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Published on 10/30/2010 at Sat Oct 30 19:05.
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Jason Cole bashes Broncos’ Orton

Posted Sat Oct 30th by

Jason Cole is an award-winning writer who covered the Miami Dolphins for 15 years before joining Yahoo! Sports as an NFL columnist. Given that kind of background, it’s surprising to see him completely miss the boat when judging NFL quarterbacks. Below is Cole on the Denver Broncos starting quarterback Kyle Orton:

I have to agree on his point that the Broncos have steadily gone down hill since their 6-0 start last season, but blaming it all on Kyle Orton is very uneducated. Cole has no support for his statements and the facts simply don’t back him up, as I’ve pointed out below:

  • Claim: “Kyle Orton has been terrible the last couple weeks.” Fact: Over the past three games, Kyle has thrown for 721 yards and 5 touchdowns, with one interception. While the Broncos whole offense has been shaky over the past few games, Orton has remained pretty consistent.
  • Claim: “He’s being regressing to below the league norm [of quarterbacks].” Fact: Orton is currently second in the NFL in passing yards, tied for 7th in touchdown passes, and is behind only Peyton Manning in touchdown-to-interception ratio among quarterbacks that have attempted over 200 passes this season. That’s a far cry from below average.
  • Claim: “They just don’t have a lot of talent.” Fact: Every player in the NFL is talented. The Broncos’ Brandon Lloyd, Eddie Royal, Ryan Clady, Champ Bailey, D.J. Williams, Brian Dawkins, and Matt Prater are all in the NFL.

These kinds of unsupported claims made by the media about Orton and the Broncos really frustrate me. What say you, Bronco Nation, do you agree with Cole? Is Kyle Orton really mediocre, or is Cole off his rocker? Dish it out in the comments!

  • Hope

    Broncos need a Al Wilson then that defence will be complete.

  • http://twitter.com/dxmanning Joshua Manning

    So “ONE” bad game and ppl said Orton the worst QB of all-time??? SMH. Orton not the problem, the defense is, albeit Don Martindale.

  • El Pana

    It's unbelievable, Kyle is the best player on the team right now!!!

    Here the problem is the RUNNING GAME.

    Starting with Knowshon “Glass-man” Moreno and “The Great Maroney”.

    They don't make a good player together

  • Bryanmcd06

    He covered the Dolphins for 15 years, so im guessing his head is sooo far up Tebows ass he's just mad Orton is playing over his boy.

  • Guest

    I like Kyle..He isn't the second coming of John Elway, as we all know, but he has done at least as good a job as Jay Cutler did in Denver. I don't regret McDaniels getting rid of Cutler and getting Orton and a pretty good deal in draft picks.

    After last week, I believe the jig is up for McDaniels, and it's time for him to go. That being said, for the long term betterment of the Broncos, I'd rather have someone come in and work with Orton/Tebow than try to do something…ANYTHING with Jay “Million Dollar Arm, 10 Cent Head” Cutler. In other words, thanks to Josh McDaniels for doing the dirty work a new and better coach won't have to do, but now he is the weakest link, so sayonora Belli-Boy.

  • jdkchem

    When you change your defensive coordinator more than you change your underwear you're going to have nothing but problems. Blaming Martindale is then rather pointless.

  • Byronjanke

    I couldn't have said it better myself Brian

  • Byronjanke

    I meant Bryan. My apologies

  • john

    mcdaniels isn't the problem. this is a broncos team that wasn't expected to do much this year… they haven't won many games but they do have a very good passing offense. their rushing offense is only bad because moreno is ALWAYS injured. nothing mcdaniels can do about injured.

    this cole guy is a moron, orton is putting up huge numbers and he calls him “below average”… denver has had no running game this year and orton has made up for it by putting up a huge pass attack… if tebow was the starter this year denver would be 0-7

  • anthony33

    Cole is way too harsh on Orton period.

    Orton is a decent QB when his team is ahead or the game is close. The issue I have with Orton is that when the Broncos fall behind by more than 7-10 points (or more) they are done. He just dosen't have that “it” to bring them back and keep them in a game when things go bad for a couple of series.

    That said… I would still take him over Cutler any day!!!

  • Riverscanbl&wme

    Unfortunately Cole is right. I don't like the guy but he did get this one right. Orton is a steady quarterback, but he NOT a game changer and he will NOT carry a team to a championship. The bears defense is the only reason his record is half of what it is. He is very indecisive and gives up on plays when feeling pressure by simply falling down into the fetal position. P.S. – I agree HOPE Al Wilson was a straight beast and a really nice guy to boot.

