TD Antics Aplenty Expected In Ocho Cinco-T.O. Showcase

Two of the most outspoken, flamboyant, and egotistical wide receivers will be on the same field this Sunday in Dallas. For Chad Ocho Cinco (formerly Chad Johnson) and Terrell Owens, Week Five’s Bengals at Cowboys matchup will be much more than just a regular season game.

The media in both Cincinnati and Dallas has feasted on the two loud-mouth receivers, who have offered up a mixed smorgasbord of both complaints and trash talk all this week.

The Bengals’ Ocho Cinco has promised to “kiss the Dallas star” on the field in Texas Stadium this Sunday, and has even asked for at least nine rows of seats for his family and friends to see the game.

On the other sideline, Owens has been very open with his opinion that he should get the ball more each game. This was said despite the fact that Owens was targeted on 20 of the team’s 58 offensive plays last week, which was over one-third of the offensive snaps. Owens caught seven passes but was held under 100 yards receiving for the fourth straight game this year.

It’s tough for us to sympathize with a guy when his team plays a game like that and only ends up losing by two points. The Cowboys are still a dominant team playing in an absurdly good NFC East division and have one loss in four weeks. Why is T.O. complaining?

We go back to the postgame interview after the Monday Nighter against Philadelphia in Week Two to discover T.O.’s true motives. Aside from boasting his individual goals for the season and after Emmitt Smith coaxed him into speaking more about the team goals, Owens still wished only for one Cowboys playoff win.

Just one victory, Terrell? This team is a Super Bowl favorite and he wants to win only one game in the playoffs? That would put them at least two short of what everyone else in Dallas is expecting and hoping for; but not the egotistical T.O.

After the loss to Washington, T.O. didn’t shut his mouth and accept his personal responsibility. He instead did the only thing he knew how to do after a heart-breaking loss: emphasize his need to receive the ball more often, despite his extreme involvement in the offense. Again, this statement seems ridiculously self-centered considering the team is 3-1 and among the elite clubs in the NFL.

Ocho Cinco has many more reasons to voice his complaints. The Bengals are floundering in an 0-4 train-wreck of a season, one that may end with the firing of head coach Marvin Lewis, who just three seasons earlier had this team in the playoffs. That’s a far cry from 2008’s squad, which lost yet another statement game, this time to the Browns 20-12 in a battle of winless Ohio teams.

Ocho Cinco’s season numbers are also way off his career averages. This year, 85 receivers in the NFL have more yards receiving and 66 others have more catches, including two players on his own team!

Ocho Cinco has become the second and possibly even the third target for Carson Palmer behind T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Antonio Chatman. This excludes the fact that No.85 has only one TD catch this season, coming last week against a previously 0-3 team. Talk about brutal.

So what is a Chad to do when the offense stinks and the defense can’t stop anybody? Of course: run his mouth. Typical behavior from the spoiled play-maker, right? Yet compare his situation to T.O.’s. He stands to gain much more from this weekend than Owens does, namely because T.O. is still a household name for fantasy owners. Before we condemn Ocho Cinco and slap him with the fantasy “bust” label, let’s consider his strategy heading into this weekend:

If he doesn’t produce and falls flat on his face against the Cowboys defense, his team is still winless and Ocho Cinco is the same loud-mouth player who has failed to produce all year. Any tiny remaining hope in this year’s team will be flushed away and No.85 will pretty much remain a fantasy nobody in 2008.

However, should the unexpected happen and Ocho Cinco somehow guides the Bengals to a major upset over Dallas, the disgruntled receiver will look like a genius. If he predicts fantasy fireworks in Big D, he alone would have warned us all of what was going to happen when he touches the ball. A big-game performance could reignite his fantasy status and call attention to Ocho Cinco in every remaining game this season.

T.O. hasn’t said anything as brash as Ocho Cinco about this week’s game directly, but we’re pretty sure No.81 has been steaming all week after the loss and is aching to show off both his mouth and his talent against Cincinnati.

Ultimately, there will be a winner and a loser come Sunday in Texas, and that’s the absolute beauty of this game. Although one of these players may walk out of Week Five happy (we pray), the unfortunate receiver on the losing team will be anything but (and the media will be sure to hear about it).

Expect a lot of points in this one, along with solid games by both receivers, a romantic moment between Ocho Cinco and the “star”, and a good-old-fashioned “T.O.” arm flex. Throw in whatever other surprise touchdown antics these two have in store for the world in Week Five, and you’re sure to find everything you need in Cincinnati vs. Dallas this Sunday afternoon.