"Kyle Orton is for real"
 

October 20, 2008
BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist
Kyle Orton was ready to take the snap and saw something in the defense that didn’t look right. So he backed away, changed the play call, walked down the offensive line and yelled out what he was doing, pointed to players and told them what positions to move into.

He looked like Peyton Manning. Of course, with people sitting around me, I didn’t say that out loud. It would have been embarrassing.

Then he dropped back into the shotgun formation and fired an 18-yard touchdown pass into tight end Greg Olsen’s chest.

The Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings 48-41 on Sunday to remain tied for first place in a style Chicagoans haven’t seen before: with terrible defense and a quarterback who was darn right solid.
Above average, even.

Actually, he was better than that. But I never would use the word ‘‘great’’ about Orton. It would be embarrassing.

But he threw for 283 yards. Two touchdowns. No interceptions. He spread the ball around the field, completing passes to seven players. His passer rating was 114.5, and if that means nothing to you, just know this: It’s better than darn right solid.

And the Vikings kept scoring, giving Orton a chance to crumble. Instead, he kept coming back, too.
It has been hard not to be reserved about Orton. I mean, you see 60 years of embarrassingly bad quarterbacking, with an occasional year as an exception, and how could you commit to Orton?
Chicago always has loved its backup quarterbacks, but that was less about what they wanted to see than what they wanted to get rid of.

So Orton sat on the bench, while the savior — What was his name? Oh, yeah, Grossman — filled the traditional role.

Now Orton takes over, and it’s like the water boy coming in. Every time I’ve mentioned him lately, it has been to praise him, but always with reservation. He’s not a star, but he’s better than expected.
No Pro Bowler, he does have a feel of the offense.

It might be time to say the obvious, say it out loud and not be embarrassed.
Kyle Orton is for real.
He is the leader of the Bears.
I’ll need a little more time before going further.

‘‘What can you say about Kyle?’’ Olsen said. ‘‘He is turning into an elite passer in this league.’’
‘‘He really has a command of what he wants to do,’’ Vikings coach Brad Childress said.
‘‘It seems like each week, he takes another step,’’ Bears coach Lovie Smith said.

Easy for them to say.
But Marty Booker dropped an easy touchdown pass in the second quarter, and the Bears ended up getting just a field goal. And what did Orton do?
‘‘I told him right away when it happened to him that I was coming right back to him,’’ he said.
Well, it wasn’t until the third quarter that Booker had his 51-yard touchdown catch. Orton said Booker turned on his burners.
Burners? Booker?

‘‘No, he doesn’t look that fast,’’ Orton said. ‘‘I think he was pretty tired after that.’’
Booker said Orton’s encouragement was a big deal. And remember, this was a 25-year-old telling a veteran that it was OK.

It seems ridiculous to say that Orton is the leader. The quarterback is supposed to be. He has the ball all the time.

But it has only been the last two weeks that he has grown into the job.

We already knew in the opener at Indianapolis that Orton could manage the offense, not screw up. Grossman always was screwing up, so this was plenty from Orton. The defense could win the games if Orton just wouldn’t lose them.

But last week in Atlanta, he took that no-huddle drive for what looked like a fantastic finish, and something changed.
Yes, the coaches and defense blew the game, but let’s not relive that now.
The thing was, with coaches out of his head, Orton was able to lead. Surely, the defense can’t win games anymore.

So that left offensive coordinator Ron Turner to open up the playbook, to go without reservation with Orton.

Frankly, Turner and the coaches had the same reservations I did. But open your mind to Orton and see him throw all the different passes NFL quarterbacks have to throw.

Turner’s image is about to change back, too. He once was considered some sort of offensive guru, then went to Illinois, where things didn’t work out. Then he came back to the Bears and was attached to Grossman. So it wasn’t working out again.

Now he’s the guy developing Orton.
If Orton has an ego, he doesn’t show it, which is good enough for the locker room. He names everyone on the team as playing with a common goal.
‘‘I don’t think we have any egos on offense, to be honest with you,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s 11 guys in there together.’’
It feels so strange to have a quarterback. And it’s amazing to think that the coaches evaluated Grossman all these years as the better choice.
In fact, they were so into babying Grossman that in his first few years, they didn’t want him to feel the pressure of a legitimate quarterback behind him.
So they kept Orton.
All this time, they were playing the wrong guy. But that’s all changed, finally.
Who knows what Orton can do.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/thewire/foot...is_new_leader/
:)

Career 55 percent passer

GTFO

I should have made you keep your "cutler" username. That would have made threads like this more amusing.

