Kaboom!! goes Owens
Terrell Owens was awfully quiet in the first half Sunday night at Soldier Field. Among his lowlights …
• He had 3 catches for 40 yards.
• He was hit with a false-start penalty.
• He was whistled for offensive pass interference.
This kind of start is what can put the vocal, moody and sometimes recluse Owens into a funk he won't recover from until the next game.
Unfortunately for Bears fans, that wasn't the case on this night.
Owens came out in the second half with a vengeance, burning cornerback Charles Tillman to a crisp as the Cowboys went on an 89-yard march to take a 10-3 lead.
Owens was everywhere on the drive, racking up an astounding 70 of those 89 yards. He finished with 8 catches for 145 yards and has 16 catches for 329 yards and 3 TDs on the season.
The carnage began innocently enough, with an 18-yard completion over the short middle. Then, just as it looked like the Bears were about to stop Dallas, Owens came up with the play of the drive. On third-and-7, quarterback Tony Romo hit Owens deep down the middle for another 18-yard pickup -- and the T.O. explosion was in full swing.
The next play -- kaboom! -- Owens ran a crossing route across the field and picked up 11 yards.
Next play -- KABOOM! again -- Romo scrambled out of the pocket and found Owens wide open downfield. Owens caught the ball, made a nifty move and picked up 23 yards to the Bears' 9.
Two plays later, Romo hit Jason Witten for Dallas' first touchdown and a 10-3 lead.
The Bears answered and tied the game at 10-10, but on Dallas' next drive, Owens made his presence felt again in a big way on -- of all things -- third-and-11 from the 8-yard line.
Owens grabbed the ball on another crossing route, used a crushing block by fellow wide receiver Sam Hurd on Adam Archuleta and picked up 35 yards.
It was Owens' only reception of the drive, but imagine if he doesn't make that play. Dallas doesn't continue its 91-yard march en route to a 17-10 lead and the game might have a very different ending.
About the only negative for Owens was that he had a six-game TD streak broken. Since Romo took over for Drew Bledsoe midway through the sixth game last season, Owens has 12 TD catches. Only once has he been held under 55 receiving yards in that span.
Owens had 87 yards and 2 TDs in Dallas' 45-35 opening win, then 5-for-97 last week, including a 34-yard TD catch on fourth down that gave Dallas a 31-13 lead late in the fourth quarter over Miami. After that score, Owens went next to the goal post and used the football as a video camera.
He was fined and penalized, but it made no difference as the Cowboys rolled to a victory.
Owens made no such outlandish statements with any antics Sunday night.
He simply did it with his ability.
And it's one film Bears fans would like to erase.