Michael Irvin vs. Terrell Owens

In doing background work on Terrell Owens' time with the Cowboys, came across this item.

In Dallas Cowboys history, only two wide receivers have been targeted for 140-plus passes in a season: Owens and Michael Irvin. In terms of going after the football, Owens fell short of Irvin.

The Cowboys, mainly Troy Aikman, threw 140-plus passes to Irvin in the 1991, '93, '95 and '97 seasons. In those seasons, Irvin caught 367 of 613 throws for a 60 percent reception rate. In the first three of those seasons, Irvin had a 64 percent reception rate. He went after contested throws in tough places and made the catches.

Owens was targeted for 140-plus passes in each of his three seasons with the Cowboys. Hie had a 54.3 percent reception rate. That speaks of a receiver who did not win many contests for the 50-50 throws.

Plus, the Cowboys won three Super Bowls in the Irvin era, two after seasons in which he was targeted for 140-plus throws. They did not win a playoff game with Owens.

Click here to order Michael Irvin's proCane Rookie Card.



(dallasnews.com)