T.O. Expectations Exceed Execution in Philly-Dallas Showdown
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 9, 2006 — -- In a venue where Terrell Owens once had the fans eating out of his hand, the Cowboys' controversial wide receiver exited Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday evening eaten up by the reality that he was on the losing end of the scoreboard and that he didn't author nearly enough plays to make a difference in a 38-24 Dallas loss.
"The opportunities were there," said Owens, whose return here has been circled on the calendars of local fans since the regular-season schedule was released in early spring. "I feel like the opportunities we had, we missed them. In this game, every play counts."
But not many plays that involved Owens on Sunday counted on the positive side. Suffice it to say that the execution didn't exactly measure up to the expectation.
Owens had three catches for 45 yards, his best play a 24-yard reception on a fade route in the fourth quarter, a snap on which he ran a terrific route, took the ball over his shoulder and tapped both feet down just inbounds. But the Cowboys threw to Owens 11 times, by unofficial count, and two of the passes were intercepted when quarterback Drew Bledsoe left the ball short, and he dropped another one on a crossing route in which Bledsoe appeared to short-arm the ball.
If the jacked-up and well-lubricated Philadelphia crowd wasn't quite what Owens anticipated -- there were a lot of signs in parking lots around the stadium, many of them creatively mocking T.O., but few found their way inside -- neither was his performance. Like many great athletes, Owens in the past has demonstrated an uncanny ability to rise to the occasion.
But on Sunday, it seemed the occasion was a big, stifled yawn.
The crowd wasn't particularly harsh on Owens, at least not by Philadelphia standards, and he didn't raise much reaction until he dropped a pass on a crossing route. There were stretches of the game, in fact, in which it almost appeared the Cowboys were doing everything in their power not to get the ball into his hands.
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