matter of hours, once he was traded.

This is a combination of several things.

You point out the first; there is obvious bias for your own players and when they are gone, there is negative bias for them.

The second is that it seems this way because when that player is gone, some of those who supported them don't show up to talk about them, and the ones who felt they were no good the whole time do show up and they point out their flaws.

The third being that people who generally don't know much about said player will often side with what the majority is saying without even verifying their points. I do this sometimes, and so does everyone else.

You will find the truth somewhere in the middle of the two statements.

[Kakarot]

Pep will be great for ya'll this year.

[TerriblePizza]

He always has great OTAs and camps. Then he has good to mediocre seasons.

[Baschski]

Peppers is the most talented DE in the league. He will do well stopping the run, and will probably have around 12 sacks. However, look for the four easiest games on your schedule, and that's where most of his sacks will come from. He won't show up in most big games.

[Snake]

Really the fact is you will never know about Peppers. Even from his days at UNC he was a great star when motivated. He def will make some WOW plays and more then likely get 10 sacks for the year. On the flip side of the coin he dose take plays off and can disappear in games that matter. His motor is def not as high as a Jarret Allen or a Aaron Kampman but he is Def more athletic. Like everyone else has said he is great when motivated.

[unicar15]

My humble opinion is that Peppers peaked really early in his career. He isn't really any more productive now as a 29 year old veteran than he was as a 22 year old rookie. He was a BEAST coming out as a rook and really didn't get any better...that is why people perceive him as a letdown. Not JUST because he takes plays off. Although he does do that, I don't think it is nearly as often as people think.

HOWEVER!!!! You will notice that he racks up a lot of sacks against the weaker teams and then whenever a good team comes along and gameplans for him...he struggles.

I really don't think he gets over on Jordan Gross this year...that is JMO though. I'm sure that will be a BATTLE.