It’s as if the Bengals were trying to make a last ditch effort to steal Hard Knocks from the Jets. With the media-addicted Chad Ochocinco already on the roster, Cincy has opened the door to both Pacman Jones and now Terrell Owens.
While the addition of Owens may make a few people shake their heads for his dirtbag locker room antics, he could be a gem on the field.
The Bengals at one time had an incredibly explosive offense with Ochocinco, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Carson Palmer and Rudi Johnson. They also used a combination of Kelley Washington and Chris Henry as deep threats.
The point is that Carson Palmer has been a top QB when he’s been surrounded by a variety of weapons. He’s not the signal caller to make something out of nothing, but he knows how to use the weapons he has.
The addition of Owens, completes the set of weapons at his disposal.
The Bengals offense was ranked 15th in Passing (DVOA on Football Outsiders) and 14th in Rushing last year, but was one of the most inconsistent in the league. Part of the problem was their lack of weapons. If a team stacked the box against Cedric Benson and double-covered Ochocinco, they were capable of shutting down the offense.
With Owens starting opposite of Ochocinco, Antonio Bryant can be the third receiver and rookie TE Jermaine Gresham can be option #4 with very little pressure on him.
The question that most people have is whether Owens has anything left in the tank.
| Terrell Owens | |||
| 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | |
| Games | 16 | 16 | 15 |
| Receptions | 55 | 69 | 81 |
| Passes | 109 | 139 | 141 |
| Catch Rate | 50% | 50% | 57% |
| Yards | 829 | 1052 | 1355 |
| TD | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| Yds / Rec | 15.1 | 15.2 | 16.7 |
| DYAR | -18 | 75 | 448 |
| Rk | 70 | 46 | 3 |
| DVOA | -14.8% | -5.7% | 28.2% |
| Rk | 69 | 56 | 5 |
| Passing Off | -16.6% (26th) | 15.8% (18th) | 39.7% (4th) |
| Rushing Off | -0.7% (18th) | 11.7% (7th) | 8.3% (10th) |
Owens production may have dropped off, but he also didn’t get the same workload in Buffalo that he did in Dallas. He was targeted on roughly 2 less plays per game. If he had the same number of targets on the Bills, he easily could have had 70 receptions and 1000 yards.
The other factor to consider is how pitiful the Bills offense was. Obviously TO was part of that pitiful offense, but Trent Edwards isn’t nearly the QB that Carson Palmer is. Carson Palmer isn’t as good as Tony Romo at this point, but he’s not far off.
The fact that Owens’ yards-per-reception was similar in Buffalo to that in Dallas, tells me he still has some game left in him. While his DVOA was sub-par, anyone who watched Buffalo play last year would question the spots he was put in. That offense just didn’t use the talent at it’s disposal very well.
With Owens on board in his tiger-striped helmet, I could see the Bengals offense jump into the top 10 for DVOA, he could return to being a 1000 yard receiver as Ochocinco’s sidekick and we’ll definitely be treated to a whole host of fine-inducing touchdown celebrations. The season can’t start soon enough.
The Bengals offense was ranked 15th in Passing (DVOA on Football Outsiders) and 14th in Rushing last year, but was one of the most inconsistent in the league. Part of the problem was their lack of weapons. If a team stacked the box against Cedric Benson and double-covered Ochocinco, they were capable of shutting down the offense.
With Owens starting opposite of Ochocinco, Antonio Bryant can be the third receiver and rookie TE Jermaine Gresham can be option #4 with very little pressure on him
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