Grading the Bears: Week 4

GAME BALL

Matt Forte

With all due respect to Devin Hester and his NFL-record 11th punt-return touchdown and equally important 73-yard kickoff return, Matt Forte showed why he’s going to get paid and why he deserves it. One quarter into the season, he’s been the Bears’ best offensive player and is on pace for 104 catches. Only two Bears in franchise history — Payton and Sayers — have done what Forte did Sunday: rush for 205 yards.

QUARTERBACK (2½ balls)

Can we give Jay Cutler an incomplete grade? On “Run Matt Forte Day,” Cutler attempted only 17 passes, completing nine for 102 yards. Early in the fourth quarter, he threw high to tight end Kyle Adams — yes, Kyle Adams — and Panthers safety Charles Godfrey picked off the wayward pass. Cutler’s passer-efficiency rating was just 46.7 (no TD throws), but for a change, he wasn’t asked to do everything.

RUNNING BACKS (5 balls)

On the Bears’ first play from scrimmage, Matt Forte rushed for 5 yards. Hooray! And it actually got better. Forte then sped for a season-best 46 yards, and he never slowed down. Forte finished with a career-high 205 yards on 25 carries. Marion Barber (5 carries, 17 yards, TD) complemented Forte like the Bears hoped he would when they signed him in the summer.

RECEIVERS (1 ball)

The Lollipop Guild — Johnny Knox, Devin Hester and Dane Sanzenbacher — caught a combined 4 passes, including none by Hester. Not that you have to be tall to be a great wide receiver. Carolina’s 5-foot-9 Steve Smith, still amazing at age 32, had 8 catches for 181 yards. Hey, Roy Williams (1 catch, 15 yards, 1 first-down finger-point)!

OFFENSIVE LINE (3 balls)

Just call Lance Louis the new “Slash.” Pressed into duty after Chris Spencer went down on the Bears’ first series with a hand injury, the former starter played three positions (OG/OT/TE). The Bears still can’t pass-block — Jay Cutler was sacked once and under repeated pressure, despite only 17 pass attempts — but the team rushed for a season-best 224 yards. For that, the O-line deserves props. Frank Omiyale was “oh my” bad again, burned by Charles Johnson for the game’s lone sack and later benched.

DEFENSIVE LINE (1½ balls)

No sacks. Few hands on elusive, 6-5, 248-pound rookie Cam Newton. Credit Matt Toeina for the pressure he put on Newton when Newton threw high and was intercepted by D.J. Moore (pick six) in the opening quarter. But where was Julius Peppers against his old team? Henry Melton? Peppers is too gifted not to be causing havoc consistently. Newton threw 46 passes and barely got his uniform dirty. Think Jay Cutler could do that?

LINEBACKERS (2 balls)

Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs were in on 8 tackles apiece, but Carolina had the football for 33 minutes, 29 seconds, and that’s because the defense bent too much. Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams rushed for 82 yards on just 10 carries, and Newton threw for 374 yards.

SECONDARY (2 balls)

Another tipped pass, another interception for silky D.J. Moore. The long-sleeved-wearing nickel back didn’t take long to turn his fifth career interception into points, returning it 20 yards for a first-quarter TD. Safety Brandon Meriweather let Steve Smith get behind him for a 53-yard gain down the sideline. Carolina receivers caught 16 passes. Ex-Bear tight end Greg Olsen had 5 catches, including a late TD.

SPECIAL TEAMS (5 balls)

If the NFL doesn’t go back to having teams kick off from the 30-yard line, instead of the 35, and if teams continue to kick to Devin Hester, his records might never be broken. Hester took advantage of his rare opportunitues to return booted footballs. He was a block away from scoring on a second-quarter kick return, settling for a 73-yard return. Later in the quarter, he grabbed a line-drive punt off the foot of Jason Baker and scooted 69 yards for his NFL-record 11th punt-return TD. Robbie Gould was 2 for 2 on chip-shot field goals (20 and 24 yards). Julius Peppers blocked an Olindo Mare field-goal try of 34 yards.

COACHING (3 balls)

The Mike Martz pass-happy, sack-allowing-happy offense ran the football 31 times. Huh? Hey, it worked. Maybe the coaches understand their offensive linemen can’t protect Jay Cutler and their receivers can’t get open. The Bears might not be able to win a Super Bowl relying on the run as much as they did Sunday, but the strategy was good enough to beat the Panthers.