Kyle Orton Fears No Man (Nor Eight Men)

I've got to be honest: In my baseball fervor, which, to be fair, hasn't even begun to subside, I've sort of neglected just how good Bears quarterback and fellow occasional neckbeard wearer Kyle Orton has been. He's been really good. So good that Rex Grossman's name hasn't come up once. So good that the Bears are actually scoring touchdowns on offense, and not just on defense. So good that fantasy football "experts," if there are such people anymore, are urging quarterback-short owners to pick up Kyle Orton.

Let me say that again. Believe it or not, Kyle Orton as a fantasy football option is ... at least semi-advisable. Sweet, sweet success!
But does Kyle Orton know he's good? Because with mediocre success comes great responsibility. Can Kyle handle it?

"We're not just going to beat our heads against the wall and try to run against eight [defenders] in the box," Orton said. "It's a good look to throw - if we execute, it's good."

It is a testament to how miserable the Bears have been on offense the past few years that when a quarterback says, you know, maybe it's not such a bad idea to pass the ball from time to time ... everyone goes, whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. Are we ready for that? Pass-ing?

Thankfully, we can turn to Lovie Smith to inject a little sober, if always cliched, analysis:

"We'll get off the bus still running the football," Smith said, "but we would like to pass it a little bit, too."

For the record, "We get off the bus running the football," is Lovie Smith's "maverick." Whether you agree with the central premise or not, at this point, it's pretty much a hollow rhetorical tool.

Anyway, the Bears are having some minor offensive success through the air. Check back next week, after Lovie does his best to make sure that never, ever happens again.

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