Bears Blitz

Published by Bryan Dietzler on February 23, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

We all remember how well Matt Forte did in his first season in Chicago, and there was a lot of hope that he would be able to repeat his rookie effort and help the Bears move the ball on the ground.

However, with having quarterback Jay Cutler in Chicago, along with the fact that the Bears often fell behind in games and had to pass a lot, the running game suffered, and clearly wasn’t as good as it had been the previous season.

Following the season, it was revealed that Forte had a knee problem during part of the season, and this may have had some impact on the way that he played in 2009—but overall, Chicago had other reasons (aside from Forte himself) as to why they failed to run the ball effectively.

In 2009, Forte played in, and started in, all 16 games for the Bears, carrying the ball 258 times for 929 yards, and averaging 3.6 yards per rush. His longest run was 61 yards, and he scored four rushing touchdowns.

Forte caught 57 passes for 471 yards for an average of 8.3 yards per catch, and he didn’t have any touchdown catches. He also fumbled six times, losing three of those fumbles.

Forte saw his numbers decrease because of an increase in passing, as well as problems on the offensive line, and Chicago will go back to the drawing board this offseason to see what they can do about making things better in the running game.

However, if tradition holds true (in terms of the kind of offense that new offensive coordinator Mike Martz likes to run), Forte could be seeing his carries diminish even more.

Will the Bears still end up running the ball more in 2010? It will be interesting to see what they do.

Kevin Jones didn’t make it out of the preseason before hurting himself, and ended his season on injured reserve. Reports say that he is right on schedule to make a return, and hopefully he will be able to hold up and last the entire 2010 season, because the Bears could use his help.

Having Jones available to help Forte at times in 2010 is going to be vital for the success of their ground game.

Adrian Peterson has become more of a special teams player than anything else, and 2009 may end being the last time that we see him in a Bears uniform. While he has been stellar on special teams, he is not that good of a backup, and the Bears could use his roster spot for someone who is younger and more capable to play the running the ball behind Forte.

In 2009, Peterson played in 14 games, starting none of those games. He had seven rushing attempts for 51 yards, with an average of 7.3 yards per rush. He also had two catches for 11 yards.

Peterson is a great special teams player but not a good backup. Because of his age, and the fact that the Bears need to bring in some youth (to the running back position), he will probably not be on the active roster in 2010. It would cap a nice but quiet career in Chicago.

Many Bears fans questioned what the Bears were doing when they selected running back Garrett Wolfe a few seasons ago in the NFL Draft. The knocks on him were that he hadn’t played against some of the greater college competition (having played at Northern Illinois), and lacked the ideal size to be an every-down back in the NFL.

Last season, Wolfe played in eight games, carrying the ball 22 times for 120 total yards with an average of 5.5 yards per rush. He had one touchdown run. He also caught two passes for a total of 12 yards.

It will be interesting to see what the Bears decide to do with Wolfe, who may not fit into Martz’s plans. He really hasn’t proven himself as a valuable offensive weapon, although he does very well on special teams, and it may be because of his special teams play that he sticks with the team one more season.

Khalil Bell burst onto the scene in the Bear’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a 72 yard run, and after that he saw some action in relief of Forte and didn’t do too bad.

All together, Bell played in seven games with no starts. He carried the ball 40 times for 200 yards and an average of 5.5 yards per rush. His longest was 72 yards and he didn’t have any touchdowns. He did catch one pass for four yards.

Bell should be in the mix for a backup spot during the offseason depending on what the Bears decide to do with bringing in additional help for the position. He needs to get a bigger look this summer so that the Bears can see what they have in him, and whether or not they want him to back up Forte.

Of all of the players mentioned, it is likely that the Bears will keep Forte (of course), Bell, and maybe Wolfe, but it is probably safe to say that Peterson will be gone.

Chicago then needs to look at bringing in a good veteran or rookie running back that can backup Forte and give the offense a bit of a change of pace.

Right now, two ex-Pro Bowl running backs are available—LaDanlian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook—but it’s tough to tell exactly what the Bears will do.

They need to do something though, because their running game hinges on one player, and if he gets hurt they will end up hurting.

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