Owens' departure leaves no straw to stir the drink in Philly
By Os Davis
03/17/06
When contemplating the disastrous season of Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles last year, the application of a little science-fiction might help.
Time travel back to Super Bowl XXXIX. As in so many football games, a bounce here or there, a miscalled play or a painful pass interference call can dump the game’s balance into the collective lap of one team or another. Consider a game in which Willie McGinest doesn’t force the McNabb fumble on the very first drive or the game; suppose the killer Philly line holds the overenthusiastic Corey Dillon to just slightly less than the seventy-five he rushed for (by the two yards he used for the TD in the fourth, say); what if which coach Andy Reid for just one game doesn’t become more conservative than Pat Buchanan once he hits the playoffs…
An entire alternate universe is created in imagining such possibilities, and the Eagles of 2006 with All-Star wide receiver Terrell Owens – the man they acquired specifically to push them over the Super Bowl hump – would doubtlessly be considered serious contenders for the Lombardi Trophy. Instead, T.O. has left and gone away. What remains is a shadow of that NFC-dominating squad. Hey, this is what happens when a top team (or mini-dynasty if you like) peaks and begins to unravel, right?
Well…
Take a look at how little has changed in a year.
From the Super Bowl roster, the Eagles still boast 2004’s defensive all-stars Jevon Kearse, Jeremiah Trotter, Lito Sheppard and Brian Dawkins; yet Philly went from the 3rd stingiest defense to a pitiful 27th. On offense, remaining are double threat Michael Westbrook (1,515 total yards and 9 TDs in 2004; 1,316 and 7 TDs in 2005) and tight end L.J. Smith (who increased his total yards receiving from 377 to 682 last season).
Indeed, from the Super Bowl season to today, the Eagles have retained over 80% of their roster and their entire coaching staff. Granted, the green and silver had little hope of a repeat visit to the big show when Donovan McNabb went down in game nine, but their pitiful performance can be traced to management. To refuse to sign T.O. was to shoot themselves in the foot. We are told that football is a team sport and that the individual does not rise above the successful team. We are also told that ego problems are bad for the team. Well the reality is that T.O. stood above all these principles and should have been given whatever the Eagles could throw.
Travel back to the alternate universe for a moment. T.O. is named MVP of Super Bowl XXXIX, key as he was in the Eagles’ 21-17 win over the Patriots by bagging nine receptions for 122 yards (by comparison, real-universe MVP Deion Branch snagged eleven for 133) while playing with a couple of screws and a metal plate in his leg. The media proclaims that the move by the front office in Philadelphia was dead on, that T.O. was the straw that stirred the drink in the Eagles’ first Bowl win ever. (Perhaps T.O. himself paraphrases Reggie Jackson’s self-aggrandizing simile.) One win isn’t enough for the flashy yet competitive superstar, and the man produces his best season ever for the playoff-bound 2005 Eagles. Owens makes egomaniacal comments, outrageous statements and more magic with a Sharpie. The media laughs it off with something like "that’s just T.O. being T.O." and Eagles management rapidly renegotiates the superstar’s contract to his liking.
Meanwhile, in our reality, Owens is dissed by mainstream media and portrayed as somehow a distraction against the Patriots while somehow bypassing McNabb’s complaints about his own influenza bug. T.O. responds by (rightfully) telling the mainstream newsboys saying that a player like Brett Favre would have been praised for such bravery. (On a side note, T.O. was essentially proven correct by sports media’s coverage of the Katrina hurricane. The destruction of Favre’s childhood home perhaps outweighed time given to the nearly 90 other Louisiana-born NFLers combined.) Thus begins the dissolution of the media’s sense of humor toward Owens.
The Eagles, in turn, ultimately suspended their megastar for an insane nine games, i.e. the remainder of the season, despite T.O.’s apologies to McNabb, the team and the fans in both a long ESPN interview and a general press conference held in response to the public outcry. Foolishly, Reid and company sought to soothe bruises rather than keep talent. T.O. was suspended and the Eagles went down. The reasoning that was given was that Owens didn’t apologize in person to his quarterback and coach for his less then brotherly behavior, but the reality is that he did indeed apologize.
Granted, McNabb saw his season end prematurely in game nine, but isn’t this essentially the same team that went 5-1 with the great A.J. Feeley at the helm (and without T.O.) in 2003? Wouldn’t T.O. have pumped up Mike McMahon’s ridiculous 45.4 QB rating? And couldn’t Owens have made the difference in, say, two games, giving Philly an 8-8 record and at least some hope for 2006?
Only the citizens of the alternate universe know for sure about the former two, but empirically the answers would appear to be yes, yes and yes. Owens accounted for 25% of McNabb’s completions in the seven games they were together, as opposed to 16% the year before. In less than half a season, T.O. nearly doubled his nearest Eagle competitor’s figures in TDs, receptions and receiving yards (for the entire season); he was a close second in total yards. As Jeff Garcia’s go-to guy for his three full seasons at starting QB, Owens figured for 17% of Garcia’s completions and a brilliant 37% of his total passing yardage. Garcia twice topped a QB rating of 90 with Owens. The logic is clear: no T.O., fewer TD’s.
And now T.O. is gone, chased out of town by Reid and office guys who clearly read too much mainstream media. Suddenly, fans of this Eagle squad full of Super Bowl XXXIX veterans view this season with trepidation, while Tuna’s division rival Cowboys salivate at the prospect of landing one of the most exciting players in the game. Common wisdom has it that Philly will be looking for DTs in the draft, and they have yet to sign any free agent wide receiver that could fill one of T.O.’s shoes in regenerating a limp offense.
A .500 season may be expected in our world, but you can bet that those Philadelphia Eagles supporters in another dimension can’t wait for T.O. to bring them another championship.
