Dec 18th 2008 12:44PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: BearsHalfway through the year, Bears quarterback Kyle Orton was one of the pleasant surprises of the 2008 NFL season. At the time of the Bears’ bye in Week 8, Orton had completed 143 of 230 passes for 1,669 yards, with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.

But since that bye, Orton has completed 94 of 171 passes, for 917 yards, with five touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s just not the same player.

So now the Bears need to figure out: Is Orton struggling because he’s not fully recovered after he suffered an ankle injury in the Bears’ first game after the bye week? Or is it just that the Orton we’ve seen in the last five games (looking a lot like the Orton we saw in 2005, the last time he was the Bears’ starter) the real Kyle Orton?Continue Reading