So the trade of Cutler was a bit stunning, but he was being a childish ass so, to heck with him.  The bright side of this is that it yields a wonderful opportunity for rivalry.  To that end, rsncrntz and I made a bet as to which quarterback would have the highest passer rating at the end of the season.  You might think I'm nuts for betting on Orton...  Okay, I AM nuts for betting on Orton.  But I do have a logic here.

The big problem Cutler is going to face is that, while he has the physical talent, he is going to be playing on a defensive minded team without a strong supporting cast.  Don't get me wrong, the Bears do have some talent, but not nearly what the Broncos have.  Orton's not going to have the same tough offensive line he had in Denver.  He's not going to have the pro bowl grade receivers.  So while he has the talent, he's going to be hard pressed to make use of it.  On the bright side for him, the shadow of Jim McMahon is a lot shorter than that of John Elway :)

Orton, on the other hand, though not nearly as good as Cutler, physically, is going to have a strong offense he can plug into.  He's got one of the best offensive lines in the league, a solid running game (when they can stay healthy), and top notch receivers.  There will be less pressure on him to save the game all on his own, and I think that will make him a better quarterback than his pedigree would suggest. 

Also, psychologically speaking, I think Orton will have an advantage over Cutler as a QB in Denver.  The big problem for Denver Quarterbacks is that they are always compared to Elway.  We look to the Quarterback as the core of the team and the one who will save us in the end.  But nobody in Denver thinks for a moment that Orton's that guy.  He's our new Steve DeBerg.  The unexciting veteran who can keep the team running until we groom a new superstar.  So the pressure if there is to be any will be on McDaniels for having made the trade, not Orton. 

It's going to be interesting to see.  I think both quarterbacks are going to have some struggles and I think, as a team, the Bears have a better chance this year with the Broncos having to totally rebuild their Defense.  But talking purely as a comparison of quarterback success, I believe Orton will win this year. 

Okay, I doubt anybody out there reading this actually gives a hoot about the Broncos, but I do so I'm blogging about it.  Anyhow, I'm thrilled to see Shanahan go.  He was smart about how he called plays, generally, and his offensive scheme was successful throughout his career.  But the truth is, he SUCKED at drafting talent. 

To illustrate, they have THREE players on the team who were drafted between 2001-2005:

• Ben Hamilton
• D.J. Williams
• Karl Paymah

And none of those three really strike me as big time play maker types.  This year they actually did get some good draft picks, but they put all of their picks into offensive positions.  So the Broncos were left with a completely awful defense.

Now, to be fair, the Broncos lost a lot of players last year.  Lynch, Wilson, etc.  Also to be fair, I think the offense, provided they can get one consistently healthy running back in there, will be really good.  But the defense is bad.  They could hold their own for one quarter in most games this year and then proceeded to get trounced.  

I've always thought Shanhan was a decent coach, but it was pointed out that in the last 10 years, the Broncos have only won a single playoff game.  I heard that and was like, "really?"  But yeah, for all that he's hailed as some kind of genius he's done a lousy job of getting the team much of anywhere since the end of the Elway era.

In the end when you look at him, he's got a great strategic mind, but his personnel choices have just sucked too badly for him to compensate.  Had he been willing to let somebody else run personnel and he'd focussed on the strategy, I think he'd have had a lot more success.  But he wasn't able to recognize his own weakness.  So he goes.

Hopefully we can get a new coach and a new GM, as two seperate people, who can start making some good personnel decisions.  Frankly the offense is solid if we just get a healthy back.  If they can hold that together and then rebuild the defense, there's some real potential in the next few years.