Forte still main man in Bears' backfield

When the Bears signed talented unrestricted free agent running back Chester Taylor in the off-season, there was concern that it would undermine Matt Forte's role as the team's featured runner.

But it took about 10 seconds in Sunday's season-opening victory over the Detroit Lions for Forte to assert himself as the lead dog in the Bears' backfield.

That's how long it took the Tulane product to sprint 89 yards with a screen pass to score the first of his 2 receiving touchdowns on the day. It was the longest touchdown from scrimmage ever by a Bears running back.

"He's a great player," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "He's so smart and has such a great feel for football with his instincts. He knows when to cut, knows when to make it happen in the passing game."

Forte also caught the winning 28-yard touchdown pass from Cutler, making a difficult adjustment and catch of a deep ball with 1:32 remaining in the game.

Forte's 7 catches for 151 yards and 17 carries for 50 yards combined to make him just the fourth player in franchise history with 200 or more total yards in a game.

It was the second-most receiving yards in Bears history, trailing only Hall of Famer George McAfee's 157 yards in 1947.

After an injury-plagued sophomore season, Forte said he feels better than he ever has and can't help but look forward to the rest of the season.

"It's a great start to a great season," he said, "and there's more to come from here."

The same could be said for Taylor, who caught 3 passes for 44 yards and added 29 yards on 9 carries.

Quarterback Jay Cutler has confidence in both players being able to contribute in a variety of ways.

"(Forte) is one of those guys that it's hard for you to take him off the field," Cutler said. "But we've got Chester and we can put Chester back there.

"Those guys are kind of a 1-2 punch. If you're going to drop off (in coverage), we can still check it down to them. They're going to get 10 (yards). And if you're going to play soft, we can run it with either one of them."

That was exactly the idea when the Bears offered the former Viking $12.5 million over four years, $7 million of which will be paid this season.

The other consideration was taking some of the burden off Forte, who had 694 touches in his first two seasons, a pace that very few running backs have ever been able to maintain for more than a couple of years.

"Matt's our starting tailback," coach Lovie Smith said. "We've always said he's a complete running back, being able to run the ball in between the tackles, outside and catch the ball out of the backfield.

"But still he can't take every snap. You need to have another player to come in, which we have in Chester Taylor, who can do some of the same things.

"Chester has taken advantage of the opportunities he's getting, and he'll get more. There are enough carries, there are enough catches for two running backs to be productive."

Sunday's game was a perfect example.

• Follow Bob LeGere's Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials, at DailyHerald.com

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