CHICAGO (AP) -The end came appropriately for Kyle Orton. Facing fourth-and-10 midway through the fourth quarter, the Bears quarterback simply dropped the ball.
Orton bobbled a clean shotgun snap, losing it to Packers defensive end Jason Hunter who scooped up the ball and ran untouched for a touchdown in Green Bay’s 37-3 victory on Sunday.
“You can go around to every position group on the entire team and we stunk it up,” Orton said.
Orton was awful, but he matched his teammates’ performances, too. Besides Matt Forte, who had 64 yards rushing and 40 yards receiving, Chicago failed in every other aspect of the game. The defense gave up 200 yards rushing and 227 yards passing, the receivers didn’t have a catch until the second half and Chicago went 3-for-12 on third down.
he backfield catching the ball, ran the ball pretty well but for the most part just the entire unit, we didn’t play very well.”
When asked what was more problematic for the Bears’ defense, the Packers’ run or pass, defensive end Alex Brown said: “It was Green Bay.”
Then he said he knew more criticism was coming after Chicago’s second straight loss.
“Of course it’s fair,” he said. “You guys write as much as you want, as much negative stuff as you want because it’s probably deserved at this point.”
Orton only managed to complete 13 of 26 attempts for 138 yards. Worse, in trotted Rex Grossman to replace Orton after his fumble in the fourth quarter and predictably, Grossman turned the ball over on downs.
To be fair, Orton was wearing special footwear to protect his ankle and he returned after missing a game and a half with the injury, but Chicago seemingly can’t ever find the right fit at quarterback.
Orton said the ankle wasn’t a problem and his “special” footwear was nothing more than a shoe and some tape, but Packers cornerback Al Harris wasn’t so sure.
“I know Orton was favoring something – I’m not sure what it was. You could tell he was hurting,” Harris said.
FC North co-leaders after the Bears scored 14 points in a loss to the Titans with Grossman at the helm.
Wrong.
Orton failed to find anyone down field, completing just two passes to receivers and often choosing to dump the ball off for minimal gains when the Bears needed more.
Orton’s longest completion was anything but a deep fling. The 41-yard pass to Rashied Davis was one were Davis did most of the work, breaking a tackle after catching the short toss. Brandon Lloyd, who also returned from a knee injury, caught one pass from Orton for 8 yards and another from Grossman for 9.
Grossman’s performance against Tennessee was uneven at best when he completed 20 of 37 for 173 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Those numbers looked down right manageable on Sunday, but the coaching staff said Orton will bounce back.
“He’s been playing really well. He’s got a lot of confidence, we have a lot confidence in him. I think every guy does, we just have to, everybody has to help out,” offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. “I’m not worried about his confidence at all. He’ll come back and we’ll all bounce back from this one.”
Of course, it helps that the Bears are still tied for the NFC North division title along with Green Bay and Minnesota with six games left.
ill there,” Brown said. “We’ve still got a chance as bad as we’ve played. We still have a chance.”
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