Purdue Boilermakers in the NFL: 2014 Season, Week 5

Kyle Orton – QB – Buffalo Bills – Boiler Up Award Winner

In case you missed it, Uncle Rico finally got his chance at playing in the NFL. OK, so that’s not Uncle Rico, but him and Orton look exactly alike, so sorry for the confusion. Orton was announced as the Buffalo Bills starting quarterback earlier in the week and he didn’t disappoint.

Orton didn’t start well, which should be somewhat expected since his last meaningful game was last year in Week 16 against the Philadelphia Eagles. He threw a pick-six in the second quarter, which put the Bills down 14-0, but the Bills defense hunkered down and didn’t allow the Detroit Lions to score again in the game. Orton finally settled in and hit Chris Gragg for a two-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to tie the game. After a Lions missed field goal, Orton hit Sammy Watkins for 20 yards, which put the Bills in position to kick the game-winning field goal, which they did.

At the end of the day, Orton finished 30-of-43 for 308 yards, one touchdown and one interception. What might be even bigger news is that Orton was able to find Watkins seven times on 12 targets (most targets Watkins has received this year). If you are going to spend a King’s Ransom on a player, you might want to have someone who can throw him the ball. Looks like Orton is that guy.

Orton earned our Boiler Up Award for the week, in part to his performance, and the Bills win, and in part because only he could pull of this look: