Surely, the outspoken wide receiver would slam Tom Brady and the offensive game plan, proving he can't fit into any situation, even a winning one.
Except, that didn't happen. Ochocinco praised Brady's brilliance, noting a video-game like performance and calling New England's offense a "machine." Ochocinco played a bit role in the Patriots' 38-24 victory in Miami with one reception for 14 yards — his five-yard penalty that erased a 41-yard play essentially gave him a net of 32 yards — and didn't receive a lot of playing time.
For that, Patriots legends Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison slammed Ochocinco, saying he should be more worried about getting up to speed than fawning over the Patriots' offense on Twitter. The vitriol was nasty, yielding the thought that two models of the Patriot Way simply never liked Ochocinco's act that was a distraction to his Bengals teams in years past. Bruschi and Harrison have always been about business, and they were part of those Patriots teams that resented the flashy trash talkers.
There’s a problem there, though. To a large extent, that hasn't been the case with Ochocinco during his short tenure with the Patriots. Even though he hasn't grasped the offensive scheme, he has worked diligently to get it down, and his Patriots teammates have said on and off the record that he would grasp it sooner than later. That's because he’s too smart of a player and his work ethic is too polished for it not to happen.
I understand where Bruschi and Harrison are coming from. They're looking out for a franchise they bled for, and they want it to remain in good hands. They desperately want Ochocinco to do his part to elevate the offense because they know he's got the skill to carry it to an even more impressive level. And when things aren't working out, they won't settle for anything less than an even harder work ethic.
That type of attitude is perfectly fine, in my opinion, especially considering the two guys the opinion came from.
However, I thought Bruschi and Harrison keyed in on one part of Ochocinco's tweet and blew it out of proportion. They didn't like that he was in awe of Brady's performance because Ochocinco should expect to see it on a regular basis, both in practice and on game days.
Again, when it comes from those two, I think the sentiment is fair. They deserve the right to speak their mind about the Patriots' organization, but I thought they were unfair, piled on and seemed to treat it like a witch hunt. Ochocinco obviously wasn't a big part of Monday's game plan — and if he was, that penalty on his first play might have done him in to an extent — and that's by his own doing.
If he was a trusted member of the passing attack, he would have been on the field a whole lot more Monday. Ochocinco probably understood that aspect of it, and he reacted like a good teammate by congratulating Brady and company for their performance. Was that worthy of the verbal gauntlet he's endured from a couple of Patriots legends?
I've thought all along that Ochocinco would be a valuable member of the offense by catching 60-70 passes and serving as a useful outside target across from Deion Branch (obviously, with Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez in the middle). The Patriots didn't have it last year with Brandon Tate, and it crushed them against elite defenses.
Ochocinco doesn't have to be an elite receiver or a Randy Moss-like threat to be productive. He just needs to be trusted enough to add more balance to the offense to prevent defenses from loading up on Welker. Once defenses recognize the fact that Brady is in sync with Ochocinco, it’ll make life much more difficult for New England's opposition.
It's taken longer than expected, but Ochocinco will get it eventually. For the time being, the Patriots are perfectly equipped to get by without him, with Monday's performance serving as Exhibit A.
Until that time comes, criticize Ochocinco for being a non-factor on the field. Just don't crush him for saying the right things.
