Forte on Rome

**Riczaj01** · 10-04-2011, 07:00 AM

Anyone hear or have access to hear the interview? A friend at work said the Bears were going to be a run first team from here out. Wanted to see if this could be veriried.

If so, and it is the man up blocking, then I approve. I think this OL can man up block; ecspeically w/some TE help better then they can pass protect, and better then the delay/stunt primary running they tried against GB.

**motownbear** · 10-04-2011, 07:25 AM

We have no choice our oline can't pass block and our wrs stink

**Bear Goggles** · 10-04-2011, 11:33 AM

Here's show info all I could really find: http://beta.jimrome.com/show/2011/10/03

**soulman** · 10-04-2011, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by motownbear

We have no choice our oline can't pass block and our wrs stink

The ONLY way we can win with this offense is with a strong running game. The Oline and the WR's we have are not even close to being adequate for Martz usual offensive strategies and it would take at least another two years to get there. It's the same old addage. When something isn't working and you're losing games what do you do? Since you can't fire 20+ players you get rid of the coach and find another who can win with the ones you have.

Personally I don't think our WR stink nor do I think the Oline is completely inept but they are when you ask them to play in a Mike Martz,pass oriented offense. Given the fact that Knox was a 5th round pick, Bennett a 3rd, and Hester never played WR in college, what these guys are doing may be all they're capable of. The only one who should be capable of more is Williams and he isn't, end of story.

If Carimi wasn't injured the Oline would have three 1st round picks playing on it but not one of them plays to the level expected of a 1st round pick. The whole line is journeyman level right now on it's best day. These guys are not capable of maintaining protection for 7 step drops and slow developing pass routes so why expect they will when you call those plays?

The only saving grace for this offense until we replace Martz is for him to realize that his way won't work here and he needs to go to some other team where it will. Until then he needs to compromise and run the football, haul in those pass routes, and start throwing to the TE again like he did during the playoffs last year. The Oline proves itself proficient at run blocking during the preseason, Clutts is one hell of a blocking back and supposedly Spaeth is one of the best blocking TE's in the NFL. To top that off we have one of the best stable of RB's in the league so if that's where the strength is use it! How hard can that be?

**The Benjamin** · 10-04-2011, 11:47 AM

Sure glad we trades two first round picks for someone who was supposed to be our franchise QB if we are still planning on being a run first team

**Jimmors** · 10-04-2011, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by The Benjamin

Sure glad we trades two first round picks for someone who was supposed to be our franchise QB if we are still planning on being a run first team

Run FIRST
not Run ONLY

Use the run to set up the pass, thats just a different way to do it.

But, im not buying into it quite yet...they need to prove they can successfully run against other teams, not just a team with piss poor Run D like the Panthers. If this performance becomes the standard, not the exception from here on out...then great. If not, then we are right back where we started.

**soulman** · 10-04-2011, 07:42 PM

In class with Walter Payton, Gale Sayers Brad Biggs

Print This Send ThisOctober 03, 2011, 10:24 AM EST
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Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte put his name in the team’s record books with two of the greatest ever. He joined Walter Payton and Gale Sayers as the only backs in franchise history to rush for more than 200 yards in a game, piling up 205 on 25 carries in Sunday’s 34-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers. It was a huge day on the ground for the Bears, who gained 224 as a team, their most since a 1988 meeting with the Green Bay Packers. (The next time I compare him to the two greatest backs in Bears history I hope I won't be criticized as much)

In one game, the Bears rushed for 83 more yards than they had in the previous three combined, a testament to how annoyed offensive coordinator Mike Martz was with the thought of the run in the previous two games – losses to the New Orleans Saints and Packers. Martz called 95 pass plays and only 20 runs in the previous two games, but he came out with a heavy dose of Forte on Sunday, calling runs on the first nine plays. Thirty of the offense’s 49 plays went through Forte (25 carries, 5 pass targets) and if the Bears figured out they’re a running offense, maybe the win will go a long way toward solving some of the team’s issues. (Ya' think Martz is a little pissed that he's been proven wrong about our running game. But will this change the arrogant bastard at all?)

“It reminded me of my senior year at Tulane, every weekend getting 200 yards,” Forte said. “But all the credit goes to the offensive line. The holes were huge out there. Even toward the end of the game we just kept pounding them and pounding them. The offensive line wore the defense out. “Once the offensive line takes care of the defensive line, I can get in the open field and the receivers make big blocks downfield. If you make somebody miss, there's a lot of yardage out there to get.” (A fine point Martz seems to miss when he departs from the running game too early)

Forte has rushed for 324 yards and gained 310 yards receiving giving him 634 of the team’s 1,231 yards of offense. That’s 51.5 percent, a mind-boggling figure and one that can only bolster the running back’s position in a standoff with the team for a new contract. (Wonder what more he has to do before JA concedes that in this offense he is elite)

“Matt is amazing,” Bears nickel cornerback D.J. Moore said. “You have to put some change in his pocket. There’s pretty much nothing else to say about that. Twenty-five carries for (205). You don’t see 200 too often.” (Translation, sign him Jerry. He isn't getting any cheaper while you wait)

Follow me on Twitter: @BradBiggs

Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune

**Riczaj01** · 10-04-2011, 08:03 PM

Like you said Soul, these pricks are going to Franchise him; and cheat him out of his due in the process.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/

Fact or Fiction: Matt Forte is more valuable to the Bears than Jay Cutler.

