Cowboys should use TO or let him go
By Jean-Jacques Taylor/Dallas Morning News
PHILADELPHIA – The Cowboys have done the impossible. They have transformed Terrell Owens into a $10 million decoy.
So who's at fault?
Is Bill Parcells stubbornly refusing to build the passing offense around T.O.?
Or is Todd Haley, the team's first-year passing game coordinator, in over his head?
Jerry Jones needs these questions answered immediately.
Jerry gave T.O. a three-year deal worth $25 million, including $10 million in bonuses and salary this season, to be an impact player – not a role player. Thus far, Jerry has spent $6,470,588.24 (Owens' bonuses plus prorated salary) for 17 receptions, 232 yards, one meaningless touchdown and no tangible impact. That projects to 68 catches for 928 yards and four touchdowns, which would be T.O.'s worst full season since 1999.
In his much-anticipated return to Philadelphia, where he was suspended and deactivated for the final nine games last season for conduct detrimental to the team, T.O. was a nonfactor in a 38-24 loss at Lincoln Financial Field.
T.O. said his performance wasn't disappointing on a personal level, but you know he spent all week preparing to have a game worthy of leading off SportsCenter. And don't think he didn't have a creative TD celebration ready.
Instead, he finished with three catches for 45 yards. This has become a disturbing trend.
Parcells never wants any player placed above the team, which is one of the reasons he has made himself the face of every franchise he's coached. But if Parcells doesn't want T.O. to be the focal point of the offense, there's no way Jerry is going to get his money's worth. If Parcells returns next season, there's no need for Jerry to give T.O. another $8 million in bonuses and salary to be a role player. He might as well cut him and save the money.
Sure, T.O. forces defenses to double-team him, creating more room for Julius Jones to run and Terry Glenn and Jason Witten to catch passes, but he's not worth the money if the Cowboys aren't going to use him.
T.O. is a like a good running back: The more he touches the ball, the more his confidence grows and the more productive he becomes. Make T.O. a role player and he loses the edge that makes him great.
It's ridiculous for Drew Bledsoe to attempt 16 first-half passes and direct only two toward T.O.
Bledsoe says he's simply going through his progression of reads and delivering the ball to the open receiver. Parcells says teams are double-covering T.O. and eliminating him from the game.
Neither excuse is valid.
You think Carolina's Steve Smith doesn't get double-covered? What about Cincinnati's Chad Johnson? Or St. Louis' Torry Holt? More important, it's not like T.O. wasn't constantly double-covered in Philadelphia and San Francisco.
That's where Haley, who spent all off-season lobbying for this position, must do a better job.
It's his job to install creative route combinations designed to get T.O. the ball. It's his job to integrate the routes T.O. ran successfully with Philadelphia and San Francisco into the Cowboys' offense. It's also his job to convince Parcells it's in the team's best interest to use those plays.
You saw a couple of crossing routes and hitches Sunday, but the Cowboys never gave the impression they wanted T.O. to be a difference-maker against the team he despises. Jerry said the game plan called for T.O. to have a large role in Sunday's game, but the offensive line's inability to protect the quarterback ruined it.
For once, T.O. tried to be politically correct.
He said there were opportunities for him to make big plays, but the Cowboys missed them. Actually, there was only one opportunity.
With the Cowboys trailing 31-24 midway through the fourth quarter, Lito Sheppard intercepted Bledsoe's badly underthrown pass intended for T.O. at the Philadelphia 7. A good pass would've resulted in a touchdown.
T.O. stomped to the sideline, where he paced angrily. Earlier in the game, he had an intense conversation with Haley.
"When you see me get frustrated, it's frustration over missed opportunities," Owens said. "I don't know what the answers are. As an offensive unit, we were all frustrated."
And it's not going to end until Parcells and Haley figure out how to maximize T.O.'s talent.
E-mail jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
WHERE DID T.O. GO?
How Terrell Owens' first four games this season compare with his first four the last three seasons:
Season Team Rec. Yds. TDs
2003 49ers 25 299 1
2004 Eagles 26 364 6
2005 Eagles 32 506 4
2006 Cowboys 17 232 1
PHILADELPHIA – The Cowboys have done the impossible. They have transformed Terrell Owens into a $10 million decoy.
