Owens considers himself the Cowboys' fifth captain
By JAIME ARON AP Sports Writer
Article Launched: 09/20/2007 03:12:39 PM MDT
IRVING, Texas—When the Dallas Cowboys picked their captains, Terrell Owens didn't make the cut.
So?
"I told the guys that I am a self-appointed captain," Owens said, laughing. "We had our first players' meeting right before our first game. Coach had the captains come up and say some things, and if anybody else wanted to say some things, they had the floor. I stood up and offered to be that self-appointed captain. Everybody kind of got a chuckle out of that."
Tony Romo and Jason Witten are the offensive captains. Bradie James represents the defense and Keith Davis the special teams.
If all four are ever inactive at the same time, then maybe coach Wade Phillips would send Owens out for the coin toss.
For now, though, Phillips will gladly settle for sending Owens out for passes—and touchdowns.
T.O. has a TD catch in six straight games, one shy of the team record set by Frank Clarke in 1961-62 and matched by Bob Hayes in 1965-66. Clarke, Hayes and Michael Irvin also had six-game streaks.
Owens' roll is the longest going in the NFL. He's also got the second-longest streak of consecutive games with a catch, 154.
But, wait, that's not all.
— Owens passed Don Maynard for 15th on the career receiving yardage list with 97 yards against Miami this past Sunday. His tally is up to 11,899, only five behind Irvin for No. 14 all-time.
— Owens has 809 career catches, five from tying Keyshawn Johnson and Henry Ellard for No. 15 on that list. Six will put him at 14th with Shannon Sharpe.
At his usual rates, Owens will finish the year top 10 in both categories. He's already No. 4 in TD catches.
Owens might have a tough time moving up the lists Sunday night because the Cowboys will be facing a Chicago defense that's among the best in the league.
Then again, thanks in part to Owens, Dallas does have the league's most explosive offense thus far.
"We're going to be revved up just like they're going to be fired up," Owens said. "Our scheme is not going to change, just as well as their scheme is not going to change. We've just got to go out and play our brand of football."
Considering the numbers the Cowboys have put up, it's no surprise that Owens is happy with the way things have gone the first two games under new play-caller Jason Garrett.
"We're attacking. If that's a synonym for being aggressive, then, yeah, that's what we want to do," Owens said. "We want to attack and throw the ball downfield."
A great example came on fourth-and-5 from the Miami 34 with just over four minutes left in the game.
Dallas took a time out just before that play. Owens went to the coaches and let them know this would be a good time to get him the ball.
Tight end Jason Witten actually was the primary receiver on the play, but quarterback Tony Romo read the defense and looked to Owens instead. Both recognized that the cornerback was shading one way, so the route—and the pass—went another way, hitting Owens in stride in the end zone.
"I guess it was just that communication and that chemistry that you guys have been talking about between me and Tony," Owens said. "That was just a taste and a touch of what can go on throughout the season."
Romo hit Owens in the end zone earlier in the game, but he couldn't hold on to it, something about the sun being in his eyes. That obviously didn't affect Owens' confidence when he told coaches he wanted the ball.
"I welcomed the challenge," Owens said. "That's what I want. I want to put it on my shoulders to make play. ... I try to pick my times, but I'm always making requests. It was a situation where it was do-or-die. It was a fourth down situation where we needed to keep the chains moving a little bit, and obviously if we scored, it kind of put the game out of reach. It worked out for us."
Asked whether coaches knew he was more serious than usual in this pivotal moment, Owens said, "I'm always serious."
And he looked it when he said it.
So is it fair to say he demanded the ball on that play?
"It was a strong request," he said, laughing. "How about that?"
———
HANDLING HESTER@ Cowboys coach Wade Phillips says Bears kick returner extraordinaire Devin Hester "is going to be the all-time best as far as returning kicks, he may be already as far as numbers are concerned."
So here's his advice to punter Mat McBriar: "Hit 'em high."
"We are going to try to keep the ball away from him or keep it where he can't return it," Phillips said. "But you can't always do that. You still have to meet the challenge to a certain extent, unless you just punted it out of bounds every time and took a chance of having 15- and 20-yard punts."
McBriar is a Pro Bowl punter able to boom the ball pretty deep. Doing so, however, leaves the club at risk of him outkicking his coverage. That means Hester could have a flying head start, something the Cowboys would hate to see.
Hmm. If they're not going to kick it deep, won't kick it out of bounds and only hope to kick it high, is there anything else they could do?
"Well," Phillips said, "we don't want to punt it."
