Teammates' confidence in Orton continues to grow

Kyle Orton has thrown 5 touchdown passes in the last two games, more than anyone in the NFL except a certain ex-Packers quarterback now playing for the New York Jets.

But Orton has also tossed 4 interceptions and been sacked seven times in those two games. The key to making big plays while avoiding turnovers, he contends, is execution.

"The touchdown passes I had, it wasn't like I was overly aggressive," Orton said. "I threw it to the right guy, and I made the play. On the turnovers, we've just got to make the right decision, so we've addressed it and are moving on."

Success on offense is as simple as sticking to the plan, according to coordinator Ron Turner, but that plan requires Orton to make the right decisions based on what the defense shows.

"It's just continuing to run our offense the way we run it and have (Orton) continue to make good reads," Turner said. "Protect for him, run the football, just do all the things that we do and try to get in some rhythm."

Part of what has helped Orton's performance is his ability to handle success and failure with the same level-headed demeanor that has impressed teammates and coaches.

"Once he was named the starter, he took the reins and has been riding ever since," tight end Desmond Clark said. "One thing that me and a couple of guys talked about is that when you look at him, you never see him get shaken. He's taken some big hits, he's taken some big sacks, he's had a couple of bad plays, but he's always the same guy coming back into the huddle.

"You never really see him questioning what he's doing or what we're doing as an offense," Clark added. "There's always a whole lot of confidence."

Orton made the fateful decision to change a run play to a pass on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter of the overtime loss to Tampa Bay in Week 3, and he wound up scrambling for no gain. But Sunday in the victory over Philadelphia, when a pass play was called late in the fourth quarter on third-and-4, Orton saw a defensive look that told him a running play would work better. Matt Forte ran for 10 yards to allow the Bears to maintain possession of the ball until just 17 seconds remained.

Typically, the fourth-year quarterback low-keyed the decision.

"That was a look we'd talked about before the game," he said. "I feel very confident at the line of scrimmage of seeing things, and if it's a good look I'm going to use it."

Orton's teammates believe his ability to diagnose defenses has improved with experience.

"We know that he has confidence in himself," Clark said, "and when your quarterback has confidence in himself, and you see it in the huddle, you know that you're going out with a guy that's going to be the leader for you. Once the quarterback has confidence in himself, it gives the rest of the huddle confidence that we've got a leader who can get it done for us."

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