Marvin Lewis confident in managing Owens and Ochocinco
With Terrell Owens joining the Cincinnati Bengals for the upcoming season, the team now has perhaps the most volatile duo of wide receivers in the National Football League. The newly-signed Owens has been described as a ‘locker room cancer’ throughout his career and has not been one to shy away from saying controversial things. Current Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco is perhaps even more flamboyant and capable of just about anything.
Most teams in the NFL would want to avoid such a pairing, but Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is perfectly content with it.
According to Lewis, the move to add Owens to the rosters has been in discussion for quite some time. He also said: “We wouldn't have done it if it wasn't something I was not completely comfortable with or wanted. My coaches wanted it. My players wanted it."
If Lewis is able to rein in the receivers’ egos and personalities the Bengals will look extremely savvy for their $2 million acquisition.
The Owens signing is based mainly on the notion that the Bengals’ success will prevent any sort of falling out as players will be content with victory. Last season the Bengals won their division before going on to lose in a home divisional playoff game to the New York Jets. This means that they were three games shy of winning a Super Bowl and Owens is the addition that could allow the Bengals to avoid such a shortfall this season.
As Lewis explained, the move adds a lot of what he calls ‘cheese’ to the offensive power of the Bengals. Lewis said: "You got to find the cheese in this game. We have more cheese now on offense. You can't have the season we had last year and sit around and hem and haw. You've got to go find something, do something that makes you better.”
He then went on to praise Owens’s abilities and how they tied in with this concept of offensive pizzazz. Lewis noted: "I've coached against Terrell four times in the last seven years and he is still a threat. We saw his Buffalo film from last year and were quite familiar with the quarterback [Ryan Fitzpatrick, a former Bengal]. Terrell can still cause defences to revolve and have to rotate to him. He is still an impressive vertical threat. He has the ability to do some heavy lifting in pass routes where other guys are the vertical threat. He's done everything. Big target. Effective Red Zone player."
Lewis’s assumptions might pay off big for the Bengals. Owens is still a very viable target and showed that even at 36-years-old he could run with the best of them. His low numbers during a one-year stint with the Buffalo Bills stemmed mainly from the lack of good passes rather than any sort of receiving inability. With Carson Palmer at the helm, Owens will be able to show off just how physically fit he still remains.
As for the personality issues, Owens has really calmed down in recent years. He is no longer the egomaniacal diva that tore apart the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles. Now that Owens has restraint he comes off as someone with a quirky personality that is not malicious. Similarly, Ochocinco has also become a fan favourite with antics that are unique and fun rather than just obnoxious.
Lewis also noted Owens’s newer relaxed attitude. "He's a very impressive young man," Lewis said. "I was impressed with how he communicated with others here. A very quiet, reserved person. Gracious. That part of him is his grandmother's upbringing. The guy walks in like a rock star. A big impressive man and people stop and turn their heads."
Of all the receivers available for the Bengals to bolster their offence without any sort of trading, Owens is the best match and the Bengals are an extremely big aerial threat anytime Owens, Ochocinco, and Antonio Bryant take the field.
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