Childress equates Orton to Cowboys' Romo
Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress provided one of those "come again?"moments this week when he compared Bears starting quarterback Kyle Orton to Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys.
"I'd equate him to a guy like Tony Romo, who sat in the back of the meeting room forever and was a sponge," Childress said, "only this guy was able to go in for a full year and operate that offense and then sit back for a couple of years.
"I imagine he knows where all the bones are buried, from who's the first read to who's the last read."
Orton, who led the Bears to 10 victories in his rookie year before dropping to No. 3 on the depth chart, will get another shot to show what he's got Monday night in Minneapolis.
"I saw him out of Purdue; I'm familiar with his work there," Childress said. "He has a strong arm, he's tall in stature and he has familiarity with the throwing game."
Ships passing: While the Bears' season is spiraling out of control just a year after reaching the Super Bowl, the Vikings are flying high, coming into Monday's game on a four-game winning streak that has spurred a lot of playoff talk.
Vikings coach Brad Childress would like to knock off that kind of chatter.
"We're playing the Chicago Bears; that's all we're able to deal with," he said. "We're truly a one-game-at-a-time outfit here. We can't get ahead of ourselves, particularly in this division, which we have a healthy, healthy respect for.
"This is still the NFC North champion and the NFC champion."
Vikings rookie running back Adrian Peterson has noticed the change since the winning commenced.
"There's definitely a changed attitude," Peterson said. "Guys are really buying into everything. We've got some players who have really stepped up.
"We've grown each week and each player has gotten better."
Looking good: While the Bears continue their seemingly endless search for stability at quarterback, it's looking more and more like the Vikings may have found their quarterback of the future in Tarvaris Jackson.
"Since the Oakland game, he's started to put some things together a little bit and built a body of work, but he's still a work in progress," said coach Brad Childress. "He's athletic, he's a smart guy, he likes football and he spends a lot of time at it
"I'm just pleased that he's put together a good set of ballgames. NFL quarterbacks aren't made in the 14 games we've had."
Catching on: Already considered one of the top rushing backs in the league, the Vikings' Adrian Peterson wouldn't mind getting some credit for his receiving ability as well.
"I feel like I've done pretty good at that," Peterson said. "I've been a pretty good contributor in the passing game and I feel like I've improved each week catching the ball out of the backfield and just being the all-around player that I want to be."