Why Randy Moss, Not Terrell Owens, Will Be Difference Maker in NFC West

Terrell Owens wasn’t on Randy Moss’ level in 1998 and he isn’t in 2012.

On Monday night, T.O. made noise (shocker) by signing with the Seattle Seahawks. While Owens’ name is once again the talk of the NFL, it won’t be for long. During the season—when it matters—Randy Moss will be the legendary NFC West wide receiver that actually makes a significant impact.

Moss and Owens both took a year off in 2011. The difference, though, is that Moss is three years younger than T.O. and hasn’t recently had surgery to repair a torn ACL.

While there are reports that Owens ran a sub-4.5 40-yard dash at a Seahawks workout, I’m skeptical.

T.O never had Moss-like speed; just ask DeAngelo Hall. And given that Moss supposedly ran around a 4.4 at a New Orleans Saints workout in March, forgive me for being hesitant to believe that Owens—who has always been an inferior athlete to the Superfreak and, again, is three years older and coming off a torn ACL—is only a half a second slower than Moss.

But athleticism aside, Moss is simply in a superior situation to succeed than Owens.

Moss has been with the 49ers all offseason. T.O. will arrive late to Hawks training camp. And as Sports Illustrated’s Peter King noted, he isn’t even a lock to make the team.

Assuming that he does, though, T.O. is going to be catching passes from a quarterback that has only started two games in his NFL career. Sure, Matt Flynn has shown flashes of brilliance, but he’s proved nothing.

If he gets off to a slow start in Seattle, what’s stopping Owens from stirring up trouble just like he did in Cincinnati, Buffalo, Dallas—never mind, he loved Tony Romo—Philadelphia and San Francisco?

Sure, Owens’ quest for a Super Bowl ring may keep him in line. But on the Seahawks, that won’t last long.

Seattle had a pedestrian 7-9 record last season. And according to Bodog, Pete Carroll and company are favored to finish last in the NFC West this year. On the flip side, San Francisco, unsurprisingly, is favored to win the division.

Jim Harbaugh’s crew was a fumble away from the Super Bowl last winter. After finishing with a record of 13-3 and adding Moss, Brandon Jacobs, Mario Manningham, A.J. Jenkins and LaMichael James, there’s no reason the 49ers can’t be that close again.

In a winning environment, Moss has never failed to record a 1,000-yard season. That’s always the key with Mr. Straight Cash Homie.

Unlike Moss, T.O. has always produced—even in extremely unfavorable situations like when he feuded with Donovan McNabb or, even worse, played on the Bills.

But the thing is that Moss is in the perfect situation. While they’re both old and rusty, let’s just say that Moss could have 19 games to prove his worth this season.

You want Owens to overcome age, rust and a poor team to produce more than Moss? If he pulls that off, it’d be his greatest accomplishment—and that’s saying something.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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