Running game slow to rev up

SEATTLE - Running back Matt Forte thought he saw a running game starting to sprout Sunday in a 25-19 Bears victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

They were very tiny sprouts.

"I think the running game was effective to where we had to have it," Forte said, after gaining 66 yards on 21 carries.

Forte did make his longest run of the season, an 11-yarder, at exactly the right time - on the drive to a game-winning touchdown - and gained 3.1 yards per carry for the game.

It might not sound like much, but considering his average coming into the contest was 2.2 yards, it's at least a slight step forward for a team searching for answers on the ground.

"We were very close to breaking some long runs," Forte said. "Some of them, I've just got to pick my feet up on. I didn't and tripped.

"Things like that happened."

Forte suffered a slight knee injury during the contest and had to leave momentarily to have it taped. He said it wasn't a factor in the fourth quarter when the Bears drove to their game-winning touchdown.

Nevertheless, after Forte broke off his 11-yard run, backup Adrian Peterson came on and finished up the drive while Forte stood on the sidelines.

Peterson gained 12 yards on 2 carries on the game-winning, 71-yard TD drive that ended with Jay Cutler's 36-yard pass to Devin Hester.

"We're going to use all of our backs," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "We're going to use Matt, we've got a lot of confidence in A.P. (Peterson), and we've got a lot of confidence in Garrett (Wolfe).

"We're going to put those guys in to spell Matt and give those guys opportunities to make some plays."

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the Bears rushing for only 85 yards on 28 carries (3.0 per carry) as a team was it came against an opponent that allowed 256 yards rushing to San Francisco the previous game.

"Sometimes they brought the safety down and that made it a little tough," Forte said.

Seattle didn't have Pro Bowl run-stuffing linebacker Lofa Tatupu on the field because of a hamstring pull, but Abilene Christian rookie David Hawthorne wrecked the Bears' running plays all day long with 16 total tackles, including 1 for loss.

Nevertheless, coach Lovie Smith couldn't complain about the end result.

"Each week we would like to rush the ball for 200 yards, but you have to take what they're giving you, and that's what we're going to do," Smith said. "To me, I want to see plays that find a way to win the football game, and that's what we have been doing.

"There's nothing wrong with the pass. I'd like to be known as a running team that can pass the ball. Hopefully that's our rep."