Article Launched: 09/20/2007 03:12:39 PM MDT
IRVING, Texas—When the Dallas Cowboys picked their captains, Terrell Owens didn't make the cut.
So?
"I told the guys that I am a self-appointed captain," Owens said, laughing. "We had our first players' meeting right before our first game. Coach had the captains come up and say some things, and if anybody else wanted to say some things, they had the floor. I stood up and offered to be that self-appointed captain. Everybody kind of got a chuckle out of that."
Tony Romo and Jason Witten are the offensive captains. Bradie James represents the defense and Keith Davis the special teams.
If all four are ever inactive at the same time, then maybe coach Wade Phillips would send Owens out for the coin toss.
For now, though, Phillips will gladly settle for sending Owens out for passes—and touchdowns.
T.O. has a TD catch in six straight games, one shy of the team record set by Frank Clarke in 1961-62 and matched by Bob Hayes in 1965-66. Clarke, Hayes and Michael Irvin also had six-game streaks.
Owens' roll is the longest going in the NFL. He's also got the second-longest streak of consecutive games with a catch, 154.
But, wait, that's not all.
— Owens passed Don Maynard for 15th on the career receiving yardage list with 97 yards against Miami this past Sunday. His tally is up to 11,899, only five behind Irvin for No. 14 all-time.
— Owens has 809 career catches, five from tying Keyshawn Johnson and Henry Ellard for No. 15 on that list. Six will put him at 14th with Shannon Sharpe.
At his usual rates, Owens will finish the year top 10 in both categories. He's already No. 4 in TD catches.
Owens might have a tough time moving up the lists Sunday night because the Cowboys will be facing a Chicago defense that's among the best in the league.
Then again, thanks in part to Owens, Dallas does have the league's most explosive offense thus far.
"We're going to be revved up just like they're going to be fired up," Owens said. "Our scheme is not going to change, just as well as their scheme is not going to change. We've just got to go out and play our brand of football."
Considering the numbers the Cowboys have put up, it's no surprise that Owens is happy with the way things have gone the first two games under new play-caller Jason Garrett.
"We're attacking. If that's a synonym for being aggressive, then, yeah, that's what we want to do," Owens said. "We want to attack and throw the ball downfield."
A great example came on fourth-and-5 from the Miami 34 with just over four minutes left in the game.
Dallas took a time out just before that play. Owens went to the coaches and let them know this would be a good time to get him the ball.
Tight end Jason Witten actually was the primary receiver on the play, but quarterback Tony Romo read the defense and looked to Owens instead. Both recognized that the cornerback was shading one way, so the route—and the pass—went another way, hitting Owens in stride in the end zone.
"I guess it was just that communication and that chemistry that you guys have been talking about between me and Tony," Owens said. "That was just a taste and a touch of what can go on throughout the season."
Romo hit Owens in the end zone earlier in the game, but he couldn't hold on to it, something about the sun being in his eyes. That obviously didn't affect Owens' confidence when he told coaches he wanted the ball.
"I welcomed the challenge," Owens said. "That's what I want. I want to put it on my shoulders to make play. ... I try to pick my times, but I'm always making requests. It was a situation where it was do-or-die. It was a fourth down situation where we needed to keep the chains moving a little bit, and obviously if we scored, it kind of put the game out of reach. It worked out for us."
Asked whether coaches knew he was more serious than usual in this pivotal moment, Owens said, "I'm always serious."
And he looked it when he said it.
So is it fair to say he demanded the ball on that play?
"It was a strong request," he said, laughing. "How about that?"
———
HANDLING HESTER@ Cowboys coach Wade Phillips says Bears kick returner extraordinaire Devin Hester "is going to be the all-time best as far as returning kicks, he may be already as far as numbers are concerned."
So here's his advice to punter Mat McBriar: "Hit 'em high."
"We are going to try to keep the ball away from him or keep it where he can't return it," Phillips said. "But you can't always do that. You still have to meet the challenge to a certain extent, unless you just punted it out of bounds every time and took a chance of having 15- and 20-yard punts."
McBriar is a Pro Bowl punter able to boom the ball pretty deep. Doing so, however, leaves the club at risk of him outkicking his coverage. That means Hester could have a flying head start, something the Cowboys would hate to see.
Hmm. If they're not going to kick it deep, won't kick it out of bounds and only hope to kick it high, is there anything else they could do?
"Well," Phillips said, "we don't want to punt it."
posted by The Gryphon at 6:26 PM
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