Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco will be sharing the field this season dressed in Black and Orange. No, it’s not halloween… It’s for real. But add Antonio Bryant to the mix, and a Carson Palmer who is healthy and anything like he was a couple seasons ago, and the Bengals passing attack could be pretty scary.
As a Buffalo Bills fan, I got to see up close last season a player with just ridiculous statistics reduced to a mediocre (at best) offensive threat. T.O. had his share of drops, sure, but more often than not he just wasn’t even thrown to. He had a string of 185 consecutive games with at least one reception broken in week three last year, without the Bills even making any sort of effort to help him extend that.
But the best part—the part people don’t give him enough credit for—is that T.O. never complained.
This loud mouth, egotistical, selfish, locker room cancer came to a team that was simply a disaster (from a head coach who has never won, to a mediocre group of players, to record-breaking injury lists) and he never had any sort of “incident”, which he is so often accused of having. And not just “having” but starting. If anything, after the streak mentioned above was broken in week three, and the Bills were beginning their typical slide toward a sub-par season, the media were the ones trying desperately to try to get something controversial and cancerous from T.O.
But nothing came.
Owens didn’t have the season he wanted to have with the Bills, but I contend it had little to nothing to do with him. Vanilla offense, executed poorly by not just under-talented players, but really, unprepared players. Sure, you can blame the coaches, but one of the biggest problems for the Bills last season was that many of their injuries occurred on their offensive line. Their line was just a complete shambles last season, and it showed. It showed in the QB carousel that ensued. And it showed in T.O.’s stat line.
He did, however, manage to set a new Buffalo Bills record for longest TD reception with a 98-yard catch hauled in against Jacksonville. So now the Bills’ record books show:
LONGEST TD PASS: QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to WR Terrell Owens
As odd as that will seem in a few years to Bills fans, try and take a guess who held the previous record. (Hint… you won’t be able to guess! Answer here…)
But even knowing the circumstances that surrounded his statistical drop-off, NFL GMs and other personnel decision makers hesitated on signing T.O., or didn’t even bother to inquire in the first place. Even the Bengals, who signed him yesterday, were hesitant. They decided to sign Antonio Bryant earlier this year, instead of Owens. (Now they have their icing on the cake?) It was definitely at least mildly shocking to me. The man, though 36 years old, is astoundingly physically fit. He can still do everything he needs to in order to be at least very good at his game, if not great.
So it’s good to see T.O. finally signed, just in time for training camp. Watch out for the Bengals this year, folks! Last season they rode an opportunistic defense to the playoffs … this season they have the firepower on offense that they had a couple years ago. Maybe more. Carson Palmer handing off to Cedric Benson (who had a pretty great season in 2009) and Larry Johnson, or throwing it downfield to his choice of Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Owens, Antonio Bryant, or Reggie Kelly. They will give their defensive-minded division foes all they can handle, for sure.
What are your thoughts on T.O. going to the Bengals? Good move for Cincinnati, or should they have passed on T.O. like everyone else apparently did?
Love it. Just for the show they’re going to put on.
This triumvirate will roar!
Going to be fun to watch..NO DOUBT !! Great blogg Greg thanks…hows the family..GO BILLS..(that gets harder to say each season)
To have all those egos on one team is so dangerous, but hey like my pop told me. “you never know”
I think it will work out. T.O. was served a big dish of humble pie playing for the Bills last year. I think he realizes that his time is running out on getting a ring. Problem is, I don’t think the move makes the Bengals better than the Jets or the Colts.
Cant wait to see what TO and Ocho will do together!
I think this is the best thing to happen to Ochocinco and TO. Finally, they both exist in a receiving core where their character traits will become status quo. I think both of them will easily be able to feed off of each other challenging each other to top the other.
Should we change the name from Cincinnati Bengals to Cincinnati Rehabilitation Centre??? Nonetheless Chad and TO will provide so much humour and fun this year, I can’t wait to see what TD celebrations they have in mind. That offense now looks very potent with a good running and passing game, the defense was excellent last year and they’ll have a lot to prove. I’m picking the CRC to win the AFC North.
Its gonna be crazy. Bengals will re-write the meaning of ‘boom or bust’. And for a team that normally generates zero interest (lets be honest a lot of people are tipping the Ravens for the SuperBowl, and everyone else loves the Steelers) this has suddenly made the Bengals a team that EVERYONE will have a view on. Bit like Marmite, you’ll either love them or hate them (sorry if you’re reading that State side).
Ok, better get me a ticket for a least one game!!!
All I can say is poor Marvin Lewis. If he can get through the entire season with less grey hair dealing with those two every week then President Obama has currently I would be shocked. “Get your popcorn ready” indeed. Horray for my first post. Love the podcasts I check them out all the time. I will be at the London game this year as well. And make sure you check out Thorpe Park. Steve and Jeff.
Makes sense from a football standpoint, and they probably got him for a song. But I wonder if T.O.’s silence in Buffalo was a result of the team being out of the spotlight. He hasn’t been silent on any of the other teams he’s played for. If the Bengals go on another playoff run, it may be hard for him to resist shooting his mouth off. There may never have been a player this talented–and this immature.