Props to Forte

[Connorbear]

He had a great game catching the ball and the blocking was very good for him (over 100 yds in receiving). The offense did do a very good job on screens tonight. I saw great blocking from Kruetz. Garza, and Bennett.

 

Peace

[brletich]

And 41 yards on 20 carries just rocks too...

[Connorbear]

And 41 yards on 20 carries just rocks too...

Yeah, that is an issue. Most of that is on the o-line in my opinion.

 

Peace

[brletich]

That isn't just an issue...it is THE issue in my eyes. Fix the running game and you take pressure off Cutler. Take pressure off Cutler and maybe he doesn't feel the need to force things to make a play because he knows it's all on him.

 

The OL sucks, yes no question...but Forte looks bad...real bad...no pop, no vision, slow, and he is just not hitting the hole (when there is one) strong like he did last year. Something is wrong with him this season and Turner\Lovie don't seem to be able to fix it.

[nfoligno]

The good I saw last night from Forte, IMHO, was vision. All year I have felt his vision, which was an attribute his rookie year, was really lacking. He didn't seem to see the cut back lanes, and thus simply run it up the arce of our OL for no gain. Last night, he seemed to more often see his intended hole was closed, and rather than just run it up the OG/C's arce, he cut to a hole (however small) outside. He also had a couple huge blitz pickups which I think earlier this year he was missing big time. On his big run last night, he seemed to have good vision and was cutting and avoiding tackles.

 

The bad was, he just still does not seem to have the pop and speed we saw last year. On his big gain, I swear that was a run he last year would have taken to the house, rather than getting run down from behind. At the LOS, there were times he would cut to the hole, but simply didn't seem to have the burst we saw last year, and thus he was tackled quickly.

 

And on that long run, did you all see when he toward the end of the run, began to cut back to the middle of the field. That was about the most rounded out cut back I have ever seen. Last year, he was cutting very sharp, but this year his cuts simply lack the sharpness, and burst.

 

He looked better last night, but more than ever, I think Forte may have some sort of injury not being reported.

 

Yeah, that is an issue. Most of that is on the o-line in my opinion.

 

Peace

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

The good I saw last night from Forte, IMHO, was vision. All year I have felt his vision, which was an attribute his rookie year, was really lacking. He didn't seem to see the cut back lanes, and thus simply run it up the arce of our OL for no gain. Last night, he seemed to more often see his intended hole was closed, and rather than just run it up the OG/C's arce, he cut to a hole (however small) outside. He also had a couple huge blitz pickups which I think earlier this year he was missing big time. On his big run last night, he seemed to have good vision and was cutting and avoiding tackles.

 

The bad was, he just still does not seem to have the pop and speed we saw last year. On his big gain, I swear that was a run he last year would have taken to the house, rather than getting run down from behind. At the LOS, there were times he would cut to the hole, but simply didn't seem to have the burst we saw last year, and thus he was tackled quickly.

 

And on that long run, did you all see when he toward the end of the run, began to cut back to the middle of the field. That was about the most rounded out cut back I have ever seen. Last year, he was cutting very sharp, but this year his cuts simply lack the sharpness, and burst.

 

He looked better last night, but more than ever, I think Forte may have some sort of injury not being reported.

 

To continue your thought that I highlighted, I noticed that Forte looked like he slowed way down. After that first burst of about 15-20 yards and as he began that "open field" run he couldn't keep the distance on the pursuers. If you look at the run he did at the beginning of last year against the Colts, it was really similar, in its setup, but obviously different in its outcome. I agree, there is something wrong with Forte.

 

This style of play for Forte is more (sorry) his forte. It seems pretty obvious he can't do the "up the middle" running that Turner keeps trying, over and over and over and over..... The screen and West Coast dump offs to him (Forte) are more to his ability. Given his being the lead receiver last year, the Bears need to get back to using more of this style of play for and with Forte. It will only open up the more traditional running game as the LB's will be forced to back off more and widen out on their coverages.

 

Lastly, keep up the "no huddle". I think Cutler is competent enough to run that style and when Orton used it last year it worked splendidly.

[madlithuanian]

I'd love to be able to draft a back late who's only prowess is a 2 yard gain. Some big SOB that just can fall forward... We need strength. Smith/JA mortgaged our nads in lieu of speed. And I think we're now really paying the price.

 

To continue your thought that I highlighted, I noticed that Forte looked like he slowed way down. After that first burst of about 15-20 yards and as he began that "open field" run he couldn't keep the distance on the pursuers. If you look at the run he did at the beginning of last year against the Colts, it was really similar, in its setup, but obviously different in its outcome. I agree, there is something wrong with Forte.