Omigod, you mean an NFL starting quarterback actually made an audible on a play, and completed a touchdown pass? Holy shit! Get his bust ready for Canton!

I can't believe you Chiefs fans tolerate crap threads like this that just clutter things up. You should make one giant Official Denver Broncos Fan Thread For Knob-Polishing And Circle-Jerking. :)

Wow cutlerboy, you found a positive article about Orton from Oct of last year with the Bears. :clap:

Okay so find me the article that says that the Donkeys didn't get screwed in the Cutler/Orton trade? :hmmm:

Nice article about the Neckbeard..... written after his best game of the season. His QB ratings thereafter, not so good, including three sub-50 games.

http://www.nfl.com/players/kyleorton...s?id=ORT716150

Orton is for real! He is the leader of the Bears!


HAHAHA, they liked him so much they traded 2 First round picks, a Third round pick and Orton for Cutler! Who is actually for real!

Too funny, if Orton was for real he would still be a Bear.

Orton hurt his ankle against Detroit, and was crappy after that. Before the injury though he was playing very well. He actually had a higher QB Rating and a better TD/Int ratio than Cutler did 8 games into the season.

Two can play at this game.

<b>Flacco, Thigpen the real deal</b>

http://insider.espn.go.com/fantasy/f...3fid%3d3702313

October 2008?

I feel for these Broncos fans that must come to Chiefsplanet and post this crap only to so they can feel better about themselves and the sorry state of their offseason.

The Homerism is strong with this young one.

LMAO

Ooooo, change it back, change it back.

He reminds me of a much less obnoxious version of GoChiefs on the Mane. He's homerific and changes his stances based on the players that are actually on the Broncos, but he's not an ass about it.

Holy ****ing shit! He called an audible? This guy is for real!

Sometimes it's just not good to open a window like this one...

I don't remember Jay Cutler calling a lot of audibles when he was in Denver.

That typically has more to do with the coaching philosophy than the QB. I doubt Shanny was big on letting his QB's override his decisions.

Jeremy Bates called the plays for us last year. I don't remember if Plummer called a lot of audibles or not when Shanahan was calling the plays.

Denever Broncos = OTA Champions! Congrats

bronco homers are one of a kind....little children who just figured how the toilet flushes...wheeee! wheeee! wheeee!

Darn right solid fellers...shewt, he almost looked like Payton Manning!!

This guy is basically Denver's answer to AutumnWind, isn't he?

The taller you make the hill, the longer the drop to the bottom. Just let the season play out instead of putting yourself in position to look like a complete idiot if the guy doesn't pan out.

Soooo...Orton is better than Cutler...gotcha...

There was DT. Then came LT. Now the AFC West has KO.

Have all the Denver QBs got ankle tattoos yet?

Cutler was screwed from the get go in Dungver....Shannahan had the reigns tight around Plummer and it followed into the next QB when Kuntler took over.

But hey if Orton is a better QB than Cutler by word of KnowMo who are we to question it?

:spock:

Yep.

Cutler was the total package. He had the mobility, the arm, the quick release... If Cutler can improve his decision making and mature he could be an all time great. I don't know if he will though...

Orton doesn't have all the physical skills Cutler had, but he is a better decision maker and a better leader than Cutler was here. Orton has the skillsets Tom Brady has, but he isn't quite as accurate.

Which reminds me. People, just say "no" to drugs.

ROFL:spock:

So then what you're saying is that before the Broncos even traded for Kyle Orton.....you were singing his praises....right? You thought he was this GOD of a QB when he was on the Bears.....right?

Not only that, but now, apparently, Orton is Tom Brady.

I think Denver should return those first round picks to Chicago immediately. Wouldn't be fair otherwise. LMAO

I thought Orton sucked when we first got him. I didn't know how well he played the first half of last season though.

I think Orton is good enough to win games and won't hurt our team. He should be better than ever with the offensive line, RB's, and WR's we have here.

Die, dumbass

That might be true and, for your team's sake, it had better be true. But that's a far cry from "has the skillsets Tom Brady has". As I said before, The taller you make the hill, the longer the drop to the bottom. Going to the hated rival's message board and pimping a player who's been in the bottom tier of NFL QBs to this point in his career by attaching him to the best QB in the game is really not a particularly smart approach to things.

Tom Brady is overrated. He is a good QB, but he's not head and shoulders above Manning, Rivers, Big Ben, Drew Brees, or Kurt Warner.

