Kyle Orton: The Consummate Winner

In the NFL‘s world of today, the quarterback is basically the President of the United States. Everyone knows him, no one knows the people around him, and they blame him no matter whose fault it really was.

What’s interesting about that is that Kyle Orton is a starting quarterback that no one talks about. Some people would rather have Vince Young on their fantasy team than Kyle Orton, even though he is a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Kyle Orton does not have a bazooka for an arm, he was a fourth-round draft choice out of Purdue, he was benched the entire 2006 season in favor of Rex Grossman, and the Bears went to the Super Bowl without him.

Orton has never reached 3,000 yards passing in a season, his rookie year was spent handing off the ball to very able running backs, and his career individual stats are unimpressive, so he is not what one would want if they needed to get a starting quarterback in the NFL.

There is just one little thing wrong with that though. He wins.

This guy is 27-12 as a starter in the National Football League. He has never had as losing season as a quarterback.

• 2005: 10-5
• 2007: 2-1
• 2008: 9-6
• 2009: 6-0 so far.

How is this possible? How is it that this guy, who is not nearly as athletically gifted as Jay Cutler, Drew Brees, or Philip Rivers, has a better win percentage than all of them?

It is amazing to see his critics talk about how he’s not effective enough or how the odds against him are daunting, but he shuts them up every time.

Yeah, he’s had a chunk of help. The Bears were a very good running team in 2005 with the number one defense, but he still was a rookie, with Muhsin Muhammad as a No. 1 wide receiver, and Justin Gage as the second guy.

No offense, but the words “double coverage” doesn’t apply to those two guys. They have never applied to those two guys.

He never really had a chance to play with Bernard Berrian, who is now in Minnesota, where Brett Favre loves his tremendous speed.

What is a rookie going to do without any big threats at wide receiver? Peyton Manning had Marvin Harrison, Troy Aikman had Michael Irvin, Matt Stafford has Calvin Johnson.

Despite all the negatives, he was the quarterback under center for a winning team. He didn’t screw it up. He kept the season going as an unselfish player.

Again, he was benched by the Bears for the 2006 season, and in the 2007 season, when the Bears had no chance to make playoffs and both Rex Grossman and Brian Griese were sidelined with injuries; Kyle Orton makes his start.

This is where I come in. I was watching the Packers play the Bears for the second time that season. The Bears had beaten the Packers in the final seconds before, and the Packers were 12-2 at the time.

I’m watching Orton and I’m just amazed at how much of an improvement he is. I’m watching his footwork, his sense of the defense, his throws, and especially his decisions.

The Bears’ defense and special teams dominated, yes, but they had the will to keep going because Orton never gave the game away. Orton even put Green Bay in the hot seat with his sole touchdown pass to Desmond Clark.

He had a line of 9/15 for 104 yards and a touchdown, but Orton was not intercepted or sacked. He threw the ball away instead of risking it. He handed off and he just led by example.

The Bears destroyed the Packers 35-7 and I said, “That’s going to be the Bears new starting quarterback.”

He goes 9-6 with a defense that slumped to 16th overall and no receivers except Devin Hester, who dropped a lot of balls.

The guy may have looked like a product of a team, but as he matured, he became more of a focal point for that team. There were games that you could say he was the X-factor.

However, he never had a real chance to show even more improvement because due to horrific miscommunications by Jay Cutler and new head coach Josh McDaniels, he was traded to the Denver Broncos with first round picks from 2009 and 2010, and a third pick in 2009 for Jay Cutler, who was a franchise quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

Everyone, including me, thought that Denver was sunk for the 2009 season. It wasn’t because Kyle Orton wasn’t a good player, but Denver’s defense was something that you would see in college games, not the NFL.

Now, Kyle Orton is in the right system, has a great attitude, has good receivers in Eddie Royal, Brandon Marshall, Brandon Stokley and Tony Scheffler with an excellent defense.

Look at his statistics now, 1465 yards passing, nine touchdowns, one interception (off of a hail mary at the end of a first half, so it is not like he intentionally threw it and screwed up), a 100.1 quarterback rating, and a 63.9 completion percentage (5.4 percent higher than last year).

And this is in only six games.

Kyle Orton, say what you want about him, but he wins and he wins often. He may be lucky, he may just have good chemistry with his team (you play harder for your friends), but he wins on a regular basis, and that’s all that matters when it comes to the season.

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Do The Bears Have A John Elway? I THINK NOT!

Steve Watson, Butch Johnson, Vance Johnson, Clint Sampson, Mark Jackson, Steve Sewell, Rick Nattiel, and Mike Young.

Anyone recognize those names?

I knew one, Butch Johnson, because he had been a receiver who caught a touchdown in Super Bowl XII for the Dallas Cowboys.

The other guys were simply names to me. Just names.

Do you know who they are? If you do, pat yourself on the back because these men were the wide receivers that John Elway had throughout his career before 1994.

