Captain Hindsight Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 I don't get the Orton hate on here. He was exactly as advertised and what they hoped that he would be. He was an average veteran QB that gave a team with playoff talent a shot at the playoffs. Had he played all year they may have still missed the playoffs but would have won the Houston game. His stats extrapolated 64.2% completion, 3,772 yards, 22.5 TDs & 12.5 INTs. That would have been on the high end of the range that we all would have expected from Orton or EJ. Me personally, I juts thought it was dumb to put him in in the first place. He started good and then faded horribly and offense was a train wreck the better part of 6 weeks. It was difficult to watch because frankly I couldn't stand him and thought he was in it for himself by his words and his giving up on plays. Were his numbers decent? Yeah and he did bring some stability, but he was boring to watch and made terrible use of our receivers. I wish he would have waited one more year because its hard to find solid backups, but I fully expected him to retire. It was clear to me weeks ago, he didn't really want to be here
Kelly the Dog Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 I think Orton's numbers were a little deceiving. If we threw the ball downfield more, and risked more, and spread the field more, I think his percentage goes down, but he throws one more TD and one more INT per game. And then we're a much better team. Probably win one or two more games. Our defense proved it can withstand bad field position and turnovers. Our offense proved it needed to score more. Normally that TD to INT doesn't seem like much of a trade off. 28-20 doesn't seem much better than 18-10. But we would have been much better with that trade off. Plus our WR can make plays on bad balls. And our defense can shut teams down.
Gugny Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 Nope. He's one of those crazy liberal pinko fags. Hey, Arch!
Georgia Bill Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 (edited) I appreciated having a 9-7 season and having a real late December shot at the playoffs for a change. Kyle was part of that and so I'll thank him (and the rest of the Bills). To all the Orton haters who are whooping it up, you've got to admit there's no guarantee we're going to be any better off with whomever is our starter next year. Of course we would all like a "franchise" top 10 QB, but the fact is the Bills are not in position to land one any time soon. We can speculate all day about EJ, or Cutler, or Bradford, or (fill in the blank), but there's no way to know any would pan out better behind this line. I'll hope for the best, but don't think this is a day to celebrate. Edited December 30, 2014 by Georgia Bill
hondo in seattle Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 Orton didn't have the talent or swagger to make any of us give up our Jim Kelly nostalgia. But when was the last time a QB left Buffalo with a winning record? I was an Orton fan for as long as he wore Buffalo colors. Now that his day has passed, I wish him well. Let's hope next year's QB - whoever it may be - also delivers a winning record.
Ted William's frozen head Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 The guy has issues. I think this clearly shows his heart isn't into football at this time in his life. I find it to be incredible when most athletes play until they are forced to stop for one reason or another. Some of those guys need a GPS to make a trip to the grocery store these days.
MarkAF43 Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 Anyone who thinks that Orton just quit a month ago, or was just collecting a paycheck, Eric Wood said today he has never seen any player who put more work in than Orton. Ever. And that was going to be the lasting impression on players still on the Bills. How hard he prepared. I heard that too, and while I don't necessarily disagree with the entire thing, there is a difference between being prepared and his willingness to go all out while on the field. I think he may have prepared and been a hard worker, but some of his actions on the field left questions in people's minds into the type of heart and effort he gave on gameday.
Kelly the Dog Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 (edited) I heard that too, and while I don't necessarily disagree with the entire thing, there is a difference between being prepared and his willingness to go all out while on the field. I think he may have prepared and been a hard worker, but some of his actions on the field left questions in people's minds into the type of heart and effort he gave on gameday. I agree with that. And surely there was some self-preservation there on singular plays. But that doesnt at all mean he already knew he was going to retire or was packing it in. And a guy does not prepare like that if he is packing it in either. It's also different to say something like, "the guy worked very hard" or the "guy was the first in and last out" versus what Wood said, which was not only emphatic but I have never ever seen anyone work this hard. Edited December 30, 2014 by Kelly the Dog
MarkAF43 Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 I agree with that. And surely there was some self-preservation there on singular plays. But that doesnt at all mean he already knew he was going to retire or was packing it in. And a guy does not prepare like that if he is packing it in either. It's also different to say something like, "the guy worked very hard" or the "guy was the first in and last out" versus what Wood said, which was not only emphatic but I have never ever seen anyone work this hard. True, the one thing I noticed about Wood when he was on WGR is he always went way above saying anything controversial or offensive to anyone, so he may have been protecting a bit too because Orton is a friend. I think he had to know he was going to, it doesn't work in my mind to wake up the day after the season and say I'm done. ( I know Wood said he knew in advance but wouldn't say how long)
Kelly the Dog Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 True, the one thing I noticed about Wood when he was on WGR is he always went way above saying anything controversial or offensive to anyone, so he may have been protecting a bit too because Orton is a friend. I think he had to know he was going to, it doesn't work in my mind to wake up the day after the season and say I'm done. ( I know Wood said he knew in advance but wouldn't say how long) It's easy to imagine that he knew weeks ago he wasn't playing well, he knew he wasn't getting much help, he knew the coaching wasn't good, and he figured that he didn't think this was going to last. But that also doesn't at all mean he stopped trying or working or going as hard as he can. And it would have been worth it to him had we gone to the playoffs. It's very easy to imagine he knew after they lost to Oakland, and they were out of the playoffs, that he knew he was done for good. Then worked one last week.
MarkAF43 Posted December 30, 2014 Posted December 30, 2014 It's easy to imagine that he knew weeks ago he wasn't playing well, he knew he wasn't getting much help, he knew the coaching wasn't good, and he figured that he didn't think this was going to last. But that also doesn't at all mean he stopped trying or working or going as hard as he can. And it would have been worth it to him had we gone to the playoffs. It's very easy to imagine he knew after they lost to Oakland, and they were out of the playoffs, that he knew he was done for good. Then worked one last week. That's a very good possibility. I like the way you think. I just think a lot of people take offense with the fact that it seemed he was more concerned with self preservation than with doing anything possible to make plays to win games, and that doesn't sit well with some Bills fans.
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