Bears notebook: Matt Forte displays his versatility in Bears’ rout

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/footb...ears-rout.html

Bears notebook: Matt Forte displays his versatility in Bears’ rout

BY MARK POTASH mpotash@suntimes.com

RUNNING BACKS: A Like Cutler, Matt Forte was productive in a limited role, with 12 carries for 103 yards and a TD and 2 receptions for 45 yards. He had gains of 47, 46, 16 and 15 yards. But his 8-yard TD run was the most impressive.
With only 12 carries and two receptions, Forte showed off his versatility and efficiency in the Bears’ 51-20 rout of the Titans. He had a combined 148 yards on the 14 touches, rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown and adding 45 yards receiving.
But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Forte ran left for 15 yards. He ran right for 46. He ran up the middle for a tough-as-nails eight-yard touchdown, driving Titans defenders into the end zone for the final three yards. On a well-executed draw play, he gained 22 yards on third-and-21 for a first down. And he gained 47 yards on an equally well-executed screen pass.
‘‘We took a big step in the right direction,’’ Forte said. ‘‘It started off a little slow. The defense and special teams got us going with turnovers and the touchdown. We did a great job.’’
Forte said he got some help from his teammates on the touchdown run, when he bulled his way in after meeting resistance inside the 5.
‘‘That was help from the offensive line,’’ Forte said. ‘‘They made a great block. The hole was right there. I think I got to the two-yard line and started getting hit, and the line came and knocked me into the end zone. I didn’t do it on my own.’’
Forte also credited his teammates for making key blocks on the 47-yard screen pass. Guard Lance Louis and tight end Kellen Davis had key blocks.
‘‘Lance made a great block, and then I got a couple of guys blocking downfield and made the safety miss,’’ Forte said. ‘‘You do that, and you can make a big play out of it.’’
Soldier Field South
Bears fans seemed to outnumber Titans fans at LP Field and owned the stadium as the rout ensued.
‘‘Coach [Lovie] Smith said this is Soldier Field South today,’’ cornerback Kelvin Hayden said. ‘‘We just wanted to make it worth their while.’’
‘‘Today was like a home game,’’ defensive end Israel Idonije said. ‘‘The fans [were] chanting, ‘Go, Bears.’ We have the greatest fans in all of professional sports. The support. The way they travel. The ability to take over a game and drown out the home-field advantage. That’s hard to find. The dedication of our fans is unparalleled.’’
Idonije ‘sore’ but OK
Idonije (left leg) and defensive tackle Henry Melton (back) left the game after suffering injuries in the first half. But each said his injury isn’t serious, and both expect to play Sunday against the Houston Texans.
Idonije’s injury appeared to be serious at first.
‘‘It sounded bad,’’ linebacker Brian Urlacher said. ‘‘Any time you get one of your teammates down there screaming like that, it’s not a good thing. But I think he’s going to be OK, hopefully.’’
‘‘I got rolled up, but I’m OK,’’ Idonije said. ‘‘I’m sore now, but it’ll be all right. I’m fortunate that I can play through pain.’’
Hester breakthrough
Devin Hester nearly gave the Bears’ special teams a second touchdown in the first quarter when he returned a punt 44 yards to the Titans’ eight-yard line, where he was tackled by running back Jamie Harper. Forte scored on the next play to give the Bears a 14-2 lead.
It was Hester’s longest punt return of the season. His previous best was 23 yards.
Rare catch
When Louis retrieved a deflected pass inside the Titans’ 10-yard line in the third quarter, he was thinking what everyone on the Bears thinks when he gets the ball.
‘‘I was definitely thinking end zone, but things didn’t work out,’’ Louis said.
Louis was tackled at the 4 for a four-yard gain that led to a 22-yard field goal by Robbie Gould that gave the Bears a 37-12 lead.
‘‘I just wanted to get the ball and make sure none of their guys intercepted it,’’ Louis said. ‘‘It was definitely exciting. It brought back memories of the tight end days in college.’’

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,6715633.story
Bears' Forte does a lot with a little

Running back racks up 103 yards, TD on just 12 carries vs. Titans

By Vaughn McClure, Chicago Tribune reporter
November 5, 2012
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As he slumped at his locker trying to digest how the Bears had demolished his team, Titans safety Mike Griffin couldn't help but give Matt Forte his due respect.

The Bears running back rushed for 103 yards on just 12 carries, including an 8-yard touchdown and a season-long 46-yard run that ended with a horse-collar tackle by Griffin. Forte picked up another 47 yards off a screen pass.

"He's definitely one of the top backs in the league,'' Griffin said. "Being a bigger guy coming out of the backfield, he's real shifty and quick on his feet. He can make guys miss in the open field. He looks for the hole and hits it. He does everything.''

Many believe Forte wasn't being used like a top back, at least not lately. After last week's win over the Panthers, offensive coordinator Mike Tice admitted he needed to feed Forte the ball more but pointed out how the offense had to "freaking make first downs'' to give players more touches.

Blowing out an opponent doesn't always help the cause either. Forte had just 14 touches before the first-team offense took a seat with about 10 minutes remaining. And he made the most of his opportunities with an average of 10.6 per touch.

