Good post. Further:
Something else that is critically important to not overlook: Orton gives a chance to win without an effective running game.
Against the Vikings we had a rushing total of 118yds (of which almost half came on a single run by spiller – 53yds). Not consistently effective. Win.
Against the Pats we had 68yds total rushing – pathetic. We were within 1 score of the Pats late in the 4th quarter. Loss.
Against the Lions we had 49yds total rushing – pathetic. Win.
With EJ:
Against the Texans we had 96 total rushing yards. Not effective. Loss.
Against the Chargers we had 87 total rushing yards. Not effective. Loss.
Against the Dolphins we had 113 total rushing yards. Not awesome b/c CJ had a big run this game too for 47yds so we weren’t consistently running the ball well. Win
Against the Bears we had 193 rushing yards. Good day rushing. Win
Going back to last year, in games where EJ played and we didn’t run for 100yds:
Bills/Steelers – Loss (destroyed)
Bills/Jets – Win
Bills/Bucs – Loss (destroyed)
And then there were games where we rushed for almost 200yds and STILL lost (like against the Falcons).
So based on my observation: EJ is 1-4 in games where we don’t rush for at least 100yds. In limited play, Orton is 1-1. Obviously a very limited sample for Orton, but something to keep an eye on going forward.
What I can say is this: Orton is not getting HALF the running help Bills QB’s got last season. It was disheartening going back over the games last season b/c there were 4-5 games where we rushed near or OVER 200yds in a game. God we were so good at running and now look at us.