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| Drop Count October 18 2002 By Bryan Hersh of 49ers Paradise THIS CONTENT IS COPYWRITED, REDISTRIBUTION OF IT (including copy/pasting it to a message board, forum or bbs) IS PROHIBITED AND COULD RESULT IN LEGAL ACTIONS - feel free to quote up to 1 paragraph providing a source link to http://www.49ersparadise.cjb.net is included Since the start of the season I’ve been keeping tabs on how many passes Terrell Owens drops. It’s not that I’m anti-Owens, but I do see his inability to hold onto catch-able balls as a problem. While it can be argued what balls are catch-able and what balls aren’t, the ones I’m counting are those that hit Owens, or pass through his hands/arms. Conversely, I don’t count defensive players batting the ball out of his hands, or passes that aren’t on target. On a similar note, I also don’t count plays where Owens simply stops running his pattern - which isn’t happening now, as much as it was at the beginning of the season. To date, Owens has recorded nine drops, which is 1.8 a game. This past Monday night, Owens dropped two balls that fit into the category described above. These drops were insignificant compared to some of the ones earlier this season in that none were potential touchdowns, but certainly when the ball is in Owens hands you really never know. Owens is a dangerous weapon. He can be the teams biggest play maker but is also often responsible with losing his concentration, or trying to hard to make the play instead of catching the ball. The resulting dropped passes can be extremely damaging to the offense considering Owens is the team’s ‘go to guy’ and will see more balls thrown his way than any other player- even if the other players tend to hold onto the ball more.
Owens needs to start holding on to the ball every time it comes his way. The occasional drop is understandable, but the 1.8 average per game is too high for a play making receiver. He must learn that catching the ball is more important than the big play, and thus he must lean to catch the ball first and then try and make plays, this idea alone should be able to limit Owens’ dropped balls.
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