Forte was quick to give the Bears defense credit.

"Week after week, they keep getting the turnovers and making it a short field for us,'' Forte said. "Like the first turnover they got, we didn't capitalize on that. But we've got to — once we get a short field like that — get points on the board.''

Forte didn't forget to acknowledge special teams, either, particularly after Devin Hester's 44-yard punt return set up his touchdown run. On first-and-goal, Forte followed a lead block by fullback Evan Rodriguez, blasted up the middle, then got pushed into the end zone by a host of teammates.

"That was help from the offensive line,'' Forte said. "They made a great block. The hole was right there, and I hit the safety. I think I got to like the 2-yard line … the offensive line came and knocked me in the end zone. I didn't do it on my own.''

Griffin was the safety in Forte's path.

"The offensive linemen played it smart and gave him a push," Griffin said. "Next thing you know, I'm underneath the whole pile. I don't know what the hell I was going to do about that.''

Forte, who entered the game 20th in the league in rushing, said the running game still needs fine-tuning. The Bears gained 160 yards on the ground on 36 attempts for a 4.4-yard average.

Center Roberto Garza said he believes Sunday was a good step.

"Matt's a hell of a player, and getting some of those big runs is huge for us,'' Garza said.

"We have to go out there and do our jobs better. We have to get him more yards. When you have a guy like Matt, he's going to make us look good. We just need to get him on the edge and get him to the second level.''

vxmcclure@tribune.com

Twitter @vxmcclure23
Copyright © 2012, Chicago Tribune

‘‘We took a big step in the right direction,’’ Forte said. ‘‘It started off a little slow. The defense and special teams got us going with turnovers and the touchdown. We did a great job.’’

"Week after week, they keep getting the turnovers and making it a short field for us,'' Forte said. "Like the first turnover they got, we didn't capitalize on that. But we've got to — once we get a short field like that — get points on the board.''

Forte is a negative naysayer, but it's not like he's ever played in the nfl or anything so who cares about his opinion.

He's definitely one of the top backs in the league,'' Griffin said. "Being a bigger guy coming out of the backfield, he's real shifty and quick on his feet. He can make guys miss in the open field. He looks for the hole and hits it. He does everything.''

I hope everyone reads this quote and remembers it, the players are now telling you he's elite, that he's a top back. Stop acting like he's merely good or average.

Blowing out an opponent doesn't always help the cause either. Forte had just 14 touches before the first-team offense took a seat with about 10 minutes remaining. And he made the most of his opportunities with an average of 10.6 per touch.

10+ yards per touch(I know it's only 8 per rush) is still super crazy sick for a RB.


Devin Hester nearly gave the Bears’ special teams a second touchdown in the first quarter when he returned a punt 44 yards to the Titans’ eight-yard line, where he was tackled by running back Jamie Harper. Forte scored on the next play to give the Bears a 14-2 lead.

Hester should have had that TD, one of the guys blocking for him on his left didn't block the one guy that could tackle him, the blocker wasn't even looking that way. that's a damn shame b/c it was the first time all year that Hester looked like his old self.


Idonije (left leg) and defensive tackle Henry Melton (back) left the game after suffering injuries in the first half. But each said his injury isn’t serious, and both expect to play Sunday against the Houston Texans.
Idonije’s injury appeared to be serious at first.
‘‘It sounded bad,’’ linebacker Brian Urlacher said. ‘‘Any time you get one of your teammates down there screaming like that, it’s not a good thing. But I think he’s going to be OK, hopefully.’’
‘‘I got rolled up, but I’m OK,’’ Idonije said. ‘‘I’m sore now, but it’ll be all right. I’m fortunate that I can play through pain.’’

It's crazy to think that w/out Izzy out there we would take a serious hit, but he's really stepped up his game and I would not be comfortable w/out him starting, even w/as good as the rest of the DL have been playing. Same w/Melton, although his inj didn't sound as serious.

Matt Forte is as good an all around back as you could find anywhere in the league. If you can make a hole for him or give him a cutback lane he can take it a long away. To me he and Bush are the perfect complimentary backs and I'm glad we have both locked up for a few years. We'll need them both before it's over.

Matt need space to do his thing. His running style requires that. Bush can plow through arm tackles at the line and he's surprisingly athletic for a big back. He won't get you the big plays that Forte does but against certain teams he'll actually gain yardage more effectively and more consistently than Forte does. There are games when we've needed that and there will be more coming up where it will be that same way again.

The two things that are hurting this offense the most are a relatively young and inexperienced line and a very inexperienced OC/Play Caller. Even with that line a better design could avoid some of the problems we seem to have. I'm convinced that if we had Mike McCarthy running this offense instead of Mike Tice we'd be scoring 30-40 points a game with the weapons he'd have to use. And we wouldn't be looking for new TEs either. They'd be in the mix catching passes like they do in GB.

As for the line Lance Louis has come on strong this year and it's his fourth. So there's some hope for our OTs yet. It took him a few years to figure out how to harness his athleticism and his strength and now he's playing like a Pro Bowl OG. So.......one down and three more to go.