T.O. finally gets his close-up
Published: November 22, 2009, 10:24 pm
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — So this is why the Buffalo Bills invested $6.5 million in Terrell Owens.
The veteran wide receiver finally had his breakout game in a Bills uniform. He finished with nine catches for 197 yards, including a 98-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
The touchdown was the longest play from scrimmage in Bills' history, topping the 95-yard touchdown from Todd Collins to Quinn Early at Indianapolis in 1996. The 98-yarder also was a personal record for Owens, whose previous long scoring play was a 91-yard TD catch while playing for Philadelphia in 2005.
His total receiving yardage was the sixth-best by a Bills player in a regular-season game, and the most for Owens since he gained 213 yards for Dallas in Week 11 last season against San Francisco.
Owens' nine receptions were his most since he grabbed 10 (for 174 yards) against Philadelphia in Week Eight of the 2007 season.
Owens now has 14,685 career receiving yards, which moved him into fourth place on the NFL's all-time list, ahead of Marvin Harrison (14,580). Owens' 48th career 100-yard game broke a fifth-place tie with Michael Irvin.
However, Owens took no pleasure in his performance or his growing career accomplishments because of the Bills' 18-15 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"It's all for nothing when you don't get the win," he said. "Honestly, I don't really play the game for a lot of the records. It's just part of what I do. I just thank the Lord for the opportunities that I've been longing for since I've been here."
Owens has been frustrated often this season by the lack of balls thrown his way, especially when Trent Edwards was the quarterback. His anger boiled to the surface last week in Tennessee, apparently because Edwards misread a defensive coverage and didn't get rid of the ball.
However, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick got the ball to Owens early and often. Fourteen of Fitzpatrick's 31 passes went to Owens. No other receiver was targeted more than five times.
"Obviously, with Fitzpatrick back there he gave us some opportunities," Owens said. "Ryan's a smart quarterback. He knows how to assess the defense and put us in the right situations."
Owens' performance was long overdue. It helped to be facing the right team at the right time.
With the Jaguars missing Pro Bowl cornerback Rashean Mathis, who was out with a groin injury, they started rookies Derek Cox and Tyron Brackenridge.
Brackenridge was beaten by Owens on the long touchdown, but it's not as if the rookie was surprised.
"Yeah, he got behind me," Brackenridge said. "He's T.O., man."
It seems Brackenridge wasn't the only Jaguars player in awe of Owens' talent. Wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker requested Owens' jersey after the game, and Owens obliged. He did the same for Tennessee running back Chris Johnson a week ago.
"He's a great player," Sims-Walker said of Owens. "He's had his trials and tribulations, but everybody goes through those things. At the end of the day, he's a playmaker."
Allen Wilson's postgame analysis
And what does Owens think of the admiration young players show him?
"Well, it doesn't mean that I am washed up," he joked. "I take it as a compliment. Obviously, I can still play this game with the best of them. Just put me in the right situation and I can make plays. I've always said that."
Owens always seems to make plays in Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. In his last appearance here, he caught six passes for 80 yards and a touchdown in the Cowboys' 2006 opener.
He also made a surprising recovery from a broken leg late in the regular season to play for the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX against New England. His nine-catch, 122-yard performance might have earned him the game's MVP award if the Eagles hadn't lost, 24-21.
"It definitely brought back a lot of memories," Owens said of playing in the Super Bowl here. "I had a long, hard rehab process. I had a broken leg and a lot of torn ligaments. I had two screws and a plate in my ankle. It gave me a few chills when I came in the locker room. I instantly knew where my locker was. Jairus Byrd was over there and I told him that's where I sat during the Super Bowl."
The Super Bowl or even the playoffs won't be in the cards for Owens this season. But he's trying to write a better ending to his Buffalo story.
After catching just 18 passes for 242 yards in his first seven games, he has 17 catches for 321 yards in the last three contests.
"As I said last week, it's not how you start it's how you finish," Owens said. "I feel like I put that on my shoulders and I want to finish strong no matter what."
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