 

This style of play for Forte is more (sorry) his forte. It seems pretty obvious he can't do the "up the middle" running that Turner keeps trying, over and over and over and over..... The screen and West Coast dump offs to him (Forte) are more to his ability. Given his being the lead receiver last year, the Bears need to get back to using more of this style of play for and with Forte. It will only open up the more traditional running game as the LB's will be forced to back off more and widen out on their coverages.

 

Lastly, keep up the "no huddle". I think Cutler is competent enough to run that style and when Orton used it last year it worked splendidly.

 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Forte did a nice job on the screens and it made me think he still has ability but it just puts a bigger magnifying glass on how much this oline is hindering the entire offense.

 

It is absolutely ridiculous how the lack of experience or WR's have combined with a completely inept Oline is allowing our QB to get absolutely KILLED.

[BearFan2000]

Forte did a nice job on the screens and it made me think he still has ability but it just puts a bigger magnifying glass on how much this oline is hindering the entire offense.

 

It is absolutely ridiculous how the lack of experience or WR's have combined with a completely inept Oline is allowing our QB to get absolutely KILLED.

 

Agree and I think his vision more noticeable when there when when there's something there. When your handed the ball and the first thing you see is a defender or the line of scrimmage moving your direction quickly it's hard to visualize anything. It's easy from my fans perspective to see a play and say "Why doesn't he bounce it outside but from his point of view on the field that may not look like a good option. Most run plays we have are doomed from the get go cause we are constantly loosing the battle up front and the opposing Dline is re-establishing the line of scrimmage on our side of the ball. By the time he receives the ball he's one to two steps from being wrapped up. So the question I ask is why do we keep calling the same run plays.. why not design plays to the outside where Forte can find more room. Why not take advantage of teams just collapsing the middle of the line. Use more tosses, sweeps, pitches and off tackle runs. They were talking about Forte on the post game and the points they made were that and I agree he doesn't seem to have the same burst and speed, too often he gets caught from behind when last year he would have taken some of those plays to the house. Is he 100% healthy is the hammy still bothering him and he's not able to fully open up? They also pointed out that they had him put on some weight which could also slow him down. Is it just me or do we do a lot of jacking around with guys weight having players put on or take off weight etc. What's wrong with leaving things alone if the player is effective at their current weight? If Forte was told to put on weight I have to ask, why? He was effective last year weighing less so why beef him, is that supposed to make him tougher, durrable?? We seem to fix what ain't broken and ignore what really is.

 

I think part of the reason our line is doing so poorly is our play-calling. We have a mobile QB but most times we call straight drops and he only rolls out when he's forced to scramble. When we call our run plays we most often run between the tackles. This is what teams have on film so teams know they can concentrate their efforts straight up the gut because thy know that most of the time that's where Jay or Forte will be. Taking advantage of our play calling to exploit already questionable line play. It's bad enough to have bad Line play it's even worse to allow teams to key on that by our own play calling.

[defiantgiant]

I think the problem with the running game isn't Forte. I'm not an expert, but from what I saw on Thursday, when he had a block he looked a lot like the Forte we saw last year. The one time I saw somebody get a decent block, Forte took it for like 16 yards. On those little screen passes out of the backfield, he had some nice cuts and made some guys miss.

 

I think the thing to remember is that Forte is just not a battering-ram power runner. He's very tall and fairly slim for a running back, and he runs very upright: he's not going to plow through the line when there's no hole there. His biggest strengths are his instincts and vision: last season he was great at seeing his blocks develop and running off of them, and when the block was there or he got the ball in space in the Niners game, he got some big gains. When we ran him up the gut, he got massacred in the backfield. That's not a problem with the back, that's a problem with the line.

 

I hate to harp on Football Outsiders' stats, but if you look at their o-line metrics, the Bears get very little yardage from the line and rely on a lot of big gains from the backs. The Bears' line is 21st in the league in adjusted line yards, 19th in percentage of run plays that get stuffed, and 19th in success on third/fourth-and-short/goal runs. Meanwhile, Chicago is 11th in the league in runs of 10 yards or more. Teams that have a good back and bad blockers typically have exactly this pattern: poor in short yardage, lots of runs stuffed for no gain, but a lot of long runs. This is the Bears all over: when the hole is there, Forte gets good yardage. Most of the time, however, the hole isn't there.

[selection7]

Teams that have a good back and bad blockers typically have exactly this pattern: poor in short yardage, lots of runs stuffed for no gain, but a lot of long runs. This is the Bears all over: when the hole is there, Forte gets good yardage.

Hmmm. Interesting stat.

