Former wide receiver Terrell Owens believes the Kansas City Chiefs would have beat the Cincinnati Bengals with his help — which is ridiculous, of course.
In 2021, the Bengals thumped the Chiefs not once, but twice en route to their Super Bowl appearance, and their postseason win over Kansas City in particular stands out above all other victories.
In the AFC Championship game, Burrow led Cincy to a 27-24 overtime win against the mighty Mahomes, proving the team was no longer the same ol’ Bungles. It was the Chiefs instead who botched a 21-10 lead at the half, partly due to communication issues between Mahomes and his receivers.
One former great wideout, Terrell Owens, spoke out about the Chiefs’ baffling collapse and went so far as to claim he would have made a dramatic difference in that game.
"I was blowing up Andy Reid's phone last season to bring me in.. you insert me in that offense & I'm gonna be a viable option" ~@terrellowens#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/7n8uKMEwOL
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 6, 2022
Owens told Pat McAfee:
"“You look at the last game that they played… they’re in the red zone, just as I had mentioned. Third down, red-zone situation — Patrick Mahomes, he couldn’t find anybody in the red zone. You insert me into that offense, that’s where I just said I would be valuable. You had Tyreek Hill, you got Travis Kelce. You put me on the other side of that formation. Somebody has to commit to one side or the other because at the end of the day, I’m going to get open.”"
Former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens discusses Bengals-Chiefs playoff game, tries to make himself relevant in 2022
The Hall-of-Famer last played in the NFL in 2010 for the Bengals, ironically, recording 983 receiving yards and adding nine touchdowns. Owens is much more well-known for his eight-year stint on the San Francisco 49ers, though, and despite his…advanced age, he was apparently clamoring for a starting spot on Kansas City last season.
While it’s true that the Chiefs suffered an inexplicable breakdown in the second half of that game, we’re not sure how much Owens would have helped. Burrow finished with a respectable 250 passing yards and two touchdowns against one interception, but Mahomes had the most worse stat line with two embarrassing interceptions, one of which ended the Chiefs’ possession in overtime.
His age notwithstanding, Owens may have gotten himself into some space, but it wouldn’t be much use if the star quarterback couldn’t throw. And yes, at 48-years-old and more than a decade removed from the game, what exactly does Owens have up his sleeve? We’d even put our money on Eli Apple locking down the old man.
In any case, what’s past is past, and both the Chiefs and Bengals have since upgraded their rosters for the 2022 season.
If the two teams meet again in the postseason, we’d expect an incredibly fierce QB battle between Burrow and Mahomes, and we’d also expect Owens to be watching from the stands. He can talk that talk, but he probably can’t walk that walk, not at his age anyway.