The headline of the Denver Post Sports Section was even less subtle than I expected.
“Terrible Start for Orton”
While not technically true (Orton started the game great – the first drive was a masterpiece until the Broncos got inside the five yard line, everything after that was terrible), it summarized the knee-jerk overreaction I fully expected from the sports media in Denver.
I am not going to defend Orton. My argument for Orton being a good fit for the new Broncos offensive system was that he would eliminate the turnovers that always seemed to materialize when Cutler needed to drive his team to a score. Three interceptions in the first half, pretty much dismisses that line of thinking.
What I am going to argue, is that one half of one game is a little too soon to go freak out and decide that Orton will be the end of this franchise and possibly life on earth itself.
One would expect this reaction from fans. After a tumultuous spring, the Bronco faithful (and even more-son the not-so-faithful) were ready to pounce on any sign of weakness. Three picks in one half definitely looks like a weakness. On the other hand, one would hope professional sports writers would take a more common sense approach. Unfortunately rational reason doesn’t sell a lot of papers and the newspaper business needs all the help it can get, so the Denver Post writers (Mike Klis and Woody Paige) instead decided to invoke their best Rush Limbaugh and stoke the lowest common denominator fan base into a fury.
But, before we round up a posse and go hang Orton like one of those bank robbers of old, let’s take a moment. This is why they play preseason games. They don’t count for a reason. Players and coaches need some real game time to work out the wrinkles of their system. Especially a first-time head coach and a quarterback playing in that coach’s system for the first time.
Yes, Orton didn’t play great but he also didn’t receive a lot of help from the running game and from memory I don’t remember a single pass by Orton downfield all game. With linebackers dropping into coverage without worrying about the run and secondary not worried about a throw over their heads, the open spots to throw to get pretty compressed.
And all of these calls for Chris Simms to start? It is pretty easy to look good against the second and third team defense in what appeared to be a greatly slimmed down playbook once your team has established that running is a priority.
Calm down everyone. Let’s see how the team looks in Seattle next week.
If Orton throws 3 more picks, the posse meets at my house – 9 am. I’ll bring the rope.
On to some other observations from a night of pre-season game watching:
- Eddie Royal is going to have a big year. He is a perfect fit for McDaniels system. My fantasy league is point-per-reception and I would draft Eddie before Brandon Marshall.
- Chatting with Turner last night he wondered why Chris Simms was wearing #2. I opined that he wanted #1 but didn’t have the guts to ask for it….thank, thank you. Be sure and tip your waitress.
- Peyton Hillis is a fine running back and is tough to bring down. However, I don’t believe that he is the second coming of Jim Brown like Gary Miller, the Broncos announcer apparently does. A wee-bit of the Tyler Hansbrough effect going on there if you ask me. It is the like the dark-days of the Bradlee Van Pelt cult all over again.
- Speaking of announcers I caught the end of the Jets / Rams game. Apparently the Jets color guy Greg Buttle doesn’t even know the rules of the NFL. Shouldn’t that be a pre-requisite for being an announcer? After the ball was knocked out of the quarterback’s hand in the motion of making a pass there was a review to determine if his arm was going forward. Greg, in his infinite wisdom, noted that he was clearly intending to pass, so it wasn’t a fumble. Ian Eagle quietly corrected him that in fact the rule states his arm must be going forward but that didn’t stop Greg from continuing on and on that he was in the act of trying to pass. Obviously the ref ruled it a fumble. Seriously, where do they find these guys?
- Also caught part of a replay of the Raiders/Cowboys game. From seeing the final score the previous night, I was starting to wonder if the Boys are in serious trouble this year. But then I saw the first string Cowboys were actually doing well and leading the Raiders who really only had one long McFadden run to reach the endzone. The danger of pre-season box scores. One team of back-ups gets thumped and you make a bad conclusion on how good that team is.
- We also learned that back-up Bronco wide receiver Nate Swift is the leading receiver in Nebraska football history. Of course, that is sort of like being the Florida Gator with the best police record. Not a high bar to clear.
- Finally, memo to Damon Huard. If you are a 13-year veteran and are playing in the fourth quarter of a preseason game you can’t celebrate a touchdown pass. A 13-year veteran playing in the fourth quarter with a bunch of practice squad rejects and undrafted rookie free agents is just sad, don’t bring attention to yourself.
But at least Huard will wake up this morning, confident in the knowledge that no one is going to try and burn down his house.