  • NMBronc

    Orton is mediocre, but he is the least of our problems right now. The biggest is McD and it will be interesting to see how this team reacts today. If they don't show up, it won't matter who the QB is, but who the next head coach will be.

  • Ssveit

    Orton is an average QB and right now that is hurting the Broncos. We need our QB to make a plays to spark our team and Orton cannot do that. If we had a top ten defense then Orton could lead us to the playoffs, but we don't.

  • coskibum

    “Claim: “They just don’t have a lot of talent.” Fact: Every player in the NFL is talented. The Broncos’ Brandon Lloyd, Eddie Royal, Ryan Clady, Champ Bailey, D.J. Williams, Brian Dawkins, and Matt Prater are all in the NFL.”

    Your statement says it all… 7 0f 53 players are stand outs. McNugget has gutted our talent pool for better character players. Am much as I'm impressed with Orton this year, when you don't have talent you don't win in the NFL – Period!

    I see four major problems with our Broncos:

    1. The Offense
    2. The Defense
    3. Special Teams
    4. The Coaching Staff

  • Rsire4444

    Orton is the type of QB who won't lose the game for you. He's not flashy and does not take many risks. So with Orton, you are essentially playing not to lose. I'd rather have a QB who plays to win.

  • AtomicLeo

    I agree with Cole about the lack of talent. The McDaniels' system is based on the idea that anyone (including the QB) can be replaced and there is no drop in production, if everyone on the field does their job. However the system has not proven to be an offense that carries a team to a championship if the QB is someone other than Tom Brady.

    I don't buy it. I think it has a fatal flaw. Everything has to go perfectly to win. We've seen that several times already (Hello? the Jet game) One mistake leads to a loss. This offense with a disciplined team will win 6-10 games a year, but a bad bounce and injury, blammo you are looking 4-5 wins.

    I'm not a big Orton fan. If you look at the drive charts during the 6-0 start last year you will see many drives starting on the opponents' side of the field due to turnovers. Drives by the opponents stopped by turnovers. He had 2 good games last year, Dallas and NE. I haven't seen anything close to that this year even though the yards have piled up.

    When the TOs stopped coming and the defense wore down, the team fell apart because the offense could not drive the field for points. A year later and they still can't and now with a defense hit hard by injuries, the offense can not dominate a game. Oh Orton put up some big yardage games early on. Of course he was throwing the ball 40-50 times a game. But watching the past three games, it's clear the league has caught up to Orton. They simply send 4 to pressure and drop back 7 in coverage. They know the Broncos can not run and they have a QB with no zip on the ball past 10 yards.

    Mix this with a Defense that gives up chunks of running yardage and wow it's gonna get ugly,

  • areferee

    Jason Cole? Who cares?

  • LevonZevon

    Nothing seen today changes the skepticism of many of us who want a change.

    Ironically, if we did the unglamourous but wholly-necessary job of bringing in top D-line talent– which means first-round picks on the Front Seven at least four of every 6 years– we'd only be a year away when April comes (since you can only get young line penetrating linemen and linebackers of a playoff-push-level in the first two rounds).

    But now we still have to begin at the start to get starters worth building around there.

    Earlier in the game, I was thinking of a new trivia question:

    Q: “What do Ray Guy and Jarvis Moss have in common?”
    A: They were both special teams players selected in the first-round of the draft.

    Yes, the poor penalty that unfairly flagged Moreno for a chop-block hurt by taking 4 points off the board (even if Knowshown, admittedly, could've avoided this possibility by simply following through on his block… instead of looking back halfway through). The called-back Royal punt-return that was squandered by Jarvis' block-in-the-back was a legitimate call (if no less deflating).

    But speaking of looking back too soon, I wish another Broncos player could be reminded of the story of Lot's wife: Andre Goodman.

    But there are always individual errors in the game that are mostly not the result of coaching.

    That doesn't change the fact that rolling the dice is always necessary (even if less so on defense against a young QB unsure about multiple D-back looks).

    We always seemed to do well when we attacked the deep middle of the 49ers secondary. And it was nice to see the TE involved as much as their talent allowed.

    But the called-back flea-flicker TD to Gaffney was so season-demolishing in morale-draining. Denver, like all teams, plays well when fired up. And the long pass to Lloyd in the deep middle sparked Denver's turnaround when trailing 3-0 (and almost led to 14-3).

    But maybe its best to end the suffering now and put this season to sleep.

