Now, Orton's play attracts attention

Suddenly, Kyle Orton's play is as difficult to ignore as his beard. Quarterbacks who throw for 334 yards as he did for the Chicago Bears in a 34-7 win at Detroit last week tend to attract attention, and he certainly turned a few heads with that performance. That jittery rookie who left fans clamoring for Rex Grossman three years ago? He's all grown up now. "This is how I expect to play," he said. "I expect to get better. Hopefully, this week that continues." He'll have a hard time topping what he did against the Lions. While Atlanta's defense ranks just 23rd, Orton will have to keep an eye on John Abraham, who leads the league with seven sacks. There were no such issues with Detroit. The Lions fired general manager Matt Millen two weeks ago, but turning around the franchise will take time. Orton was brilliant even if he was... [read full story]