Orton vs the 4th QTR Part 3: Comparison of QBs with top Defense and Run Games

Palmer, Flacco, and Sanchez

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What do get when you have an average QB with a top five defense and a top 10 run game?  Playoffs baby!  If there is ever an argument for Kyle Orton to succeed and lead Denver to the playoffs and beyond it is the example given by  these three teams.  They all had a top notch defense.  They all relied heavily on their run games.  Smash-mouth football, as they call it, is the way to win for these teams.  They also say defense wins championships.  Not in 2009, but I would say defense gets you in the playoffs for a chance to win the Super Bowl. 

Joe Flacco, and Carson Palmer were game managers and average Qbs.  Their QB ratings areranked 13 and 16. Orton was ranked 14 BTW. They were middle of the pack in almost every passing category.  Mark Sanchez was at the bottom of the barrel in passer rating and many other QB statistics.  The single thread that brings these QBs together is the teams that they play on don’t really on them to carry the team throughout the season.  Their offenses rely on powerful running games and their defense keeps the other teams from scoring.   Kyle Orton was on a team like this through the first six games of the season and he was undefeated.  Then the team started to fall in defense and run game.  At that point you witnessed what happens when you ask an average QB to carry a team.

Here are the comparisons of the three QBs and Orton in the fourth quarter.  Also are the rankings of the team defense and running attack

The big thing that I noticed with Sanchez and Flacco was how little they had to attempt a third down conversion almost 25% less than Orton.  The Jets, Ravens, and Bengals would run on 3rd and 10, and get 15 yards.  Many drives in the fourth quarter they wouldn’t even throw the ball.  I’am talking 10 play drives into the endzone with no passes. 

Palmer

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It is a little weird to think of Carson Palmer as a game manager, but that is exactly what he was in 2009.  There were only two games that he had to carry his team in the fourth quarter.  Most of the time he was handing off and picking of a few first downs.  The defense did the rest of the work.  He only had one blowout against guess who, the Browns.  The rest of the games were close. 

Sanchez

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Sanchez ahad a few big plays, but he really did more harm than good in the fourth.  NY would have been better served to put in Kellen Clemens.  Sanchez threw 10 interceptions to 1 touchdown.

Flacco

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Joe didn’t have to do a whole lot other than dump the ball off to Ray Rice in many games.  The ravens as usual caused turnovers and provided short fields to score on.  Flacco did have  a lot of big plays, but it was usually a short pass where the receiver did the rest of the work. 

Denver is not going to be a defensive minded team

I think this shows that if Denver wanted to rely on Kyle Orton they should have gone in the direction of drafting defense and maybe a bruising back.  If Denver had gone Dan Williams, Toby Gerhart, Brandon Spikes after trading down then, I could get behind sticking with Orton as the QB of the future.  Denver instead decided to forego drafting defense and drafted two WRs, O-line, and that Tebow guy.  I think it is clear that Denver is going in the direction away from these teams to more of the passing oriented type of team in the NFL.  Defense is important, but the team is not going to be smash-mouth like the three brought up here.  This also shows that when Orton is either traded in 2010, or a free agent in 2011, he needs to go to a team that has the same mentality as these other teams. 

Where would Orton fit?

I am going to throw out the Jaguars as the front runner.  Their team and coach are defensive minded and have a great running game.  Orton could be viewed as an upgrade over current QB Gerrard.  Also Orton is young enough to be a part of a building team.

Next up:  Part 4: The Elite 4Q quarterbacks Brees, Manning, Favre