Forte in good company...

[madlithuanian]

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=6499

 

Bears run game struggled, but Forte finished with a flourish

By: Larry Mayer | Last Updated: 1/20/2010 4:57 PM The following is the second of nine position reviews of the 2009 season.

 

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears ranked a disappointing 29th in the NFL in rushing in 2009. But their running backs did provide some bright spots to build on heading into next season.

 

Matt Forte rushed for 929 yards and averaged 3.6 yards per carry, a decline in both categories after he gained 1,238 yards and averaged 3.9 yards per attempt during a breakout rookie season in 2008.

 

 

 

After just two seasons, running back Matt Forte already ranks 15th on the Bears' all-time rushing list with 2,167 yards.

But Forte finished strong, increasing his rushing yards in each of the last four games from 51 to 69 to 74 to 101. He was also a threat as a receiver, tying Devin Hester for second on the Bears with 57 catches for 471 yards.

 

Forte is just the third player in Bears history to have back-to-back seasons with at least 1,400 yards from scrimmage, joining Walter Payton and Neal Anderson.

 

Forte ranked 12th in the NFL with 1,400 yards from scrimmage in 2008 and is sixth in the league with 3,115 yards the past two seasons, trailing only the Titans’ Chris Johnson, the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson, the Rams’ Steven Jackson, the Texans’ Andre Johnson and the Jaguars’ Maurice Jones-Drew.

 

Forte joined Payton as the only Bears running backs with multiple 50-catch seasons, ranking third in the NFL with 57 receptions behind the Ravens’ Ray Rice (78) and the Cardinals’ Tim Hightower (63). In 2008, Forte’s 63 receptions broke Bears single-season records for catches by a rookie and a running back.

 

Two days after being promoted from the practice squad, backup running back Kahlil Bell had a 72-yard run on his first NFL carry in a loss to the Eagles. It was the longest run on the first carry of an NFL player’s career since Alan Ameche’s 79-yarder for the Baltimore Colts in 1955.

 

Bell’s 72-yard run was also the longest by a Bears player since Neal Anderson’s 73-yarder on Dec. 17, 1989 against the Packers, the longest by a Bears rookie since Rick Casares’ 81-yarder in 1955, and the longest in a Bears rookie debut, topping Forte’s 50-yarder in the 2008 season opener versus the Colts.

 

Bell took over for Garrett Wolfe, who missed the final eight games of the season after suffering a lacerated kidney. Bell (5.5) and Wolfe (5.45) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the NFL in rushing average among players with at least 20 carries.

 

Kevin Jones was expected to serve as Forte’s primary backup in 2009. But the veteran running back was lost for the season when he tore ligaments in his left ankle in the preseason finale.

 

Veteran Adrian Peterson played sparingly on offense this past season, rushing for 51 yards on nine carries—all in the first eight games. His two receptions for 11 yards both came in a Week 2 win over the Steelers.