So who's at fault?
Is Bill Parcells stubbornly refusing to build the passing offense around T.O.?
Or is Todd Haley, the team's first-year passing game coordinator, in over his head?
Jerry Jones needs these questions answered immediately.
Jerry gave T.O. a three-year deal worth $25 million, including $10 million in bonuses and salary this season, to be an impact player – not a role player. Thus far, Jerry has spent $6,470,588.24 (Owens' bonuses plus prorated salary) for 17 receptions, 232 yards, one meaningless touchdown and no tangible impact. That projects to 68 catches for 928 yards and four touchdowns, which would be T.O.'s worst full season since 1999.
In his much-anticipated return to Philadelphia, where he was suspended and deactivated for the final nine games last season for conduct detrimental to the team, T.O. was a nonfactor in a 38-24 loss at Lincoln Financial Field.
T.O. said his performance wasn't disappointing on a personal level, but you know he spent all week preparing to have a game worthy of leading off SportsCenter. And don't think he didn't have a creative TD celebration ready.
Instead, he finished with three catches for 45 yards. This has become a disturbing trend.
Parcells never wants any player placed above the team, which is one of the reasons he has made himself the face of every franchise he's coached. But if Parcells doesn't want T.O. to be the focal point of the offense, there's no way Jerry is going to get his money's worth. If Parcells returns next season, there's no need for Jerry to give T.O. another $8 million in bonuses and salary to be a role player. He might as well cut him and save the money.
Sure, T.O. forces defenses to double-team him, creating more room for Julius Jones to run and Terry Glenn and Jason Witten to catch passes, but he's not worth the money if the Cowboys aren't going to use him.
T.O. is a like a good running back: The more he touches the ball, the more his confidence grows and the more productive he becomes. Make T.O. a role player and he loses the edge that makes him great.
It's ridiculous for Drew Bledsoe to attempt 16 first-half passes and direct only two toward T.O.
Bledsoe says he's simply going through his progression of reads and delivering the ball to the open receiver. Parcells says teams are double-covering T.O. and eliminating him from the game.
Neither excuse is valid.
You think Carolina's Steve Smith doesn't get double-covered? What about Cincinnati's Chad Johnson? Or St. Louis' Torry Holt? More important, it's not like T.O. wasn't constantly double-covered in Philadelphia and San Francisco.
That's where Haley, who spent all off-season lobbying for this position, must do a better job.
It's his job to install creative route combinations designed to get T.O. the ball. It's his job to integrate the routes T.O. ran successfully with Philadelphia and San Francisco into the Cowboys' offense. It's also his job to convince Parcells it's in the team's best interest to use those plays.
You saw a couple of crossing routes and hitches Sunday, but the Cowboys never gave the impression they wanted T.O. to be a difference-maker against the team he despises. Jerry said the game plan called for T.O. to have a large role in Sunday's game, but the offensive line's inability to protect the quarterback ruined it.
For once, T.O. tried to be politically correct.
He said there were opportunities for him to make big plays, but the Cowboys missed them. Actually, there was only one opportunity.
With the Cowboys trailing 31-24 midway through the fourth quarter, Lito Sheppard intercepted Bledsoe's badly underthrown pass intended for T.O. at the Philadelphia 7. A good pass would've resulted in a touchdown.
T.O. stomped to the sideline, where he paced angrily. Earlier in the game, he had an intense conversation with Haley.
"When you see me get frustrated, it's frustration over missed opportunities," Owens said. "I don't know what the answers are. As an offensive unit, we were all frustrated."
And it's not going to end until Parcells and Haley figure out how to maximize T.O.'s talent.
E-mail jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
WHERE DID T.O. GO?
How Terrell Owens' first four games this season compare with his first four the last three seasons:
Season Team Rec. Yds. TDs
2003 49ers 25 299 1
2004 Eagles 26 364 6
2005 Eagles 32 506 4
2006 Cowboys 17 232 1
posted by The Gryphon at 8:51 AM
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