Time For A Mulligan?

Anyone who watched the dalliance that was pre-season football last night, saw a debut by Kyle Orton that made every Denver Broncos fan shiver. The quarterback who is replacing franchise quarterback Jay Cutler didn't throw a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers, but he did manage to throw three straight interceptions to kill drives.

This leads to the question of the day: does new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels wish he had a do over when it comes to trading away Cutler? McDaniels will naturally never admit a mistake and he'll let us all know that it's only the pre-season; Orton has plenty of time to get ready for the games that count. But you wonder if secretly, McDaniels is sweating just a little. After all, his job rides on making this giant Cutler trade work out for the Broncos somehow.

Remember, the Bears weren't the only team interested in Cutler. McDaniels had a chance to get Jason Campbell from the Redskins, but he chose Orton instead. McDaniels also could have grabbed Mark Sanchez in this year's NFL Draft. Sanchez had a pres-season great debut with the Jets.

It didn't happen though and the Broncos are stuck with Orton. If he ends up turning it around and being a solid quarterback, he and McDaniels can look back on this pre-season game and laugh. If he continues to struggle, the Broncos are in for a long season and McDaniels may find himself fighting for his coaching life before he even gets a chance to acclimate to the thin mountain air.