Kyle Orton couldn’t have picked a worse moment to have a meltdown. The former Bear QB and new Broncos head coach Josh McDaniel’s pet project had a disastrous debut against the San Francisco 49ers throwing for three bad interceptions in his first three series during Denver’s 16-17 loss last Friday. To make matters worse for MacDaniels, who was already in the hot seat for the way he handle the Jay Cutler’s affair, backup Chris Simms played almost flawless football.
The box score on both signal callers read as follow: Orton 9-16 for 89 yards 0-3 (TD/INT) ratio and 32.6 passing rating, Simms was 11-17 for 14 with 2-0 ratio and a 130.0 rating. Aside the obvious discrepancies in numbers, it was clearly evident that the Broncos’ were a more fluid squad with the 6’3” Simms at the helm. The new style of offense also seems more suited for the son of Hall of Famer Phil Simms.
After the game, the 32-year old coach stressed that this was just the first exhibition game. That maybe true but he forgot to mention that since being appointed the number one QB last June, the ex-Purdue Boilermaker star has fail to impress in simple passing drills.
Maybe is the pressure of replacing a Pro Bowl quarterback just hitting his prime, or the constant booing by the diehard Denver fans, or knowing that his coach’s fate is tied up to his success. Whatever the reason is, Orton looks uncomfortable in the pocket which is a real cause of concern after having practiced with the first team unit for more than two months.
MacDaniels will not make a quarterback change, because he knows what will come after it. But, both he and Orton should get their house in order, and soon, because owner Pat Bowen will not tolerate mediocrity for long. Just ask Mike Shannahan.
Orton should improve, but how much better he can become is up in the air. And the air is thin in Denver, for both he and his head coach.
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