Turner: Orton the starter

HOUSTON - Lovie Smith said it, and then he didn't.

The Bears head coach said that while everyone has to compete for a job, Kyle Orton is the starting quarterback.

"But everyone," Smith said, "starts from scratch."

As confusing as that was, offensive coordinator Ron Turner left no doubt where he stood.

"Oh yeah. There's no question about it," Turner said. "Kyle's the guy.

"I thought he made great strides this year, and even still, it's hard to score in this league without big-play players."

Orton did make great strides this year in his first legitimate opportunity with the offense, though he wasn't the same after injuring his ankle in Game No. 8 against Detroit.

Not until Sunday did he look again like the Orton from the first half of the season.

Orton admitted Sunday that his ankle has been a mess since the Green Bay debacle, and not until Sunday, when he played his best game in weeks, did he start to feel good.

"It's been a battle every week to get it ready, and a battle every game," Orton said. "Something always happened in a game to tweak it again, but it felt halfway decent today."

Even with a rough second half of the season, Orton showed enough to make the Bears believe they've got a QB now, to go along with running back Matt Forte - who was also terrific until he got hurt a couple weeks ago.

"I learned a lot this year and it was a good year in a lot of ways," Forte said. "But we're here for one reason: to win the Super Bowl.

"We didn't do that, so I'm not happy."

While it was the right thing to say, and impressive for a rookie, Forte looked like he meant it.

"I don't want to be done playing right now, and I really didn't think we would be when the day started," Forte said. "I know a lot of people will say this was a great year for me because they look at the stats, but I just look at the record of the team and I don't think it was a great year for me.

"We have to win more games next year. We have to make the playoffs next year and go a long way. That's what makes it a great year."

Orton agreed, and might have said it best when he looked to 2009.

"This is a great group of guys, but unfortunately, not everyone's going to be back next year," Orton said. "For it to be your last game with these guys is tough."

Not as tough as having no place to go this week.

"I'm looking forward to next year," Orton said. "It'll be a lot of hard work this off-season and I'm looking forward to next year.

"It's just too soon to end this one."