Sore toe hampers Forte

After reinjuring his right big toe when a Texans defender stepped on it, rookie running back Matt Forte wasn't much of a factor in the second half, which hindered the Bears' offense. He had 11 carries for 45 yards in the first half and 3 catches for 25 yards, but he touched the ball just twice after halftime, picking up 5 yards on 2 carries.

"Any time you take somebody like that out or they're limited, it has an effect," said Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner. "He's such a great player. If (he's) not 100 percent, it definitely has an impact. If you get a guy with the versatility that Matt has and the play-making ability - probably throughout the year our most consistent playmaker - any time that guy's not in there or not 100 percent, it hurts."

Forte went into the game second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage and finished with 1,715, including 1,238 rushing yards on 316 carries and 63 receptions for 477 yards. But his personal production didn't make him feel any better after the loss.

"I want to go to the playoffs and make a run to the Super Bowl, so it's disappointing," he said. "Everybody's going to look at the stats and say, 'Oh he had a great season as a rookie,' but when you go to the postseason it makes it a lot better, and that's what we aim to do."

Woulda, shoulda, coulda: With just under 10 minutes left and the Bears trailing 24-17, quarterback Kyle Orton scrambled out of the pocket on third-and-8 from the Texans' 39-yard line and appeared to have more than enough running room to pick up a first down. But his pass to Brandon Lloyd fell incomplete, and the Bears punted.

"I just saw Brandon and the guy was trailing him and I just tried to throw it outside," Orton said. "Looking at the pictures, I probably wish I would have tucked it and ran. In that situation, I see my receiver and a little contact, but I just tried to make a play."

After the punt, the Texans drove 89 yards for what proved to be the winning score.

"I think he definitely had some room there," Ron Turner said. "I think when he sees it on film, he'll look at it and say, 'Boy I could have run.' "

Playing in pain: With the season completed, Kyle Orton admitted that his sprained ankle bothered him more and for a longer period of time than he let on when he returned Nov. 16 after missing just one game.

"It was a battle every game, a battle throughout the week to get it feeling halfway decent, and then something would always happen during the game to re-tweak it," Orton said. "But I don't think it affected my game a whole lot. Everybody has to battle through injuries, and I'm no different."

Orton said the ankle wasn't a problem Sunday.

"It actually felt pretty good," he said. "Probably felt the best it has all year since it happened."

Feeling the pain: Bears coach Lovie Smith got a little salty toward the end of his postgame news conference when asked if it was a good thing that players were hurting after a loss that killed their playoff chances.

"Now what do you think?" Smith said. "Do you think guys are hurting in there right now? So you answered your own question."

The questioner explained he was asking if it was a good thing they were hurting and not if they were hurting.

"Well, it's not a good thing to lose a big game like this," and most people would hurt," Smith said. "How about I just answer it like that?"

Staying focused: Lovie Smith said he wasn't concerned with games being played simultaneously that affected the Bears' playoff chances (Raiders vs. Bucs and Vikings vs. Giants).

"(They had) no effect at all," Smith said. "I found out who won the games after our game, and that's the only way it should have been. We had one thing in mind, and that's playing our best football game that we could possibly play against the Texans. Everything else would take care of itself, and if we didn't take care of that, nothing else really matters. So whatever else happened in the league really doesn't matter a lot to us now."

Had the Bears won, they would have qualified as the second NFC wild-card team.

By the numbers: Brad Maynard's first punt of the game resulted in a fair catch at the Texans' 14-yard line. It was Maynard's 37th punt of the season inside the 20, a career best. His second punt went out of bounds at the Texans' 12-yard line and his third went out at the seven. Early in the fourth quarter, Maynard hit 40 for the season when his punt was fair caught at the 11-yard line, giving him the second-highest single-season total since the statistic was first tabulated in 1976.

Looking ahead: Next season, in addition to home-and-home series against their NFC North foes (Vikings, Packers and Lions), the Bears will play the Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles at home. They will face the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons on the road. Dates of all games will be released early in April.