Kyle Orton About to 'Win' Starting QB Job Over Rex Grossman

If anyone had the pleasure of watching the Seahawks first defense obliterate the Bears' pathetic offensive line Saturday night, you'll know why I put win in quotes in the title of this piece. The Vikings and Packers pass rush units have to be licking their chops at the chance to face this line twice during the regular season. It was an embarrassing display until the Seahawks called off the dogs.

Make no mistake about it, the Bears inability to effectively patch a decent offensive line together is going to kill any chance some of the talented, young skill players -- Devin Hester, Earl Bennett, Matt Forte, Greg Olsen, etc. -- have to show their stuff.

Now, speculation is rampant in the Chicago papers that Lovie Smith's demeanor and some of his statements are pointing towards Kyle Orton taking the starting job over Rex Grossman.

Some of the reasons provided are listed after the jump:

- Orton is better at shorter routes, while Grossman throws a better deep ball. If the line can't handle a blitz, there isn't enough time to go deep.

- Orton got the easier start in the pre-season so far. He had the Chiefs at home. Grossman's start was against the tenacious Seattle front.

- Lovie said, "things are becoming clearer and clearer," after the Seattle game. Orton had much better numbers.

Personally, I think this is a disaster. You're counting on Hester to stretch the field and allow room for a decent running game, so you absolutely must have Grossman over Orton. It's not even a contest as to who can throw the better deep ball. The first point above -- about the shorter routes -- is a viable one, but you shouldn't be basing which QB to use on the fact that your line sucks. You play the best QB and fix the line as best you can.

Sigh.

It's gonna be an ugly season in the Windy City, on offense at least. Good thing they have the Cubs and White Sox.