03/17/06
When contemplating the disastrous season of Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles last year, the application of a little science-fiction might help.
Time travel back to Super Bowl XXXIX. As in so many football games, a bounce here or there, a miscalled play or a painful pass interference call can dump the game’s balance into the collective lap of one team or another. Consider a game in which Willie McGinest doesn’t force the McNabb fumble on the very first drive or the game; suppose the killer Philly line holds the overenthusiastic Corey Dillon to just slightly less than the seventy-five he rushed for (by the two yards he used for the TD in the fourth, say); what if which coach Andy Reid for just one game doesn’t become more conservative than Pat Buchanan once he hits the playoffs…
An entire alternate universe is created in imagining such possibilities, and the Eagles of 2006 with All-Star wide receiver Terrell Owens – the man they acquired specifically to push them over the Super Bowl hump – would doubtlessly be considered serious contenders for the Lombardi Trophy. Instead, T.O. has left and gone away. What remains is a shadow of that NFC-dominating squad. Hey, this is what happens when a top team (or mini-dynasty if you like) peaks and begins to unravel, right?
Well…
Take a look at how little has changed in a year.
From the Super Bowl roster, the Eagles still boast 2004’s defensive all-stars Jevon Kearse, Jeremiah Trotter, Lito Sheppard and Brian Dawkins; yet Philly went from the 3rd stingiest defense to a pitiful 27th. On offense, remaining are double threat Michael Westbrook (1,515 total yards and 9 TDs in 2004; 1,316 and 7 TDs in 2005) and tight end L.J. Smith (who increased his total yards receiving from 377 to 682 last season).
Indeed, from the Super Bowl season to today, the Eagles have retained over 80% of their roster and their entire coaching staff. Granted, the green and silver had little hope of a repeat visit to the big show when Donovan McNabb went down in game nine, but their pitiful performance can be traced to management. To refuse to sign T.O. was to shoot themselves in the foot. We are told that football is a team sport and that the individual does not rise above the successful team. We are also told that ego problems are bad for the team. Well the reality is that T.O. stood above all these principles and should have been given whatever the Eagles could throw.
Travel back to the alternate universe for a moment. T.O. is named MVP of Super Bowl XXXIX, key as he was in the Eagles’ 21-17 win over the Patriots by bagging nine receptions for 122 yards (by comparison, real-universe MVP Deion Branch snagged eleven for 133) while playing with a couple of screws and a metal plate in his leg. The media proclaims that the move by the front office in Philadelphia was dead on, that T.O. was the straw that stirred the drink in the Eagles’ first Bowl win ever. (Perhaps T.O. himself paraphrases Reggie Jackson’s self-aggrandizing simile.) One win isn’t enough for the flashy yet competitive superstar, and the man produces his best season ever for the playoff-bound 2005 Eagles. Owens makes egomaniacal comments, outrageous statements and more magic with a Sharpie. The media laughs it off with something like "that’s just T.O. being T.O." and Eagles management rapidly renegotiates the superstar’s contract to his liking.
Meanwhile, in our reality, Owens is dissed by mainstream media and portrayed as somehow a distraction against the Patriots while somehow bypassing McNabb’s complaints about his own influenza bug. T.O. responds by (rightfully) telling the mainstream newsboys saying that a player like Brett Favre would have been praised for such bravery. (On a side note, T.O. was essentially proven correct by sports media’s coverage of the Katrina hurricane. The destruction of Favre’s childhood home perhaps outweighed time given to the nearly 90 other Louisiana-born NFLers combined.) Thus begins the dissolution of the media’s sense of humor toward Owens.
The Eagles, in turn, ultimately suspended their megastar for an insane nine games, i.e. the remainder of the season, despite T.O.’s apologies to McNabb, the team and the fans in both a long ESPN interview and a general press conference held in response to the public outcry. Foolishly, Reid and company sought to soothe bruises rather than keep talent. T.O. was suspended and the Eagles went down. The reasoning that was given was that Owens didn’t apologize in person to his quarterback and coach for his less then brotherly behavior, but the reality is that he did indeed apologize.
Granted, McNabb saw his season end prematurely in game nine, but isn’t this essentially the same team that went 5-1 with the great A.J. Feeley at the helm (and without T.O.) in 2003? Wouldn’t T.O. have pumped up Mike McMahon’s ridiculous 45.4 QB rating? And couldn’t Owens have made the difference in, say, two games, giving Philly an 8-8 record and at least some hope for 2006?
Only the citizens of the alternate universe know for sure about the former two, but empirically the answers would appear to be yes, yes and yes. Owens accounted for 25% of McNabb’s completions in the seven games they were together, as opposed to 16% the year before. In less than half a season, T.O. nearly doubled his nearest Eagle competitor’s figures in TDs, receptions and receiving yards (for the entire season); he was a close second in total yards. As Jeff Garcia’s go-to guy for his three full seasons at starting QB, Owens figured for 17% of Garcia’s completions and a brilliant 37% of his total passing yardage. Garcia twice topped a QB rating of 90 with Owens. The logic is clear: no T.O., fewer TD’s.
And now T.O. is gone, chased out of town by Reid and office guys who clearly read too much mainstream media. Suddenly, fans of this Eagle squad full of Super Bowl XXXIX veterans view this season with trepidation, while Tuna’s division rival Cowboys salivate at the prospect of landing one of the most exciting players in the game. Common wisdom has it that Philly will be looking for DTs in the draft, and they have yet to sign any free agent wide receiver that could fill one of T.O.’s shoes in regenerating a limp offense.
A .500 season may be expected in our world, but you can bet that those Philadelphia Eagles supporters in another dimension can’t wait for T.O. to bring them another championship.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:05 AM
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