The "New & Improved" Orton Looks Like Same Old Story

Lovie Smith may not be up for the 2008 Coach Of The Year Award in the NFL, but he may be a likely candidate for the Nobel prize after secretly developing a time machine in which he went back to 2005, gathered the old '05 roster of Chicago Bears and brought them back here to 2008 and put them on the field Sunday night in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts.

Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic about the victory over an injury-ridden Colts team that looked more off than ever, but let's not kid ourselves into thinking that we've suddenly found our answer at every position on the field.

The defense looked fantastic and kept Manning out of sync for most of the night. They also racked up some amazing plays and defensive stops. One included a beautiful tackle of Addai with the Colts deep in their own end zone by Ogunleye which left the fallen back staring up at the goal line ref running out to the field and clapping his hands high over his heads and signaling for a safety.

Matt Forte looked like the real deal, running for 123 yards and a TD in his NFL debut, becoming the first running back to start as a rookie for the Bears since the great Walter Payton first graced the field back in 1975.

Forte had a better start than Payton who rushed for 0 yards on 8 carries back in '75, but the idea that he might even have half the career that Payton had isn't likely—still, Forte took long strides in making the fans and franchise forget very quickly about Cedric Benson.

Benson, who no doubt sat at home, drowning himself in alcohol and watching a rookie running back, who didn't hold out by the way like our old friend Cedric, rush for more yards in his first NFL appearance than Benson had had in any game all last season.

And then... there was Kyle Orton. The "New & Improved" Kyle Orton by the way who spent the week leading up to his '08 debut against the Colts swearing up and down that he was a new QB, and "not the same guy" who we left behind in 2005.

You remember him right? The "hand the ball off and get out of the way" QB that was never really good for a TD, but would have no problem in gracing the field with under thrown balls and turnovers.

The "New" Kyle Orton took a major step backwards in shedding his label as a lame duck game manager that does nothing but fill the void between the offensive line and running back. In fact he solidified that view even more than before.

Orton was 13 of 21 for 150 yards with no TDs. He fumbled the first snap, which is something apparently according to Bears fans, is something only Rex Grossman does, and fumbled once more later when the ball was swatted out of his hands while Orton was in the pocket. He made a multitude of poor throws and was nearly picked off twice on two poor passes and was simply lucky the Colts defenders seemed to have butterfingers last night.

His "solid" performance could easily be a horrid performance where he threw for no TD's and 2 INT's with 2 fumbles. Luckily for Orton, he caught all the breaks in the world last night. The fumbled snap was negated by a penalty, he managed to fall on his own fumble later on, and his two easy INTs were simply dropped by Colts defenders.

If Rex Grossman had the night Orton had last night, the media and fans would be calling for his head and cursing him for a poor performance—but because it's Orton we're supposed to be ok with a an inept, lackluster, underachieving signal caller?

Sure everything is sunshine and lollipops now for the Bears, but what happens when the Bears aren't firing on all cylinders and we NEED that passing game to come through?

With the way the defense was stopping the Colts, the way Forte was running, and the starting positions the Bears had, Orton should have had a much better night than he did and did nothing to back up his talk from earlier this week about being a new QB with an open playbook.

The Bears didn't even look like they had confidence in Orton to make the plays. On the drive directly following Forte's TD run, the Bears faced another 3rd and long—an obvious passing situation.

They elected to put the ball in Forte's hands on a draw play rather than let Orton take a stab at it after a multitude of poor passes. Why!? If you have enough confidence in Orton to name him offensive co-captain and put that "C" patch in his jersey, and yet you don't put the ball in his hands to make key plays and convert 3rd down situations for you - what are you thinking? What does that say?

And aside from when Orton hit Desmond Clark late in the game, the passes he did complete weren't very well thrown either. Lloyd had to stop in mid route and jump high in the air on a slant route in which Orton should have easily hit him low, in the chest, and in stride. Olsen had to come back on an under thrown lob that had Orton put the right touch on could have sent the tight end into the end zone for an easy score.

Yes, Orton made some decent plays and didn't turn the ball over, but he made mistakes which is supposed to be what he doesn't do, and did nothing to convince me that he's a changed man.

Even Grossman, who didn't have the greatest Superbowl in which he threw two INTs, had more success in the passing game than Orton did when he threw for an early TD, for over 150 yards, and had a better completion percentage.

Sure we won, and our defense was able to take advantage of an offense in which Peyton Manning was shaky and taking snaps from a rookie and being protected by another backup on his right side, and Forte made the ground game look easy.

But what happens if that stops? What happens if Forte can't break through the holes, and the Bears can't stop the run or the pass and we need a QB back there that can keep us in the game? Everyone's happy with Orton now because we won—his underachievement at a position he proclaimed to be improved at didn't cost us the game. But reverse the situation for a moment.

Imagine Peyton Manning was his normal self, and scoring off the hook. Imagine the Colts fulfilled their 30+ point average per game that we normally see—Orton throwing for 150 yards with no TDs and two fumbles all the sudden doesn't look so great does it?

If Chicago is ok with an inept QB behind center simply because he won't turn the ball over (yet he still fumbled twice and nearly had two poor passes picked), then so be it. But when we need a QB to come through and drive us down the field to score and win the game, if you really think Kyle Orton is that man after last night, well there's not much else anyone can do to take you off the slow and painful road to insanity.

Orton looked like the Orton from 2005. In 2005 we were winning like we're winning now. Orton reaped the benefits of a defense and running game in 2005, and did the same last night, doing little to help.

It was only a few short weeks before the fans began to beg for the injured Rex Grossman to recover more quickly. So how long will the feel good sensation last before we realize exactly what Orton showed us last night—and it wasn't much.

If Chicago wants a lame duck signal caller, you've got it in Kyle Orton. But when the pressure is on and the game is on the line, we'll want something more—and what happens then?