Come to Think of it...Kyle Orton the Winner and Loser of the Bears QB Derby

The Bears have declared Kyle Orton the winner of the Chicago Bears quarterback competition. The former Purdue star will start over the incumbent, Rex Grossman.

While obviously celebrating the good news, if I were Orton, I'd also be taking out some extra life insurance. For playing behind that offensive line would be dangerous to anyone's health.

The Bears drafted Chris Williams with their first-round pick in the NFL draft, acknowledging the seriousness of the gap in the line. But Williams is hurt and may return in the second half of the season, best case scenario.

To compound matters, the Bears running game is uncertain at best. They drafted Matt Forte out of Tulane in the second round, to go along with Garrett Wolfe and Adrian Peterson. None of those guys spark fear in any opposing teams hearts.

Yet the Bears selected Orton over Grossman because, in part, they feel he can control the tempo of the game better than Grossman, who likes to air it out and play it loose. With a conservative, short passing game, the Bears offense will need solid blocking and running to be effective.  Good luck.

Fortunately the Bears defense remains strong. Still, they need the offense to control the ball or else they will be out there too long and tire. The window of opportunity on this defense is closing rapidly and I'm afraid that by the time the offense catches up, the defense will be too long in the tooth to still be effective.

So it goes for the Bears under Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith.

It's hard to believe this team is just two years removed from a Super Bowl berth.

The Bears also lost their number one and two receivers in the off-season in Muhsin Muhammid and Bernard Berrian. They picked up former Bear Marty Booker, who has yet to display much of anything this pre-season, and are trying to convert Devon Hester into a wide-out.

In short, this offense is offensive and will have Kyle Orton running for his life. If I'm Rex, I keep my helmet on because it won't be long before they'll need a warm body to go out there and share the punishment. Not that he'll be any better.

Come to think of it, I don't know whether to shake Orton's hand or say a prayer for him.