The Kansas City Chiefs offense looked like, for the first time since October, a legitimate NFL offense and that's largely due to Kyle Orton. I know the Chiefs don't like to give credit to just one player but in this case I think it's deserved -- Orton played a heck of a game completing 23-of-31 passes for 299 yards and no turnovers.
The immediate question is whether Orton is the starter for the rest of the season. I think we know what that answer is (yes). The longterm question is whether Orton, whose contract expires at the end of the season, can be someone that lines up under center in 2012 and beyond.
Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel hinted after the game that bringing Orton back next year is indeed a possibility.
"For the next few weeks, I'm going to be pretty confident," Crenenl said when asked if Orton can be a longterm option.
The question from Kent Babb was clarified to emphasize longterm, as in after this season.
"If we win these next few games with him and he continues to play like he did today, then you might have to say that," Crennel continued. "That's what football is. You see what kind of production a player has and then you make a determination about whether that production will continue and if you want that type of player on your team. So if he continues to do what he did today, then I would say, ‘Yes.'"
Interesting. Very interesting. If Orton continues to play well, we're headed to a quarterback controversy, folks. Maybe I'm just forgetting the guy who's gone (Matt Cassel) but Orton seemed to give the Chiefs a different dynamic offensively that they haven't seen in a while, with Cassel or Tyler Palko.
We have to remember that this is just one game and there's a reason Orton was available late in the season. We have only two more games (possibly more) to evaluate Orton so I can already tell that, if he plays well, this will be the topic of conversation after the season.