LeGere: Forte tears through Lions during 126-yard day

[Xee]

Forte tears through Lions during 126-yard day

By Bob LeGere | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 11/3/2008 12:04 AM

After taking off like a rocket, rookie running back Matt Forte descended rapidly back to earth in recent weeks.

Forte burst out of the gate with games of 123, 92 and 89 rushing yards in his first three weeks as a pro, but he averaged just 53 yards and 2.9 yards per attempt in the next four games, when opponents realized how vital he was to the Bears' offense.

Sunday, with starting quarterback Kyle Orton going down with an ankle injury and backup Rex Grossman looking rusty, the Bears needed Forte to get the offense rolling, and he didn't disappoint.

The second-round pick from Tulane rushed for a career-best 126 yards on 22 carries and had runs of 13, 8 and 19 yards in a five-play sequence to set up the go-ahead touchdown with 5:36 remaining in the Bears' 27-23 victory over the Lions. His 5.7-yard average per carry was also a personal best.

"It was fun," Forte said. "It's always fun when you get the ball and things are clicking on offense. When I was running the ball the holes were just wide open. It starts up front - the O-line did a great job."

Forte also set up the Bears' third-quarter TD with a 20-yard run to start the possession.

"Both scoring drives he was the main feature and the main reason why we got down there," quarterback Rex Grossman said. "That was huge. He's a great running back, and we've got some great offensive linemen."

Forte had just 7 carries in the first half and was held to 25 yards, but he produced when the Bears needed it most, trailing by 10 in the second half with a passing attack that was off most of the day.

"We just needed to run the ball period at that point in the game," offensive tackle John St. Clair said. "They were bringing (pass-rush) pressure, and we thought we could do some things and exploit them in the running game."

After relying on the passing game in recent weeks, offensive coordinator Ron Turner was glad to see Forte and the ground game return to prominence.

"We want to do what gives us the best chance to win," Turner said. "If you're a good offense and a well-balanced offense, and if they're doing something to take one thing away, then you've got to be able to adjust, and we were able to do that."

[DaDitka]

That was great to see, and I don’t care what Matt’s total yardage was. What I really liked to see was it appeared that the line started to get into a rhythm. I also thought Tim Ryan did a good job of illustrating that a time or two during the game.

That said, I’m not sure I expect to see a lot of the same next week against Tennessee. I think we’ll see the “F*ck IT, I’m Going Deep” offense and if Rex is hot…..this could be a lot of fun. If not…….. no one expects us to win this game anyways.