Man oh man, one win can certainly change Screamin's point of view, can't it?
He sat at the podium with resignation in his heart, too prideful, too stubborn to admit the obvious. Less than one year after provoking his exodus from the City of Brotherly Love, a place he could have owned for years to come, Terrell Owens saw his return to Philadelphia conclude with perhaps the harshest reality imaginable:
That life without Donovan McNabb could very well end up ruining his career.
Owens would never admit this, of course. Such is the mind-set of a superior athlete with a bruised and damaged ego. But when you've spent a week salivating over the opportunity to avenge a perceived wrong, then get slapped silly and rendered helpless because your quarterback is far inferior to the one you once played alongside, Owens doesn't have to admit that he quite likely blew the greatest opportunity in his career.
The rest of us would be happy to do it for him.
The man both affectionately and derisively referred to as T.O. is in a world of trouble, folks. And the sad part is that it has almost nothing to do with his playing ability. With Drew Bledsoe, Owens is playing with a quarterback known more for his bark than his bite, the man whose exit from New England jump-started the era of Tom Brady, who just might give Owens legitimate cause to regress into a state of depression. Purely because he's not good enough.
The Eagles won an epic game on Sunday, 38-24, over the Dallas Cowboys, and judging from the score, you would have thought it was a lopsided contest. While McNabb connected on 18 of 33 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns, Owens had just three receptions for 45 yards.
Good game for the good guy, while the villain got to eat some crow. Except things weren't that simple in Owens' case. Just sad, even considering that we're talking about Owens.
Bledsoe, for the most part, couldn't tie his shoes, let alone deal with the Eagles' defense. In the first half alone, his immobility and suspect release rendered him fodder. On 13 occasions, he was sacked (twice), hit (six times), or forced to hurry his throw (five times). In other words, the Eagles were all over him.
"I know I was open on several occasions," a visibly, predictably upset Owens said after the game. "We had several opportunities available to us and we just didn't capitalize. Of course I was frustrated. I know what we could have done. I'm not saying any names, but who was pulling the trigger?"
In Sunday's case, it would be McNabb, who struggled last season but now has emerged as a bona fide MVP candidate. Consider the 87-yard bomb McNabb threw to Hank Baskett, the 40-yard hookup with Reggie Brown off a flea-flicker, the 60-yarder to L.J. Smith.
There's no need to ask what T.O. was thinking.
"He's got to be in pain," one Eagle said. "We all know it. He's a great athlete with a tremendous amount of pride, who had to sit back and watch guys who many people would say are not better than him look better than him, purely because they're playing with a great quarterback he still should have been playing for."
What followed was a typical "those are the breaks," but it's much sadder than that.
In Bledsoe, Owens has a quarterback with a great arm, but not great precision and certainly not great legs. He doesn't have a playmaker, someone who can make something happen when a play falls apart.
"We would have been better if we were able to improvise more," Owens said to a teammate shortly after the game.
And coach Bill Parcells isn't helping.
Peek inside the Cowboys' locker room and, according to those close to the players, Parcells was hell-bent on ensuring T.O. wasn't the star on Sunday. Although it's no secret Parcells is partial to wideout Terry Glenn - this season - many believe he purposely didn't want Owens to shine, to avoid the migraines such a colossal ego would cause.
So essentially, Owens, arguably the best receiver in the game, is being limited. Not just by an average and aging quarterback, but also by an agitated coach.
If you're T.O., welcome to a miserable existence. One that isn't about to get better anytime soon.
The question is: How much does he have to look forward to?
Particularly when compared with what he left behind.
That life without Donovan McNabb could very well end up ruining his career.
Owens would never admit this, of course. Such is the mind-set of a superior athlete with a bruised and damaged ego. But when you've spent a week salivating over the opportunity to avenge a perceived wrong, then get slapped silly and rendered helpless because your quarterback is far inferior to the one you once played alongside, Owens doesn't have to admit that he quite likely blew the greatest opportunity in his career.
The rest of us would be happy to do it for him.
The man both affectionately and derisively referred to as T.O. is in a world of trouble, folks. And the sad part is that it has almost nothing to do with his playing ability. With Drew Bledsoe, Owens is playing with a quarterback known more for his bark than his bite, the man whose exit from New England jump-started the era of Tom Brady, who just might give Owens legitimate cause to regress into a state of depression. Purely because he's not good enough.
The Eagles won an epic game on Sunday, 38-24, over the Dallas Cowboys, and judging from the score, you would have thought it was a lopsided contest. While McNabb connected on 18 of 33 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns, Owens had just three receptions for 45 yards.
Good game for the good guy, while the villain got to eat some crow. Except things weren't that simple in Owens' case. Just sad, even considering that we're talking about Owens.
Bledsoe, for the most part, couldn't tie his shoes, let alone deal with the Eagles' defense. In the first half alone, his immobility and suspect release rendered him fodder. On 13 occasions, he was sacked (twice), hit (six times), or forced to hurry his throw (five times). In other words, the Eagles were all over him.
"I know I was open on several occasions," a visibly, predictably upset Owens said after the game. "We had several opportunities available to us and we just didn't capitalize. Of course I was frustrated. I know what we could have done. I'm not saying any names, but who was pulling the trigger?"
In Sunday's case, it would be McNabb, who struggled last season but now has emerged as a bona fide MVP candidate. Consider the 87-yard bomb McNabb threw to Hank Baskett, the 40-yard hookup with Reggie Brown off a flea-flicker, the 60-yarder to L.J. Smith.
There's no need to ask what T.O. was thinking.
"He's got to be in pain," one Eagle said. "We all know it. He's a great athlete with a tremendous amount of pride, who had to sit back and watch guys who many people would say are not better than him look better than him, purely because they're playing with a great quarterback he still should have been playing for."
What followed was a typical "those are the breaks," but it's much sadder than that.
In Bledsoe, Owens has a quarterback with a great arm, but not great precision and certainly not great legs. He doesn't have a playmaker, someone who can make something happen when a play falls apart.
"We would have been better if we were able to improvise more," Owens said to a teammate shortly after the game.
And coach Bill Parcells isn't helping.
Peek inside the Cowboys' locker room and, according to those close to the players, Parcells was hell-bent on ensuring T.O. wasn't the star on Sunday. Although it's no secret Parcells is partial to wideout Terry Glenn - this season - many believe he purposely didn't want Owens to shine, to avoid the migraines such a colossal ego would cause.
So essentially, Owens, arguably the best receiver in the game, is being limited. Not just by an average and aging quarterback, but also by an agitated coach.
If you're T.O., welcome to a miserable existence. One that isn't about to get better anytime soon.
The question is: How much does he have to look forward to?
Particularly when compared with what he left behind.
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