Bears rank near bottom of league in rushing stats

The Bears may not wish to acknowledge their deficiencies in running the football, but they don't have to, the numbers say it all.

It took a game-high 34 rushing yards by quarterback Jay Cutler to salvage a bit of respect for the unproductive ground game Sunday night.

Subtract his 3 carries, and the team that "gets off the bus running the football," ran for 49 yards on 20 attempts, an average of 2.5 yards per carry. Matt Forte was especially ineffective with 23 yards on 15 tries for a 1.5-yard average.

"We didn't get enough production from it," coach Lovie Smith admitted. "I thought after last (game) we would keep it going, but they did a good job of holding our run down."

Every team the Bears have played, except the Lions in Week Four, has done a good job of limiting their run game. And running on the Lions isn't a great accomplishment.

Their defense is 19th in rushing yards per game and tied for 24th in average gain per run allowed.

The Bears' running game is even worse statistically, ranking 27th in yards per game (89.8) and 23rd in average gain per run (3.8 yards).

In the four games not against the Lions, whom they battered for 151 rushing yards and 3 TDs on 20 carries, the Bears have 298 yards on 99 carries for a 3.0-yard average and no touchdowns.

It's easy to blame Forte, who rushed for 121 yards and 1 TD on 12 carries against the Lions, but has just 173 yards on 74 carries (2.3-yard average) and no touchdowns against the rest of the league.

But the retooled offensive line hasn't given Forte or anyone else much running room.

Asked specifically about the O-line, Smith said: "We're 3-2, so the offensive line has done some good things. They've contributed to all of that. Coming off of a loss, we're not real pleased with anything we did (Sunday) night, starting with me. I'm not pleased with a lot of things I did last night. But our offensive line has done some good things."

Maybe the line has done some good things, but not nearly enough of them. New starters Orlando Pace (left tackle), Frank Omiyale (left guard) and Chris Williams (right tackle) haven't created any more running room than John St. Clair, Josh Beekman and John Tait, the players they replaced.

That was especially true when Forte was stuffed on back-to-back plays at the Falcons' 1-yard line late in the third quarter. He fumbled on both plays, losing the second one and accounting for one of three red-zone trips that came up empty.

"I think we all take it personal," right guard Roberto Garza said. "We have to go out and get the job done. He's not the only one out there trying to put the ball in the end zone."

Garza and center Olin Kreutz are the only returning starters on the offensive line.

Smith was asked Monday if he would contemplate any changes to the offensive line before Sunday's game against the Bengals in Cincinnati, but he was noncommittal.

"We'll look at changes after every game," he said. "We look at what gives us the best opportunity to win, but I don't foresee any major changes on the offensive line."

That begs the question of whether reinserting Beekman into the left guard spot where he started 16 games last season would be a major change.

"Would it be a major change?" Smith said. "That would be a change. I don't know about major. Again, we're evaluating everything like we do each week. No more than that. Josh has done a good job for us."

Last year the Bears were 24th in rushing yards per game and 27th in average gain per run. Forte averaged 3.9 yards per carry in 2008, compared to 3.4 this year, when he has had some minor nicks. But Smith said Forte's health isn't an issue.

"He's not on the injury list," Smith said. "He's good to go. He didn't have a lot of production (Sunday) night, the way a lot of us didn't. I don't think (it's) any more than that. The (game) before we weren't talking about any of these things. Matt will be fine just like the rest of our team."

If only they could play the Lions every week.