Terrell Owens is coming off his two best games as a member of the Buffalo Bills, and he said today that the difference between how he played for most of the season and how he has played the last two weeks is mostly about the difference at quarterback.
Specifically, Owens says, current starter Ryan Fitzpatrick has been getting him the ball in a way that previous starter Trent Edwards couldn’t.
“If you kind of just think about opportunities that we’ve had during the course of the season, I’ve been open and I’ve been overthrown and I’ve been underthrown,” Owens told reporters today. “And those are some of those opportunities that were missed. Now, with Fitz back there, there are opportunities and I feel like I’m a part of the offense, whereas earlier those feelings and those opportunities, I didn’t feel that they were there.”
By Owens’ standards, those aren’t particularly inflammatory comments. But it was clear from hearing him speak that Owens thinks he would have much better numbers if Fitzpatrick had been under center all season. In the first nine games of the season, Owens averaged less than three catches and just 40.7 yards a game. In the last two games, he’s averaging seven catches for 146.5 yards.
Interestingly, Jason La Canfora of NFL Network reported that others in the organization echo Owens’ sentiments. According to La Canfora, Fitzpatrick is widely viewed as having a better arm and better pocket presence than Edwards. Not everyone will say so publicly, but it seems clear that most people think Owens is right in his assessment of the Bills’ quarterbacks.