This Kyle Orton Character Might Actually Be Decent

This is the first of two random, subjective quarterback evaluations we have from the same game. Let us begin.

We know how fashionable it’s been over the last couple years to dog on whichever quarterback the Bears are trotting out there every Sunday. In fact, it’s pretty fun.

Admittedly, it’s more fun when it’s Rex Grossman. He’s an easy target what with his up and down play.

But hey, we’ll settle for Kyle Orton. He does have two tremendous strikes against him. First, he went to Purdue. Enough said about that one. Second, his facial hair is God awful. That beard he’s rocking now is a step up from the chin growth, but it’s still pretty gnarly.

So there we are watching the Bears-Falcons game Sunday and we don’t expect much from Orton. He’s not Peyton Manning, you know? He’s more like Trent Dilfer or something.

Then he goes and leads an 11-play, 77-yard touchdown drive to (we thought) steal a victory with just 11 seconds left on the clock. He went and engineered himself a game-winning drive.

Now, it’s not like The Drive or something crazy. It was, however, what should have been an impressive drive to win a game on the road in the NFL — something not many would ever associate a quarterback like Kyle Orton with.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan ended up doing one better, but we’re thinking maybe it’s time to get off Orton’s back since he actually resembles something like the playmaker the Bears have needed under center for oh, like 20 years.

OK, maybe not.