T.O. is about to lose it, but Cowboys will survive

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NEW YORK -- Uh oh. Trouble's brewing. Mount T.O.'s about to blow.

FOX captured 64 shots of Dallas wideout Terrell Owens venting on the sidelines of the best game of the season, Philly's stomach-churning 38-24 win over the Cowboys on Sunday. Jerry Jones added to the story later, saying he was surprised Owens didn't have more than three catches for 45 yards in his return to the town that despises him more intensely than it does the New York Rangers, the New York Giants and Santa Claus combined. (Be very careful, Jerry. That's a one-millimeter line you're balancing on there.) And the Associated Press reported that as Owens ran into the Dallas locker room after the game, "an animated T.O. was yelling and asking why the Cowboys bothered signing him in the offseason.''

Prediction of the Week: Even if Owens has one of his childish meltdowns, it's not going to ruin the Cowboys. But if by chance it does, I will blame not only Owens but also his team of first-class enablers, such as Deion Sanders.

I don't think Owens will kill this team like he did the 49ers and the Eagles, simply because this is a different team he's come to. Drew Bledsoe is as tough as saddle leather and couldn't care less about Owens' ranting on the sidelines like a 12-year-old who's lost his iPod. Ditto Bill Parcells. And his teammates aren't the garden-variety disrupted types either.

In training camp, linebacker Bradie James, a Cowboys team leader, told me, "I don't know T.O., but I've asked him about his past and he said it was all misconstrued. He told me, 'I'm all for the team. That's the big reason I came here. I'm a team guy. I'm a faster version of Keyshawn Johnson.'

"I'll tell you this," James added, "Me and the other veterans are going to hold him to it. There's not going to be any distractions on this team.''

I told this story on NBC on Saturday: When Owens came back from his hospital visit 12 days ago, and once the Cowboys found out he was OK, two of the players lay down in the locker room, imitating being in a coma. My interpretation of this boys-will-be-boys scene is that his Dallas teammates will give him more tough love than he's gotten elsewhere.

And I don't think they will give him a pass on his behavior as his enablers will. His media houseman, Sanders, was stoking the fire late Sunday night on NFL Network, blaming Bledsoe for not getting Owens the ball earlier and more often in the game. "Coach Parcells holds everyone accountable but his quarterback,'' Sanders said on TV.

That was one idiotic statement by Sanders. I wonder if he watched the game. I know he hasn't seen much Parcells-Bledsoe interaction. Parcells doesn't hold Bledsoe accountable? Ha! Sanders has never heard the reamings Bledsoe's taken from Parcells on the practice field or in games, apparently -- some within earshot of the media. In training camp one day, Parcells stopped practice and screamed at Bledsoe, "I NEED A COMMANDER OUT HERE!'' This T.O. mess has nothing to do with Parcells not holding Bledsoe accountable, because he certainly does.

Deion has said some foolish things over the years -- in fact, he set the all-time NFL record for dumb pregame-show statements at CBS -- but blaming Bledsoe for not trying to get the ball to Owens is a classic. Let's analyze Bledsoe's day, and let's count, according to the official NFL play-by-play, how many balls were thrown to Owens and the other stud receiver, Terry Glenn -- who, by the way, led the NFL in average yards per catch last year and is Bledsoe's favorite receiver ever.

Total pass plays: 49. (Bledsoe threw 37 passes to receivers, had one intentional-grounding for his 38th attempt, was sacked seven times and scrambled four times when flushed out of the pocket. Another rushing attempt was a quarterback sneak for a first down.)

Now let's see how those 37 throws were distributed.

Owens: 13. Glenn: 8. Jason Witten: 5. Marion Barber: 4. Patrick Crayton: 3. Julius Jones: 2. Anthony Fasano: 1. Lousaka Polite: 1

If you watched the game, you saw that Bledsoe rarely had a moment's peace. The pocket was in disarray all afternoon. When Owens watches tape of the game (I'd recommend the same to Mr. Football, Sanders), he'll see what he couldn't see when the ball was coming out so inaccurately. He'll see that Bledsoe never had a chance. This is certainly no time to blame Bledsoe for anything other than playing a lousy game -- quasi-heroically, I thought -- while running for his life for three hours and 24 minutes.

That said, if the Cowboys are going to turn to Tony Romo, now is the time to do it, against a defensively weak opponent in the Texans this week and before the real meat of the midseason schedule begins. I can understand Sanders' feelings about Romo being a better fit for this offense right now -- a lot of people feel that way. But it's just wrong for anyone to say that Owens was not enough of a focus of the Dallas game plan on Sunday.

Bledsoe threw 35 percent of his attempts to Owens. Only two were in the first half; that's the only thing I might say was out of whack. But none of us can know how many times Owens was the first read in Bledsoe's progression, times when he couldn't get to him because of the pressure. I sincerely doubt Owens was the first in the progression only twice. Bledsoe just had to continually look to his checkdowns.

That's my take. I'm not saying everything else is static, but Owens' and his enablers' rants after a game like this are silly.

Give credit to a very smart game plan by Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson -- who knows a strong middle rush is Bledsoe's kryptonite -- and a class big-game performance by Donovan McNabb. And appreciate a great late afternoon of NFL theater. It doesn't get any better than this, folks.