These were the guys that actually had close to 500 yards receiving or more in a season. None of them ever made it to the Pro Bowl with Elway (Watson made it once in 1981), none will ever be given a thought towards the Hall of Fame, and only two ever had a 1,000 yard receiving season.

There you have it folks. You are looking at the weapons that John Elway had throughout his career in the 80s when he took the Broncos to the three Super Bowls in four years.

After further research, I found out that in the 80s, John Elway was the only offensive Pro Bowler the team had except for Sammy Winder, a running back who made the Pro Bowl in 84 and 86 and left guard Keith Bishop, who made it in 86 and 87.

When you look at John Elway’s numbers throughout his early career, they are not flashy, but rather pedestrian.

1986:   

• 280/504, 55.6% completion, 3,485 yards passing, 19 touchdowns, 13 interceptions.
• Leading receiver, Mark Jackson, with 738 yards.
• Second leading receiver, Steve Watson, with 699 yards.
• QB rating was 79.0 and win-loss record was 11-5.

1987:

• 224/410 54.6% completion, 3,198 yards passing, 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions.
• Leading receiver, Vance Johnson, with 684 yards.
• Second Leading receiver, Rick Nattiel, with 630 yards.
• QB rating was 83.4 and win-loss record was 8-3-1.

1989: 

• 223/416, 53.6% completion, 3,051 yards passing, 18 touchdowns, 18 interceptions.
• Leading receiver, Vance Johnson, with 1,095 yards.
• Second leading receiver, Mark Jackson, with 446 yards.
• QB rating was 73.7 and win-loss record was 10-5.

Those three years above are the years that John Elway took the Broncos to the Super Bowl and lost. He led them to victories they were not supposed to get.

This is why John Elway is a legend. He took a team, that had no real offensive fixture and he became the core of its power. This is why he has 47 fourth quarter comebacks, he took a team that was not supposed to win and made miracles on a regular basis.

Looking at these statistics, looking at these supporting casts and realizing that he took them to the Super Bowl three times, it just leaves me speechless with amazement.

This is what legends are made of. To take something that is scraped from the barrel and make it top quality. That is what John Elway did.

Now, lets go on to our Mr. Cutler. The former Denver Broncos quarterback who was traded to the Chicago Bears.

Whiny, arrogant, and has said he has a better arm than John Elway.

Who is he kidding? Is he really that stupid? Or does he think we are?

Do we dare compare? Yes, we do.

Jay Cutler has played two full seasons in the NFL, 2007 and 2008, and he has made one Pro Bowl selection and has a QB record of 17-20

Geez! I am impressed. Yessir, I am very impressed with a losing quarterback record.

Of course, I’m going to give him some slack for the defense. The defense with Elway was very good, top 10 in those Super Bowl years, while Cutler’s defense has been less than helpful.

And, he did lose like what? 12 running backs last year to injuries.

Well, he can’t blame them now if he screws up. He is now with the Chicago Bears because of a major dispute between him and Bronco’s management.

So, I have a few words for the new quarterback of the Windy City.

You are responsible for the offense. The Broncos in 2008 were ranked 2nd in total offensive yards, yet 16th in scoring. What does that tell me?

It tells me that you didn’t find a way like Elway did. It tells me that you didn’t become a leader like Elway was and find a way to get that ball into the endzone.

Don’t blame the rushing attack fully. The Broncos still had 1,862 yards rushing with 15 touchdowns to be ranked 12th in total yards and 14th in touchdowns.

That isn’t elite, but it isn’t like you were the Cardinals who were 32nd in rushing, and yet they made to the Super Bowl.

If they can make it to the Super Bowl with that rushing attack, and that inconsistent defense, you certainly are capable of making playoffs in a division that had two teams with a combined total of six wins.

I’m not going to say you aren’t good Jay. On the contrary, you are very good, but you are not John Elway. John Elway would not let a bad defense stop him from leading his men down the field.

John Elway would not have let himself be beaten as badly as you were in the regular season finale against the Chargers that decided the playoff spot.

John Elway would have taken those two great receivers you had named Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall and found a way. The two guys that had a total of 2,245 yards receiving.

If you want to be better than John Elway then do what he could not. Win the Super Bowl with the Chicago Bears as they are now!

This Chicago Bears team reminds me of Elway’s team.

Great defense, good special teams, good running back, and average to sub-average receivers.

The Bears leading receiver was Devin Hester, who was inconsistent, with 665 yards.

There is also tight end Greg Olsen, who had 574 yards.

Matt Forte (running back) and Rashied Davis with 477 and 445 yards respectively.

Desmond Clark (tight end) and Brandon Lloyd with 367 and 364 yards respectively.

Should I go on?

Elway got a team like this to the Super Bowl three times and was blown out in all three.

Show me you can do better. Show me you can take my father’s old team (He was born in Chicago) and restore their former glory. Be the top quarterback the Bears haven’t had since Sid Luckman, who played in the 1940s.

If you can do that, not only will you be cemented as a legend in Chicago, but you will be a legend to me and that is something that does not happen easily.

I’m waiting Jay.

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