Ego Number One

So I’m sure you’d have heard about this, but on the off-chance… Terrell Owens has agreed terms with the Cincinnati Bengals and has joined up with them for training. He’s signed a one-year deal and Antonio Bryant has handed him his favoured #81 shirt (in exchange for a donation to one of little leagues) so the Chad and Terrell (and Antonio!) era begins. The CO/TO show.

Owens is 36 now, and not the number 1 option that he was, but he won’t be asked to be. He’ll need to contribute when called on, and be a good team member. You can’t really use last year’s stats as an indicator of his performance as the Bills were pretty bad. What you can look at is that he was a good soldier – the model of a quiet (for him) professional who just got on with it. If he can bring that attitude in, then he should do fine. And it’s difficult to imagine him taking verbal pops at Carson Palmer and have the team stand for it – their QB has proved himself again and again and is a popular leader there.

Ego Number Two

So how does this affect the AFC North, and in particular our predictions there. Craig pointed out that they had strengthened and suggested they could challenge for the division… I think that’s fair, and if they can improve their passing game (ranked 26th overall in 2009) then they are contenders and if they can complete more outside of the division then Craig’s Ravens could be in trouble again.

Craig’s View:

Yeah, they’re stacked with receivers… but they don’t have Ray Lewis on defence.

Image Credits:
CO – Clay Seal
TO – Brad Bethell Photography