Julius Peppers and the Green Bay Packers are set to take on the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship Game this weekend. It is a game that is highly anticipated, to say the least. Green Bay wasn’t expected to make it this far, but now that they are here the team is looking like a true Super Bowl contender.
Looking ahead to this week’s game, Peppers has some words of wisdom for the rest of the Packers.
“I was a young player,” Peppers said, when talking about his first Super Bowl appearance. “You go to the Super Bowl in your second year and you’re like, ‘OK, cool. I’ll be back next year or the year after that.’ We went to the championship game the year after that. But you have to live in these moments. You’ve got to realize the opportunity, and you have to take advantage of it because it doesn’t come very often. I’m a standing testament to that.”
At 37-years-old, there is a chance that this will be Peppers’ last chance at a Super Bowl win. Green Bay has been leaning heavily on Peppers so far in their first two playoff games and that will be the case once again this week against a potent Falcons’ offense.
Green Bay is currently the hottest team in the NFL, after winning their eighth straight game last week. Beating the Dallas Cowboys further proved that they have finally worked their way up to their full potential. Aaron Rodgers is playing at an MVP level and the defense has shown playmaking ability.
It will be interesting to see what ends up happening this week for the Packers. They may not pull off yet another impressive road victory, but getting this far is a testament to how much of a team they have become.
Peppers and company certainly seem to understand how rare this position is for a team. They have to take this week’s game seriously and play like they will never get to this point again.
Expect to see the Packers come out swinging on Sunday afternoon and to see Peppers taking on a major leadership role in what could be his final opportunity to win a Super Bowl.
