Rozner: Bears' Forte takes pounding, keeps grinding

From a distance, what Matt Forte has done this year looks remarkable.

Not only because he's been very good, but also because he's taken an absolute pounding.

From down in the trenches, however, guard Kyle Long says it's worse than you think.

"If you were to hear the hits up close on every play, you would not believe it," Long said. "We're constantly asking, 'Matt, are you OK?' And he's the first one up, patting us on the helmet and asking if we're OK."

With 112 rushing and receiving yards Sunday, Forte joined Curtis Martin and LaDainian Tomlinson as the only players in NFL history with 1,400 yards from scrimmage in each of their first seven seasons.

With 5 receptions Sunday and 72 in 2014, Forte is 2 shy of the record he set last year for Bears running backs in a season.

His 598 receiving yards are second most in a season for a Bears running back, and he's only 9 yards behind Walter Payton's record (607, 1983).

"I've been in this league a long time and I've never seen a back take as many snaps as he has in a game," said tackle Jermon Bushrod. "Last week I think we had 78 plays and he played 74. That's insane.

"When the guy comes to work, he works hard every day. He does what he has to do on the field and he does more off the field to make sure he's feeling good come Sunday."

You just wonder how long he can survive at this pace, especially when he keeps getting crushed by linebackers on check-downs.

"The guy is built like a brick (outhouse)," Long said. "If there's a guy who's built for it, it's Matt. He carries the offense every week, whether it's receiving, rushing, and don't forget blocking. He is an amazing athlete."

There have been too many times this year when Marc Trestman has forgotten that Forte was on the field, like he did for the first two quarters Sunday as Forte had only 5 rushing attempts for 16 yards. He finished with 23 carries for 89 yards.

The offensive linemen make no secret of wanting as much Forte on the ground as the running back can handle.

"When we're getting yards and coach keeps calling these runs, it motivates us to continue to get positive yards, because if we do that he won't be hesitant to keep calling the runs," Bushrod said. "It puts us in a better position. We might be in second-and-5 or third-and-2, and that opens up the playbook a lot more."

But the Bears' slow starts are making it difficult to find anything that works.

"It was all on us," Forte said of the first half against Tampa. "Penalties backing us up, not executing nuances of the plays. If all 11 of us aren't on the same page, sometimes the play can work but most times it won't.

"Halftime, we came in and Kyle (Long) wrote on the board, 'Execute and no excuses.' Don't make excuses for why we didn't do this or why we didn't do that. Just go out there and execute the plays and drive the ball down the field."

The Bears survived against Tampa and Minnesota, but they know they're playing with fire.

"We have to get off to better starts. We just have to come out hot, and it starts with us up front," Long said. "Credit our defense for getting the ball back (against Tampa) and credit the coaches for allowing us to pound the rock at the end of the game."

The Bears have won two straight, but to win a third they're going to have to keep the Detroit defense off balance, and that means a heavy dose of Forte.

Forte says that's fine. He doesn't mind the heavy workload and thinks he can make it through the season even at this rate.

Good thing, because without Forte the Bears are the Bucs - or maybe worse.

• Hear Barry Rozner on WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.