LeGere: Despite slow start, Forte will be a factor

Matt Forte is coming off the most productive season of his career, but he's off to a painfully slow start this year, averaging just 3.2 yards per carry.

"It's frustrating," he said. "It's not that we're not calling runs - we are calling run plays - but sometimes the defenses are set up so that the run play that we call is not going to work against that defense."

It happened on Forte's first carry against the New York Jets on Monday, when he was buried for a 4-yard loss on a toss right. Through three games, he has just 136 yards on 42 carries, on pace for a 725-yard season after rushing for 1,339 in 2013.

Forte is second on the Bears with 19 receptions, but he takes little solace in that.

"I still want to run the ball way more effectively," he said. "We're working on that. We need to do that."

Fantasy-leaguers and fans shouldn't panic, however. The slow start is nothing new for Forte. In four seasons from 2009-12, he averaged just 122 yards through the first three games and just 3.1 yards per carry. He finished those seasons with an averages of 1,022 yards and 4.3 yards per carry.

Forte says it's not about personal statistics. Like everyone else, he realizes the offense won't reach its peak without an effective running game.

"I'm not a real stats guy," he said. "I'm just in there to try and affect the game in a positive way any way I can to help our team win in any manner or way I possibly can.

"If you worry about stats too much, then you have to think about getting yards instead of doing the right thing to help your team win. That's pretty selfish to worry about how many touchdowns or yards you get. If you're doing the right thing and you work hard enough, that type of thing will come along with it."

According to Forte, part of the dysfunction in the run game is due to changes up front. Left guard Matt Slauson and center Roberto Garza have been out of commission with sprained ankles since halftime of the season opener.

While their replacements, Michael Ola at left guard and Brian de la Puente at center, have helped the Bears score 68 points in six quarters, there still is an adjustment period in getting everything to fit correctly on some run plays, especially when defenses change looks right before the snap.

"We've got to get everybody on the same page up front," Forte said. "We have to get everybody (to) where we're blocking the right looks. So if they change the personnel or change to a different defensive front, we know how to block that as well.

"They know all the plays. It's just that sometimes we might have blocked it wrong, or didn't block somebody. There's a little bit of a learning curve because we're so used to having Slauson and Garza in there, and (we have) that cohesiveness up there working together."

The Bears were fortunate last season to have five offensive linemen start all 16 games. That's rare in the NFL.

Probably the biggest reason for Forte's diminished productivity through three games is the defenses the Bears have faced.

The New York Jets were No. 3 in rushing yards allowed last season, and the San Francisco 49ers were No. 4. This year they rank first and seventh, respectively. The Buffalo Bills, who struggled to stop the run last season, currently are No. 6 in rushing yards allowed.

"We're all prideful guys, but there's no one that's more team first than Matt Forte," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "He knows what we were going against (the last two weeks), and it wasn't going to be a free-for-all in the run game, and he got some touches in the pass game (6 catches for 43 yards)."

Over the course of the season, history shows Forte will be an integral part of the Bears' attack. Since 2008, his 9,866 yards from scrimmage are third most in the NFL, trailing only Chris Johnson (10,114) and Adrian Peterson (10,296).

"We know, going forward, we're going to have to ride Matt Forte," Cutler said, "and he's going to have to do the bulk of this offense for us."

It could happen as soon as this week. Sunday's opponent, the Green Bay Packers, are 30th in rushing yards allowed this season, and they were 28th in 2013.

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The Forte factor

Here's a look at how Matt Forte's rushing through 3 NFL games this season compares to his previous seasons:

Year att. yds. avg.

2014 42 136 3.2

2013 55 225 4.1

2012* 23 111 4.9

2011 35 119 3.4

2010 38 108 2.9

2009 59 150 2.5

2008 73 314 4.3

<b>Forte's rushing by season</b>Year att. yds. avg.

2013 289 1,339 4.6

2012 248 1,094 4.4

2011 203 997 4.9

2010 237 1,069 4.5

2009 258 929 3.6

2008 316 1,238 3.9

* Includes Game 4; did not play Game 3

Source: Chicago Bears