    We need to see if Tebow's delivery is as much as a problem as McDaniels insists. That means testing his velocity and release against starting defenses in the regular season. We need hope and so does every player on the roster.

    Bowlen ought to lay down the law to McDaniels and remind him that the future development of our first-round QB– who hasn't been allowed to even pass yet– is more important than getting Orton's completion-percentage all puffed-up.

    Usually its the 49ers who are mounting a last-minute furious comeback that peters out instead of conquering the odds. Its just illustrates what we took for granted when Elway was here.

    You knew that John would do everything in his power to get the most of the offense when the game was on the line. You just don't get that feeling from Kyle Orton (and his lack-of-mobility makes this a permanent state of being).

  • kerry

    wow. so let me get this straight everybody, Cutler gets a ton of yards and 27 TD's and he is a whiny little bum, but Orton does the same thing with less TD's and he is better? what kind of freaking retard world do you people live in?!? Orton is NOT a good QB, McD is NOT a good coach, Moreno is one of the worst RB's the Broncos have EVER had.

    STOP blaming everybody else. all you clowns jizzed your pants with how much depth and talent we “ALLEGEDLY” had yet for some reason we are 2-6. no QB, no RB and no defense. put the blame on the one guy who deserves all of it…..JOSH MCDANIELS!! oh by the way that bum everybody hates thats in Chicago, they have alot less talent yet they are better then us. funny isnt it?

  • keith

    I wish the media would get off of tebow's dick

  • John

    Orton totally sucks!!!! How can you claim he's so great when he can't manage a game, can't hold onto the ball and can't lead our team.

  • anthony33

    where did I claim he was so great you dumb ass.

  • anthony33

    Whew… thought is was something more serious.

  • common sense prevails

    Orton is a career backup at best..plain ol just sucks. Give the team over now and get either tebow or quinn some playing time, let them learn…sure orton has yards, when you dump off 30 passes a game to the open man and he gains a few yards shit tends to accumulate…Orton is embarrassing

  • tlb

    Can't for the life of me figure out HOW anyone could think McDaniels should be a head coach. All the changes in the front office (aka, McDaniels yes men) together w/this unproven head coach and the eaually unproven defensive coordinator, equal a struggling team. There's a reason why winning teams have staff with experience–it's a complicated game. Coaching makes or breaks an organization and there's NO way Belechik's mini-me is going to reinvent the game; I don't care how brilliant he may or may not have been in NE (last I checked, Tom Brady wasn't behind Denver's O-line).

  • Jthompson67

    One bad game WOW Orton is so slow you can't just stand in the pocket for 8 seconds in the NFL and not get sacked. The biggest thing is he sucks in the red zone or game winning situations, he's a choker big time. Put Tebow in already!!

  • disappointed bronco fan

    McDaniels inability to call plays is the main reason i think they have been losing. Defensively they are not great but would be a whole lot better if the offense could put together longer drives and in turn SCORE TOUCHDOWNS!!! Losing Doom for the season was the worst thing that could have happened to this team in my mind, that being said, McDaniels has failed in my opinion to call the right plays necessary at crucial times in games. Add to that the O-line problems this year, and Knowshow Moreno, DISASTER!!!!

  • A bit miffed

    Cole doesn't know what he's talking about. Apparently he isn't seeing the big picture. Orton isn't the problem the Broncos have, McDaniels is the bigger issue. Not to mention the receivers that can't run apparently. Orton is almost playing on his own out there, heck, during one game, there was a stat that he was our leading rusher at that point. Cole should get his facts straight before mouthing off about the only player doing his job on the Broncos.

  • wyrob

    At some point, even the best “comeback” QB's need their defenses to hold the opponent.

  • John_ritchie

    Right on all you Josh bashers. First we run off Jay Cutler,then we trade Brandon Marshall. Then we give away Peyton Hillis because we cant use him. He doesnt fit into our offense. Hey heres an idea, why dont we use the players we had ??? Josh Mcdaniels is the worst coach in the whole league right now. He's taken an 8-8 team and made them significantly worse. We cant run the damn ball. Our defensive line is below average. Our team is terrible. The last time I saw an embarassing performance like the one against the raiders was when Steve Tensi played quarterback. Wow!! Im giving away my age, that was like 45 years ago !!

