The Bills have a 5 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to Football Outsiders' DVOA Odds, but that isn't stopping head coach Doug Marrone from playing Kyle Orton at quarterback.
The prevailing theory would be to let rookie EJ Manuel take his lumps for the remaining three games and try to iron out whatever issues he displayed that got him benched in the first place.
But in a terse session with reporters on Wednesday, Marrone did not seem to subscribe to that logic.
"Every week, I'm going to make that decision," Marrone said, via ESPN.com. "If I get to 7-8, I'll make that decision. But right now, absolutely, I will play Kyle Orton, because he gives us the best chance to win now."
In taking a second look at Manuel's numbers before the benching, they aren't that bad. Manuel hit on 58 percent of his passes and had a positive (five to three) TD-to-INT ratio.
Orton has been better but in taking a look at his past numbers, he was once a young man in his early 20s completing 58 percent of his passes with a similar ratio of touchdowns to interceptions. He got a chance to get better and Manuel deserves that, too.
Unless Marrone plans to be in Buffalo next season and start Orton on opening day, it might be time to give your first round pick from 2013 another look.
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