A lot of players contributed to the Bears‘ 37-13 victory Sunday over the Lions, but no one was more responsible than Julius Peppers.

He was the wild card on the defensive line, as Peppers moved around in order to create favorable matchups and avoid extra blocking attention.  Of the 39 snaps Peppers played against Lions dropbacks, he lined up at right end, his usual position, 28 times. He lined up at left end, where he could go against right tackle Gosder Cherilus, six times. And he lined up at left tackle, where he was over right guard Stephen
Peterman, five times.

On third-and-5 or longer, Peppers played as many snaps at left tackle (four) as he did at right end. He also took a snap at
left end on third-and-10.

Peppers made seven impact plays in the game. Two of them came from right end. Two came from left end, including a forced fumble that set up the game’s first touchdown, and a pressure that helped lead to an interception by Major Wright.
And three impact plays came from left tackle, including his only sack.  Peppers is a great player, but he was made even better by the way he was moved around Sunday.