While continuing to praise Kyle Orton’s win-loss record and leadership, Lovie Smith on Monday challenged Orton to improve for the second straight day in as publicly direct a manner as the Bears’ coach uses.
“We need to improve our quarterback play,” Smith said at his Halas Hall news conference. “We need to improve our passing game as a whole. Anyone involved in the passing game needs to pick it up a bit in order for us to continue this path to win our division and get in the playoffs.”
Asked directly if he envisions any change at the position based on performance over the regular season’s final four games, Smith said:
“Every position we have is based on performance. If you’re the starter, you have to perform at a certain level to continue to play.”
Both Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo also emphasized that Orton remains the starter.
In Sunday’s 19-7 victory over Green Bay, Orton completed 6 of 17 passes for 68 yards and an interception. It’s the second time this season he has thrown for fewer than 100 yards, and his 23.7 passer rating was better than only a 14.7 rating in Orton’s five-interception debacle Sept. 25 against Cincinnati.
Rex Grossman, the starter before fracturing his ankle in an Aug. 12 exhibition game at St. Louis, has dressed as the emergency third quarterback for the last two games. Both Grossman and the coaching staff have noted improvement in his mobility each week of practice and are hopeful he can be the No. 2 quarterback against Pittsburgh on Sunday.
“[Grossman] definitely will improve the quarterback position once he’s 100 percent healthy,” Smith said. “We think this week he’ll get closer to that, hopefully. The plan eventually is to get Rex to the second position. We’ll just see where he is this week.”
The Bears are riding an eight-game winning streak for the first time in 20 years based on the league’s top-ranked defense, a ground game that ranks fifth with 133.1 rushing yards per game and game management by Orton that has offered heady play in lieu of highlights.
At 60.2, Orton is the league’s lowest-ranked quarterback. Yet management is cognizant that he already has faced six top-11 defenses and will face another this in Pittsburgh.
Last Sunday, Green Bay challenged Bears receivers with a bump-and-run “man” coverage that forced Orton into difficult decisions, ones management is confident he now will be better able to make after seeing the Green Bay scheme.
“Strength-wise, he’s quarterbacked us to eight wins in a row and nine on the season,” Smith said. “He has leadership ability to get the job done. Things I say he needs to improve on a little bit, accuracy probably. But you say that about most young quarterbacks.
“I’m going to look at what he’s done overall. You can look at his quarterback rating. Of course, it isn’t exactly what you would like your quarterback rating to be. But in the end, I’m going to look at how many games he’s won and figure he can do the job.”
For a franchise that considers stability at the position a foreign concept, Orton has at least provided that. Not since Erik Kramer in 1995 has a Bears quarterback started all 16 games. The last three seasons have featured three different starters twice and four last season.
“We realize we have to get more production from our offense,” Smith said. “But at the same time, we have to realize what type of offense we are. That’s a running football team. We were able to run the football again [Sunday], rushing for over 140 yards.
“Thomas Jones going over 1,000 yards for the season is big. Adrian Peterson getting in and doing what he’s done the last couple of weeks, giving us a spark running the football.
“When you say the defense has carried us, that’s what they’re supposed to do. That’s the strength of our team. That and our running game are supposed to carry us.”
Orton has played the equivalent of a full college season. Smith and offensive coordinator Ron Turner both insist the offense can improve down the stretch, even if this often is a time when teams begin simplifying game plans.
Though he agrees that the passing game must improve, Orton insists he isn’t frustrated or worried about his statistics. The rookie has thrown for more than 150 yards just once.
Only three of Orton’s 13 interceptions have come in Bears territory, and no opponent has scored off an Orton interception since Cincinnati.
“I’ve never looked at stats,” Orton said. “That’s pretty much unimportant. I look at our win-loss record. And right now it’s doing pretty good, I think.”
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NFC quarterbacks
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RANK, QUARTERBACK TEAM RATING
1 Marc Bulger StL 94.4
2 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 88.8
3 Mark Brunell WASH 87.8
4 Jake Delhomme CAR 87.2
5 Drew Bledsoe DAL 86.1
6 Donovan McNabb PHIL 85.0
7 Kurt Warner ARIZ 84.4
8 Chris Simms TB 80.3
9 Brian Griese TB 79.6
10 Eli Manning NYG 77.2
11 Michael Vick ATL 76.0
12 Brett Favre GB 75.9
13 Daunte Culpepper MINN 72.0
14 Josh McCown ARIZ 69.1
15 Aaron Brooks NO 69.0
16 Joey Harrington DET 66.5
17 Kyle Orton CHI 60.2
Source: nfl.com
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
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