Next stop for Bengals’ Terrell Owens is Buffalo
It would appear that Terrell Owens is seeing nothing but familiar faces this pre-season. In the Cincinnati Bengals’ first three pre-season games, two of those exhibitions have been against Owens’s former teams. He played in the Hall of Fame game against the Dallas Cowboys then he faced the Philadelphia Eagles a week later. Now, Owens will face the Buffalo Bills, the team that signed him last season, on Saturday for a week-three pre-season contest at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
As a member of the Bills in 2009, Owens led the team in receptions with 55 for 829 yards and six touchdowns. But his production numbers decreased drastically compared to those from his career and the Bills had a sudden change in heart and decided to let him go.
However, Owens inked a one-year deal with Cincinnati in late July and addressed the fans of Cincinnati with an open letter. “First off, I’m thankful to Mike Brown and the Bengals organization for giving me another opportunity to play football,” he wrote.
The move seems to have rejuvenated the 36-year-old receiver, who joins his good friend Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and new quarterback Carson Palmer. Johnson vouched for Owens and was a major reason that the Bengals opted to sign him. But since his arrival, Owens has received the majority of the spotlight and the bulk of Palmers’ attention, and leads the team with nine receptions for 108 yards in his first pre-season with the Bengals.
Johnson, who was the team’s number one receiver over the years, has only racked up three catches for 33 yards this pre-season.
But both receivers are claiming that they are not concern with stats and that the only competition between the two is geared to make the other guy play better.
As for the Bills, according to head coach Chan Gailey, quarterback Trent Edwards once again sits atop the depth chart after redeeming himself after a poor performance in week one. Edwards shined in last week's 34-21 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Toronto completing 5-of-8 for 93 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown strike to his primary receiver Lee Evans.
His solid outing has Edwards feeling confident that he can duplicate his success and will get the nod for the start of the season opener. "My mind-set right now is that, I'm the guy," Edwards says. "But I am also one of my own worst critics."
Gailey is also convinced that Edwards can lead this team in the future. "He has every tool that's needed to be a successful quarterback in this league,” said Gailey.
Saturday will be a good measuring stick for the Bills as they are still searching for their identity on the offensive side of the ball. Are they a passing team or one that runs? The Bills haven’t seen consistency out of Edwards. Only time will tell if he can consistently put up solid numbers.
As far as their running game goes, the Bills are banged up at the running back position. Although rookie C.J. Spiller finished with 10 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown in his first start in the NFL last week, he remains unproven and there is no guarantee that he is an every-down back. This pre-season contest will be very important for Buffalo and should give them a good idea of which offence suits them best.
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