[jason]

I'd love to be able to draft a back late who's only prowess is a 2 yard gain. Some big SOB that just can fall forward... We need strength. Smith/JA mortgaged our nads in lieu of speed. And I think we're now really paying the price.

 

I seem to recall several of us screaming for a massive, hole-making FB in the draft this year. But we were wrong, obviously. The coaches were right, and McKie is the answer.

 

The funny thing about it is, someone here mentioned that McKie is like having another opponent on the DL. When he goes through the hole, he plugs it. He doesn't open anything up; he just stops the first option for Forte.

 

Anyone know what that Javorskie Lane is doing nowadays?

[nfoligno]

The funny thing about it is, someone here mentioned that McKie is like having another opponent on the DL. When he goes through the hole, he plugs it. He doesn't open anything up; he just stops the first option for Forte.

 

Yea, I mentioned that. But here is the really funny thing. In the last game, I finally saw McKie in a role that may work, at least for a while. That of a decoy. McKie blocks left. Forte takes the handoff w/ an initially look left, but then cuts back to the right. Because McKie goes to the left, the LBs shift that way.

 

I am only slightly joking around here. The few times I saw Forte actually gain yards was when he ran away from Mckie.

 

For the life of me, I will simply never understand this staff. I realize our coaches want a versatile FB. They do not want a 6th OL or pure blocking machine. They want a jack of all trades FB, but in trying to get one, they have a guy that simply is not good at anything.

[defiantgiant]

For the life of me, I will simply never understand this staff. I realize our coaches want a versatile FB. They do not want a 6th OL or pure blocking machine. They want a jack of all trades FB, but in trying to get one, they have a guy that simply is not good at anything.

 

Well, "not good at anything" is a stretch. McKie's a decent receiver for a fullback, and he's actually pretty good at blocking in the open field. But we don't call enough designed runs to the outside to make that really useful, and he's crap at the up-the-gut runs that we do call. The guy just can't knock a linebacker out of the hole. If we're going to use a fullback to lead block on those plays, it needs to be a guy who can actually take on a linebacker and clear out the gap. McKie isn't good at that, and our offense seems to call for a fullback to do a lot of it.

 

I've said it before, but I would love for this position to be upgraded. Fullbacks don't cost anything; practically no one spends a high draft pick on one, and they don't command big salaries. It might be the cheapest and easiest way to help out our running game. I mean, Lorenzo Neal is sitting on his couch right now. Assuming he's still in shape and wants to play, he'd be a MASSIVE upgrade over McKie as a blocking FB, and he wouldn't cost much.

[nfoligno]

I guess we simply disagree.

 

You say McKie is decent receiver for a FB. I don't see it. Maybe he has "decent" hands, but just being able to catch the ball doesn't mean much. Most of his receptions are short, and he is instantly dropped. He seems to have zero ability after the catch. For a FB, he sure seems to be tackles easily after the catch. So many of his catches seem to be 2 or 3 yard passes, w/ next to nothing in terms of YAC.

 

As for the open field blocking, I guess I just have not seen that either.

 

At the end of the day, I just do not see his value. The #1 thing he is asked to do, blocking inside, he fails at miserably. I do not think he does a very good job in terms of pass protection either. He just does not seem to have to power to matchup against LBs, which is necessary for a FB. And as I have said, he lacks much ability as a receiver.

 

Frankly, I think we would be much better of not using a FB at all. I think Forte would find more holes to run through if we added a receiver and spread things out.

 

Well, "not good at anything" is a stretch. McKie's a decent receiver for a fullback, and he's actually pretty good at blocking in the open field. But we don't call enough designed runs to the outside to make that really useful, and he's crap at the up-the-gut runs that we do call. The guy just can't knock a linebacker out of the hole. If we're going to use a fullback to lead block on those plays, it needs to be a guy who can actually take on a linebacker and clear out the gap. McKie isn't good at that, and our offense seems to call for a fullback to do a lot of it.

 

I've said it before, but I would love for this position to be upgraded. Fullbacks don't cost anything; practically no one spends a high draft pick on one, and they don't command big salaries. It might be the cheapest and easiest way to help out our running game. I mean, Lorenzo Neal is sitting on his couch right now. Assuming he's still in shape and wants to play, he'd be a MASSIVE upgrade over McKie as a blocking FB, and he wouldn't cost much.

 

[madlithuanian]

Amen!

 

For the life of me, I will simply never understand this staff. I realize our coaches want a versatile FB. They do not want a 6th OL or pure blocking machine. They want a jack of all trades FB, but in trying to get one, they have a guy that simply is not good at anything.