Terrell Owens Calls Out Offensive Line Saying "There's Always Been Some Kind of Breakdown With Protection"

Last week, it was Cedric Benson talking about the offense needing an identity. Benson would go on to follow that up saying that he's not the only one frustrated with the team's offense. Terrell Owens sort of confirmed that, telling Joe Reedy that the team's protection of Palmer tends to break down a bit too much.

“I’ve been open on a number of routes, and for whatever reason, there’s always been some kind of breakdown with protection, or Carson has to come out of the pocket, or he’s rushed. It’s one of those things where it’s frustrating for myself, but I’ve got to keep plugging away. I’m not going to gripe. The most important thing as I’ve alluded to here is we’re winning. If we were losing, then I would definitely have a lot to say, but the most important thing is the W.”

Like it (him) or not, the truth is Owens nailed it. We've had a ton of discussions about the team's pass protection from the offensive line dating back to 2008, when Palmer's elbow was injured in a game against the New York Giants that essentially knocked him out for the rest of the season -- though he did return after taking a game off, recording 217 yards passing and two touchdowns against the Cowboys.

In 2008, Palmer and Ryan Fitzpatrick were sacked a combined 49 times. In 2009, the team improved their protection only allowing 26 quarterback sacks. Somewhat deceptive, the team knew well enough that their protection would be a problem, forcing Palmer into frequent three-step drops in which he'd record his lowest yard/pass average (6.6) during a 16-game season in his career. New year, much of the same. While mostly doing the same quick passes, Palmer's yard/pass is falling even further to a 5.8 yards/pass average. Some directly assault Palmer as the problem. However, pass protection has been a major worry with the Bengals offense dating back three years.

Maybe having Terrell Owens air out the team's problems in the media isn't necessarily desirable, but there's nothing he said that wasn't true.