After three weeks of play, the Pittsburgh Steelers are 2-1, but the road to get here hasn’t been easy. Both of their wins came in hard-fought battles. There have been a lot of emotions involved for certain Steelers in each game, too. They’ve had players facing their former teams in all three games. Aaron Rodgers was happy to beat the New York Jets to open the season, and now, Jabrill Peppers is letting it be known that taking the Patriots down meant a lot to him.
“Absolutely,” Peppers said after the game via the KDKA Extra Point Show. “I needed this one. I thank each and every man and coach in here. We had a great week of work, great prep. It feels good right now, I’m not going to lie.”
Peppers was cut by the Patriots late into this past offseason. He had been with them since 2022, being a consistent piece of their defense. It was a little surprising to see the Patriots get rid of Peppers, but with a new regime in place, it made sense that there would be significant turnover with their roster.
Some players, like DK Metcalf, don’t like to give a lot of their feelings away when they face their former team. Peppers isn’t like that, though. He’s happy to let his joy shine through, as he should. He made a big impact against the Patriots, making six tackles and recovering a huge fumble.
The Patriots had major issues with ball security against the Steelers, fumbling four times. Peppers got in on that action. His recovery came with around 10 minutes left in the third quarter. At that point, the Steelers were still up 14-7, so they were barely holding the Patriots off. That turnover helped to give them a little more breathing room.
The Steelers’ offense didn’t do anything with their gift from Peppers, punting shortly after. However, that play still kept the Patriots’ offense off balance.
That’s not scheduled to be Peppers’ last revenge game of the season, either. He was originally a first-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns. As long as he stays healthy and sticks with the Steelers, he should get a chance to make some play against them, too.