You know the quote...

http://kathrynsmoore.files.wordpress...rrest-gump.jpg

Run Forrest run?

Stupid is as KnowMo says?

In my view, the biggest flaw in your assessment of Orton is the fact that he was able to play, and thrive, in a relatively conservative offensive playcalling system because of the Bears defense. The philosophy of that team was such and the gameplane was not to put the game on the shoulders of the QB.

Unfortunately, Orton's success in Chicago doesn't correlate to Denver because in Denver your not going to playing in the same types of games simply because of the lack of defense. Barred some miracle that Denver might actually be able to stop someone on defense, more of the teams success is going to be put on Orton than it ever was in Chicago. This is where he will fail, because he is limited athletically. McDaniels probably recognizes this because he's signed and drafted all those RB's.

fo real?

Totally agree on the defense aspect... however, I don't see the Denver offense being totally dependent upon Orton. There's a reason they drafted Moreno and piled up guys like Jordan and Buckhalter in the offseason. It's not going to be pass happy crazy like it was in 2008.

Will Orton's role be increased compared to the caretaker role he played in Chicago? Most certainly.

Will Denver's defense put them in situations where they will have to abandon the run and play catch-up? Oh yeah... the only thing that I can say is that (with Marshall) and the other weapons, he has a better chance at being successful in that role compared to anything he had in Chicago when those situations came up.

"Look at Jake Plummer's supporting cast and what he was able to do with zero talent around him on offense. He'll be a REALLY good QB with Shanahan calling complicated, explosive plays, where he can roll out, scramble, and use that incredible arm of his."

Do you guys plan on playing the Chiefs' 2002 defense every game? That's the only way Orton has any success at all in his first year as Broncos QB, I'm afraid.

ROFL Denver likely won't win 6 games this year... would have had issues doing that with Cutler. The schedule is amazing. You guys focus too much on Orton, he's not the focal point and if they lose, he likely won't be the reason.

Jake Plummer won in Shanahan's system. Cutler didn't.

It'll definitely be an interesting thing to watch if he can pull it off.

Yeah and for whatever reasons (I can't explain it), look at the VAST drop off in defense in those years. Look at their statistical rankings with both, it's crazy. Also, the ground game never really suffered when Plummer was there... not so much with Cutler, especially last year.

Why did Shanahan get rid of him halfway through the season?

Well, they were 7-4 and my guess is that after trading up for Cutler and watching Plummer... he said "we're still in the hunt, let's make the move".

Are you wanting me to say that KC ushered in the Cutler era b/c Jake's last start was a loss at KC? If so... ok.

That was their second loss in a row and 3 TDs and 5 INTs in the last 3 starts... going 1-2. Jake had only thrown for more than 250 yards in 1 game that season through 11...

I dunno.

My God, you are reeruned...

You're an idiot.

A healthy Brady is neck-and-neck with Peyton and head-and-shoulders above everyone else after that.

Shanahan would probably say that Plummer didn't play well enough, or that Cutler beat Plummer out. I'd say that Shanahan had his golden boy and saw what he wanted to see, so he pulled the trigger too early.

Plummer was not going to be an elite QB and Cutler had/has the tools. Coaches get caught up in that all the time, the same as the fans do.

ROFL

brutal. please ban pos

Really? Well, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com, Plummer was 39-15 as the starter in Denver. Cutler was 17-20. That would mean.....

Assuming, of course, that you understood that a record above .500 was "winning" and .500 or below was not.

I assume you blame Trent Green for our defensive failures in 2003 as well.

Threads like these make it so hard to leave....

I didn't credit anyone. I made a simple point in response to the poster. It would be a mental exercise to try to assess why it spiraled down for the Broncos. However, we've seen repeatedly that a change in quarterback can lead to a defense/team playing better or worse. In New England, the Patriots were 0-2 before Bledsoe went down, and finished the season on an 11-3 run plus the playoffs and Super Bowl win with a QB change. Denver started the split season at 7-4 with Plummer under center, and finished 2-3 behind Cutler. The "why" matters, but it's just guesswork.

Hahaha. You're in for a long season Broncos fan. If your defense keeps giving up 30 points a game and you expect Kyle to win it for you...you're completely delusional.

Thanks for Cutler though.

Bartenders all over Chicago have been sending Bowlen thank you notes.

Hey I will say this, at least Orton can drink the Gatorade without risk of ODing.

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Orton is a turd that won't make it through the year.

Because he was drunk.

And gay.

Dude. C'mon. Seriously.

You're a turd that won't make it through the year.

ROFL