  • John_ritchie

    El pana is right, Kyle Orton is not the problem. Blame it on the head coach. He is terrible. He's taken a mediocre team and made it worse!! Tim Tebow may add some mobility, scrambling ability to the offense. That being said this season is certainly lost and we should at least give Tim some more reps in meaninful sittutations. The next great player to go will be Champ Bailey. They wont give him a new contract. So he wont be here next year. Recipe on Josh's team, make the pro bowl then we will dump or trade you, thats how we get better. Jeez a retard coulda seen all this coming last year. Johnatg

  • Redells

    Common Sense Prevails nails it. Orton's numbers are sloppy. He is actually getting great play from his receivers. They are getting great YAC, beating guys deep, and making plays for NeckBeard. The problem with Orton, his offense doesn't put up points. Lots of QB's don't have running games right now: Manning, Brady, Rogers, Brees have backups carrying the rock for them. NeckDork for some reason has been protected by the media. Broncos record last 18 games….4-14 with Orton leading them. His reputation as a winner is bunk.

  • John_ritchie

    coskibum, right on but number 4 is the biggest problem.. can his but now. promote anyone on the staff to head coach interim for the rest of the year . we couldnt be a whole lot worse than we are right now. The broncos are playing the worst ball Ive seen them play in 30 years. a complete disgrace.

  • masc

    Why does everybody point to stats as evidence that Kyle Orton is great quarterback. Sure he is throwing for a ton of yards. Does that make him better than Peyton Manning? In most games, huge chunks of his yards come when the game is already well out of hand and defenses are playing soft prevent defense. Kyle Orton is being praised for the same things Jay Cutler was crucified for when he was in Denver. He threw for a ton of yards too but failed to put points on the board. Orton is doing the same thing. As soon as the offense moves into the opposing team's side of the field Orton chokes. The Broncos punt an awfully lot from the opposing teams 40 yard line. On top of all that, Orton is completely incapable of leading a potential game tying or winning drive in the clutch. He turns the ball over more than just about anyone in that situation. Like Cole said, he is an average middle of the road QB. An elite back up. At best, he can keep the seat warm till Tebow is good to go. The Broncos will never be winners with Orton under center.

  • Qduck87

    orton was the man in chicago, took em deep in the playoffs years ago, he is the man, everybody else in denver stinks

  • broncosfan

    quinn or tebow? Do you want to go 2-14 this year? That's what will happen when you do that? Orton is this best player and the team right now, its hard for me to say that but its true. This year started off wrong when we drafted tebow as the future of the broncos. hes a running qb not a passing one. The broncos should have waited another year before drafting a qb because this years draft class will have some great qbs in it. I like tebow but hes not the answer to the broncos problems.

  • Unamous

    We need a running qb because denver was known for runnig and now we have nothing. Bring in Tebow that way we would have not only a passing threat but also a chance to run. When you love 4 in a row it is time for some change. QB or Coach

  • Broncosnation

    It is not only Orton fault i think it is the coaches fault too. The Coach got rid of all the players that took us to a winning season. Get in a coach that will get more pounding game that allows the air attach to work. Give Tm a chance to prove himself 4 loses in a row is not what broncos nation is about.

  • Broncos

    McDaniels is the problem. he is the leader of the team and if we need a running game he is the one that goes out and get that. Do what ever it takes to win. he is not doing that he is wearing down Orton and that is why he chokes for being tired.

  • kerry

    WHAT??!! dude you have no idea what you are saying. Orton was BENCHED before the playoffs even began and the next year Grossmen started, not Orton. DUH!! do some research before you post Moron.

  • Dbroncos

    I agree that is why we need a running QB like Tim.

  • Jthompson67

    you do not know what you are talking about, with todays fast defensive lines you need a QB that can move faster than grandma.

  • Vern

    You will all get your wish. Next year Tebow will start, Mc D will make some team very happy by giving them Orton. Denver will still be a poor team. Orton's team will make the playoffs.

  • Jeff

    We all seem to think we are experts when commenting but maybe thats a good thing. I think Orton is doing much better than anyone expected and exceeded all expectations. What the problem is … and everyone should know this if you were watching Broncos games this year. We need 1. to stop the run 2. Run the ball … We have Offensive line problems and Defensive line problems … not to mention injuries … if we correct that we win most of the games we lost this year. The Air game is fine, Orton is fine .. and there are flashes of potential to use Tebow in a creative way.

  • Jeff

    We all seem to think we are experts when commenting but maybe thats a good thing. I think Orton is doing much better than anyone expected and exceeded all expectations. What the problem is … and everyone should know this if you were watching Broncos games this year. We need 1. to stop the run 2. Run the ball … We have Offensive line problems and Defensive line problems … not to mention injuries … if we correct that we win most of the games we lost this year. The Air game is fine, Orton is fine .. and there are flashes of potential to use Tebow in a creative way.

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