Chiefs’ Acquisition of Orton No Threat to Steelers

Earlier on Wednesday, the KC Chiefs acquired Kyle Orton off of waivers after he was released by the Denver Broncos.  Kinda feels like when you were a kid and that delinquent cousin of your’s is moving in for the summer – your summer’s still gonna suck, but you suppose it’s better than dusting off grandma’s figurines.  There’s enough problems going on for the Chiefs that Kyle Orton is no bigger a worry for the Steelers than prior to Matt Cassel’s injury.

Orton has played 67 games in his career dating back to 2005 in Chicago.  Yeah remember the Cutler/Orton ‘QB controversies?’  Through those 67 games, Orton has a 59% completion rating, 79 TD’s, 30 fumbles and 55 picks.  Not terrible stats and not great stats either.  Orton is 29-34 over that span as well.  Far from a proven winner, and it’s not like he didn’t have a good defense to help back him up when he was in Chicago.

Combine his inconsistency with the offensive woes and poor coaching the Chiefs are already suffering from, and you might as well have Cassel back out there with his injured right hand.  I guess you can’t blame the Chiefs for trying to get someone to help stave off the bleeding.  Palko was abysmal on Monday night agains the Patriots, and God forbid that rookie Ricky Stanzi step in were Palko suffer an injury.  So could Orton be any worse?  I suppose not, but he’s a cat without claws when it comes to facing the Steelers defense.

I think one of Orton’s biggest weakness is scrambling under pressure.  Orton tends to lose where the pursuit is from and is prone to sacks or throwing balls he should not be throwing, resulting in picks and potential fumbles.  Broncos pass protection = bad – which is one reason why he struggled so much.  The Chiefs line is not any better having given up 25 sacks in 10 games (Broncos 24).  If Woodley returns (currently participating in limited practice), and if LeBeau can come up with some good blitzing scheme, then the Steelers will have a field day chasing Orton out of the pocket.  Cans of corn will rain from the sky waiting to be gobbled up by Polamalu, Clark, Taylor and Lewis.

So whether it be Orton or Palko or even Stanzi, the quarterback should be no worry for the Steelers.  It’s not like Orton will be set up for any chance of success anyways.  The play calling in KC has been pretty bad lately.  Halely looks lost then angry then lost while being angry.  Most of the time the offense is predictable, and then any surprises are poorly executed.  I understand that one is limited to the tools infront of oneself – but as fellow FanSided blogger, Patrick from Arrowhead Addict, put it via Twitter during the Monday night contest: “More cowardly coaching by Haley.”  Something that doesn’t look good for a head coach.

Now I can see Orton playing some inspired football this Sunday in trying to prove to his former team that they made a mistake by Tebowing him right out of town.  I know I would.  But will it be enough to inspire this lackluster offense?  Doubtful.  As always, anything’s possible, and that’s why they play the game.

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