| Kyle Trompeter. 26th September, 2005 - 6:18 pm
 For Chicago Bears rookie QB Kyle Orton, five is the loneliest number.
That five represents the number of Orton completions to the Cincinnati Bengals defense on Sunday afternoon during a 24-7 loss.
The stat line on the day for the Purdue grad was 17-39 passing for 149 yards, no touchdowns and five interceptions.
Ouch.
The only positive that Orton can take away from this one is the fact that he is still healthy, which is something that has been hard for recent Bear QB’s to do.
The blame shouldn’t fall just on the shoulders of Orton. This was a loss that can be spread around the entire offense as there was a laundry list of problems while trying to move the ball down the field.
One aspect that has to be looked as is the play calling. After Orton threw his second interception, you’d think that Ron Turner maybe would have committed to the run a little bit more. Thomas Jones had over 100 yards rushing for the second straight weeks and it was raining all day in Chicago. This was the perfect day to run the ball.
To build on that, where was Cedric Benson? The Bears could have used him in some capacity in this game, even as a backup. Jones deserves to get the majority of the carries, which he did with 27. But Benson wasn’t able to crack the lineup even once. The Bears should have run the ball at least 35-40 times in this game because of the conditions and the quarterback. They should not be passing the ball 39 times- ever.
The receivers were not getting open. They were dropping passes and just being flat out lazy. Orton threw a few catch-able passes down the sidelines that the receivers were not able to come down with, specifically Muhsin Muhammad. On one of the interceptions, Mark Bradley stood to the side of a fallen Bengal defender after he made the interception and waited until he got up and tried to run with the ball instead of immediately touching him down.
The blame for this loss really can’t be pointed to the defense at all. The Bears ‘D’ was on the field for what seemed like the entire game. The Cincinnati rushing game was shut down for most of the afternoon, and Chicago held Carson Palmer and the offense to just 11 first downs. What else do you want them to do? The Bears will not be able to intercept five passes like they did the previous week against the Lions.
The Bears offensive attack looked like it did during week one, where the unit sputtered against the Washington Redskins. The passing game was non-existent. It will be interesting to see if a quarterback controversy will spring out of Halas Hall this week during practice.
Frankly, a change at quarterback is the last thing the Bears should do given the fluctuation at the position over recent years. Will Jeff Blake really take them to new heights?
Probably not, and when I say probably, I really mean definitely.
If they cannot develop a quarterback and win at the same time now, then they never will. Their defense is good enough to carry the majority of the load.
The funny thing is, if Orton can come back next week and have a solid game, nobody will remember the five interceptions.
The Vikings won today. Do you think anyone cares that Daunte Culpepper threw five picks last week.
No.
It’s only week three and the Bears are 1-2. That is good for second place in the division. It could be worse.
Packers are 0-3! |