Michael C. Wright: Fact. Take Forte out of the offense, and there is no offense. Interestingly, Forte runs behind that same offensive line that supposedly can't protect Cutler, yet the running back seems to always find a way to get the job done whether it's rushing or by catching the ball out of the backfield. Forte accounted for six of the club's 10 longest plays from scrimmage in the win over the Panthers and is already approaching 1,000 yards (634) of total offense after four games.

Jeff Dickerson: Fact: Take Forte away from the offense and what do you have? Not much. That's not meant to slight Cutler, who's been sacked 15 times and has little to work with besides Forte in the passing game, but the Bears won't win many games if they pin their hopes on the arm of the quarterback. On the other hand, Forte is the perfect fit in the Mike Martz offense, and is on pace for an eye-popping 2,536 all-purpose yards. The Bears are 0-2 when they ignore the ground game, but 2-0 when Forte gets at least 16 rushing attempts. The only thing Cutler has more valuable than Forte is his bank account.

Melissa Isaacson: Fact. But depends on how you interpret this. Is Forte more valuable now? Yes, as long as Mike Martz uses him properly, we saw exactly how valuable he can be with his 205 rushing yards against the Panthers. And with his ability to catch out of the backfield, Forte is pretty much carrying the Bears offense right now. Though Cutler is still being given a pass because of his relative lack of protection and uneven receiver play, he is not winning games for the Bears.
Jon Greenberg: Fact. I think it's obvious right now that Forte is having a better season than Cutler. The way this offense is designed, however, Cutler has the greater value. The problem is in reality, Forte is much better at his job than Cutler is at his job. The Bears need to have both going good to make the playoffs, but I'm starting to become convinced that Cutler isn't cut out to be a big-time quarterback. Forte has also convinced me he can carry this offense this year, as long as Cutler can "manage" the game.

**Anyone interested in changing their poll opinion on who would hurt the team the most if we lost them?**

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story...ks-distraction
Matt Forte admits being distracted

Coming off the most productive game of his career, Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte admitted Monday his contract situation with the team has been a distraction, and the two sides are way off in their talks.

Waddle & Silvy

Bears running back Matt Forte joined "Waddle & Silvy" to discuss his big game against the Panthers and his stalled contract talks with the team.
More Podcasts »

"It's always going to be a distraction because I'm not a robot; I'm human," Forte said Monday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "I try to put it out of my mind sometimes. I go out every day on the practice or game field I'm focused on playing football, I'm not worried about that. But it is a distraction sometimes and you can't help but think about it a lot."

Forte is signed through this season and hoped to have an extension worked out before Week 1. After failing to reach an agreement, Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said on Sept. 5 that the two sides agreed to table the talks until the end of the season.

"Currently we haven't really been talking," Forte said. "After some of the games my agent has called them a few times but no progress has really been made since then. But hopefully today or this week they will be talking again."

Forte said his camp and the Bears were "pretty far off" the last time they talked.

"It was pretty easy to me looking at the comparisons of production-wise around the league," said Forte, who leads NFL running backs in total yards per game (158.5). "And like I've said in many interviews before, this league is based on production, and my production is up there with the top running backs, elite level. I just really don't think they think that I'm at that level (or) that I'm that type of player. Our numbers were way off on that point."

ESPNChicago.com Bears blog

Get the latest Bears news from ESPN Chicago.com's Jeff Dickerson and Michael Wright. Blog
• Bears Center | ESPNChicago.com
• ESPN.com: NFC North

A week after finishing with two yards on nine carries, Forte rushed for a career-high 205 yards in a 34-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Since entering the NFL in 2008 as a second-rounder out of Tulane, Forte ranks fifth in the NFL in yards from scrimmage (4,731) behind Tennessee's Chris Johnson, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew and St. Louis' Steven Jackson

A Bears source told ESPNChicago.com's Michael Wright in September that the team had offered Forte a deal worth $13-14 million guaranteed.

Asked if a prolonged negotiation could sour his feeling toward the Bears, Forte said: "I don't want to be the guy that holds grudges but it always sticks in the back of your mind, things like that. It's the ugly side of the business. The NFL is a business, and that's the ugly side of it. I just want to be somewhere I'm valued as a player."

So he has more total yards then anyone other then CJ and AP yet he's not an elite rb? Don't give me the "rusher" bs, he's elite if he's up there w/those two. And w/AP's fumbling past, he's more valuable then him. And IMO he's a better catcher out of the backfield then either of them which makes him more valuable still b/c that is where this league is headed.

**soulman** · 10-04-2011, 09:14 PM

I don't think there's any doubt that they'll franchise him if they can't come to an agreement. The 2010 cost of tha tad was $8.156 mil but with the deals that DWill, AP and CJ got it will probably soar to over $9 mil maybe even $9.5 mil. It seems to me that they think Forte will burn out withing another year or two so if they franchise him they have about $10 mil paid out in 2011-2012 and that's the sum total of their risk on paper.

They supposedly offered $13-$14 mil guaranteed and I'm betting Forte and his agent are asking for closer to $20 mil. It's the guaranteed $$$ that's keeping them apart I'm sure of it. Like I said though, he's not gonna get any cheaper after games like that and if he puts up over 2000 yards of total offense he'll make a believer out of many teams. The line of interested teams will be long.

I've reached the point now where I no longer trust JA and what he's doing. If it's coming down to him from the top then I no longer trust upper management and ownership either. Something Ted Phillips said a while back about not being able to afford a winning team every year is sticking in my craw. I need to find that quote again.

**Riczaj01** · 10-04-2011, 09:25 PM

There is no reason this team cannot afford a winning team every year. This team should be all profit year in year out.

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