"Kyle Orton is for real"

[Quesadilla Joe]

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/