Is it a QB? Is it wearing a Bears Jersey? Then it's worse than it's performance!

Here's a quotation from today's Every Play Counts over at ESPN (from the FO guys):

The dominant defensive performance allowed the Bears' offense to play conservatively. The Bears' struggles last season were largely due to the revolving door of mediocre quarterbacks. Kyle Orton played adequately Sunday, but the key was he was never forced to make plays outside his comfort zone.

Forte's big 50-yard touchdown gave the Bears an early lead, and from that point, Orton took very few chances. He worked on underneath throws and completed two big passes to his tight end, providing enough offense to let the Bears coast home with a victory.

It's funny, because there's nothing actually bad about a QB taking very few chances when his team has the lead for basically an entire game. However, when writing this about Orton, it is somehow still a criticism. "The key," dude writes, "was he was never forced to make plays outside his comfort zone." Subtext: Kyle Orton is terrible and if he would have had to actually throw any passes the Bears would've lost by a hundred points. And check out the pointless shot the FO guys take at Orton over in their Quick Reads article, "The next time you hear the words "Kyle Orton" and "game manager" in the same sentence, ask that person how Orton conjured up nine defensive points and a fourth-and-1 stop." That's right, Kyle Orton is not even worthy of the most back-handed compliment you can give a QB. Seriously, the Bears can't even look like one of the best teams in the league on opening day, playing a nearly perfect game, without still being criticized.

I mostly just think it's funny. I fully expect that Orton is going to have a solid season. But he's probably not going to be spectacular, and being spectacular is the only way he's going to escape being considered the default worst QB in the league.

Meanwhile, quoth Ron Jaworski at the beginning of last night's Monday Night Football game between the Vikings and the Packers w/r/t Tarvaris Jackson (paraphrased),

You know the only number that matters with this guy? 8-4: his record as a starter last season.

Tarvaris Jackson should thank his lucky stars that he doesn't take the field every week wearing the Bears' navy blue. (Kyle Orton's current overall record as a starter: 13-6).