The NFL version of Batman & Robin has been about as successful as Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin which many critics said was a fail.

After a preseason filled with an overabundance of trash-talking, Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens have been anything but a dynamic duo. In fact, the two have combined for only three touchdown receptions which puts the tag team near the bottom of the league in that category.

To put that into perspective, Austin Collie and Reggie Wayne have combined for eight touchdown receptions while Hakeem Nicks and Jeremy Maclin have seen the endzone six times.

As much as we hate to put the blame on individual players, fingers need to be pointed at Ochocinco here. The charismatic Chad has only danced in the end zone once in five games, equaling the effectiveness of Tim Tebow in that category. . . that’s a big fail.

Since the beginning, Ocho-5 did say that he was Robin, so maybe we shouldn’t really expect much out of him; it’s not like Robin ever did anything worth a damn. He basically ran around behind Batman occasionally throwing a hook over a wall or warning if the Joker was coming before getting his ass kicked only to be rescued by Batman.

Unfortunately the NFL isn’t a cheesy, classic television show so if these two trash-talkers don’t turn things around quickly, they may become the most mocked pairing in the NFL.

It’s time for them to look in the mirror. Instead of promoting themselves on Twitter (where Chad earned a 25K fine) and reality shows, they could have been putting in a few extra reps with Carson Palmer at voluntary workouts early in the preseason. Carson actually questioned Chad’s absence at those workouts.  

Have to wonder if Batman and Robin are more interested in the success of their VH1 shows than how many W’s the Bengals are putting up. Wide receivers in the NFL are notorious for wearing the prima donna tag but these two are becoming more popular for practicing their Madden skills, making breakfast cereal with phone sex numbers attached and being in the reality TV spotlight than their performance on the field.

I’m not saying that these two players don’t put in 100 percent but they need to start concentrating on taking Sundays a lot more seriously.

So enough of the Batmobile photo shoots, cheesy dating shows and nicknames. The time has come for the NFL’s Batman and Robin to turn in their tights for jockstraps because they got some playin’ to do.

With enough games left in the season, Cincy fans may overlook the Bengals 2-3 record and extremely slow start of T.O. and Ochocinco if the tandem can find a way to focus on football and put together a win streak starting in Atlanta on Sunday.

Used with permission of the author.

Logan Rhoades is a Los Angeles-based writer and contributor to Sports Climax. With an extensive knowledge of ESPN topics and celebrity gossip, he is known for mixing sports and pop culture to entertain his readers. Check out his blog and Follow him on Twitter @loganrhoades.

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