Orton Time

[Photo: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports]

With the serious speculation that Cowboys starting Quarterback Tony Romo is out with a herniated disk in his back, the Cowboys playoffs chances now rest on the throwing arm of one ,Kyle Orton. After being drafted in 2007 to the Chicago Bears , he was given the starting role in place of Rex Grossman. Orton has had some success as a starting quarterback in this league and can put up numbers if teams do not respect his ability to throw the deep ball.  In 2009  while a member of the Denver Broncos he threw 21 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions. He would eventually lose his job to Tim Tebow and was later released the next season.

The Cowboys signed him after he was released by the Kansas City Chiefs and made him one of the highest paid back up quarterbacks in the league. Jerry Jones signed him for about 10 million dollars over a three year period. Orton will have the heavy task of taking on the leagues hottest offense and most surprising defenses in a winner take all showdown for the NFC East Division title. Jerry Jones said he brought Kyle in for this type of situation but no one can believe that to be true. Yes , in fact you did bring Orton in to be a viable back up to Tony Romo , but in the contrary did you really think it would come down to such utter and dire circumstances? After all its not week 5 in the NFL , its week 17 and there is no turning back.

The Cowboys will have to muster up a mighty tight game plan that will feature a lot dig routes and screens to get Orton comfortable at first. Honestly that may not be enough if you have been watching the Eagles as of late. A shocking statistic to throw out there is that over the last 10 games the Eagles defense has only given up more than 21 points …..once! That is saying something for a team that in the beginning of the season, it seemed as if teams were almost scoring at will against them. The Cowboys on the other hand have allowed teams in their last five games to score an average of 24.0 ppg. Not to mention they have the leagues poorest defense and it seems almost like a given to score 30 plus on them.

If you are wondering what happened earlier in the season when the Cowboys won by a score of 17-3 , well the circumstances have change drastically. For example, that was only Nick Foles second game as starting quarterback and he did not have the confidence level he has at the current moment. If not for Mr. Manning , Nick Foles would be the league MVP. Secondly , the Cowboys only were able to score one offensive touchdown in that game. Romo was in the pocket for Dallas, not Kyle Orton and Orton has had his fair share of success but he will be no match for an Eagles team that is clicking on all cylinders.