Just Win, Baby

I spy a quarterback who hasn't had a losing season since high school.

I spy a quarterback who started four straight bowl games in college.

I spy a quarterback who has over a .750 winning percentage in the NFL.

What's your first guess? Peyton Manning? Ben Roethlisberger?

Wrong and wrong.

The answer is Kyle Orton. Yes, Kyle Orton. Once more, Kyle. Orton.

The man simply wins football games. Don't believe me? Look it up. He played in four straight bowl games at Purdue after having to deal with the pressure of being the next Boilermaker quarterback after Drew Brees, and he flourished. People forget that he was a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy in 2005 before he got hurt in two straight games. But seriously, no matter where Orton has been, he has been a winner.

Purdue? Check.

Chicago? Check. As a Bears rookie, Orton was thrown into the 2005 season after Rex Grossman got hurt. What did he do? He went 10-5 (ho hum) including an 8-game winning streak (ho hum) that won Chicago the NFC North (ho hum). His stats weren't pretty (51.9 completion percentage, 9 TD/13 INT), sure, but he won football games. And isn't that all you want in the NFL? All the Bears did was bench him for the playoffs in 2005 (29-21 loss to Carolina) and all of 2006. But Orton went 2-1 in 2007 and then 9-7 in 2008 with a team that really overachieved.

I know what you're thinking, Orton has been dependent on having great teams around him. The Bears always had a great defense that won games for them, but you can't have just any J.P. Losman under center and expect to win more than six games per season. It just won't work. That's where an expert game manager is needed, and Kyle Orton is the best in the business. He makes fewer mistakes than most quarterbacks because he is given less opportunity to single-handedly win games, but he still doesn't make those game-crippling mistakes. He takes what he's given and does exactly what the coaches expect him to do: not lose games.

Needless to say, now that you know how big a Kyle Orton fan I am, I just didn't see why everyone thought the Orton/Cutler trade was SO bad for Denver. Would someone like to tell me what Denver lost? Ok, I'll enlighten you. The Broncos lost a quarterback who publicized that he hadn't been a part of a winning season since high school. SINCE HIGH SCHOOL?? Wow.

So, if you're a fan of a team playing a team currently quarterbacked by Kyle Orton, just beware that anything can happen in sixty minutes with a pure winner under center. Make fun of him all you want, but know that Kyle Orton is having the best year of his career (five touchdown's, no INT's in four games in 2009 and Denver is 4-0), and you have to take notice.

Because "The Winner" is coming for you next.