T.O. In B-Lo: A List

  In an effort to stimulate debate with the critics, who seem to like to engage in a strategy known as "closing down the debate," this is a list of all the reasons Terrell Owens will fare far better in Buffalo than he has on any other team. Also, there may be a point or two regarding why his acquisition was intelligent on the part of Buffalo. Here goes (and I sure do hope I am right):

1. The most common complaint: T.O. is a cancer in the locker room.  My logical response: There is less ego in the Buffalo Bills locker room than there have been in other locker rooms he has been a part of.  The Bills' locker room has enough room for his ego and, in fact, have thus far welcomed it.  Further, Buffalo is the smallest market Owens has ever played in.  Before this, he played in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Dallas.  These three teams are large market teams that generally draw a good deal of media attention with or without Owens.  Buffalo has been getting a lot of attention lately - but it is because Owens is there now.  Since he is playing in a smaller market and is the biggest attention draw on the team (due to personality as well as skill.  I am not willing to say he is Buffalo's only talent; the defense is stacked if healthy, Marshawn Lynch is a stud, Lee Evans is fantastic, etc.) he can bask in the attention instead of crumble under the weight.  I do not need to remind NFL fans of the infamous crying interview.

2. This point stems from the first one.  The largest reason Owens was a cancer was because he is a competitive winner.  Buffalo is cognizant of this.  They will get him the ball because they need him to have it.  If Owens has the ball, touchdowns happen.  Owens scored more touchdowns last season himself than the entire Bills offense.  They will use him more than other teams have in the past.  Need I remind everyone of the Romo to Witten disaster last season when their play-off hopes were hanging by a thread?  Instead of giving the ball to Owens, Romo threw two passes to Witten that were incredibly off the mark.  In fact, Witten did not even turn to acknowledge of the two passes from a choking Tony Romo.  Sure, Owens may not have caught the ball and, if he had, may not have done anything with it.  However, it sure as heck would've been better than passing to an obviously covered Witten (or no one).

3. A great deal has been said about Owens and trouble with his quarterback.  I will say this as simply as I can, even though it may anger Dallas fans.  Trent Edwards is smarter than Tony Romo.  This is undeniable.  Romo went to Eastern Illinois.  Edwards is a Stanford man.  If collegiate pedigree is not enough proof, just listen to the way Edwards handles the media.  Then, just for a point of comparison, listen to Romo.  Edwards is a very intelligent guy.  I am not calling Romo completely brainless; I am merely saying Edwards is smarter.  Edwards will avoid the drama tactfully, even if the media attempts to create it.

4. Owens will be effective by simply being on the Buffalo field.  Let us not forget, Buffalo already has a great receiving core.  Roscoe Parrish is effective in the slot, Josh Reed is a great 3rd down option, and Lee Evans is a speedy, sure-handed deep threat.  In fact, that deep threat was precisely what was missing.  Until this season, opposing defenses knew that if they shut down Lee Evans, the Buffalo passing offense was left with little more than a short passing game.  By double teaming Evans or moving a safety over far enough Evans' way to intimidate Edwards from going his direction, they could shut down the passing game.  Life is easy on a defense when they only have to worry about the short passing game.  There has to be an effective short game to keep a defense honest, but there has to be an effective deep game to keep them scared.  With Owens on the field, that double team scenario will be a non-issue.  Opposing defenses cannot possibly double both Owens and Evans.  These guys create a two-man deep threat and a formidable one-two punch combination.  Add in to all of this Buffalo's running game, which can now be effectively established by Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson with the field widened and opened up a bit.  This is all due to an addition of one player.  I mentioned earlier that the short game keeps a defense honest.  Above that, a strong running game provides the true leash on the defensive dog.  Adding another deep threat allows the running game to open up provided there are quality backs on a team.  There are quality backs in Buffalo and no one can argue otherwise.  The combination of a complete passing game and a threatening running game makes for a powerful offense that Buffalo has been missing since the early 90s.  The pieces are in place now and the offense should prove potent if Trent Edwards can be the Quarterback that glues it all together.

5.  Buffalo has, as of now, only signed Owens to a one year contract.  As such, there is very little time for him to become a problem there.  This was a very smart move on the part of the front office.  If Owens has a fantastic season, Buffalo can flirt with resigning him.  If he fails, he leaves.  No harm, no foul.

6.  What is the worst that can happen - Buffalo goes 7-9 again?  Buffalo has nothing to lose and everything to gain by bringing Owens aboard.

So, with those six points (number four being the most important in my mind), there should be little doubt as to whether this is a good move for Buffalo.  Tim Hasselbeck says otherwise, but who cares what he thinks anyhow? I do know about media bias and do admit to being a die hard bills fan. As such a fan I can happily say I've got my popcorn ready. Do you?