The Jets got off the hook in the middle of last week when a scoring change turned Rashard Mendenhall’s 100-yard game versus their defense into a 99-yard effort.
The Elias Sports Bureau determined that referee Pete Morelli’s crew had made an error, spoiling a milestone game for the Steelers running back. Matt Forte won’t face such an anomaly after he rushed for 113 yards on 19 carries in the Bears’ 38-34 victory over the Jets on Sunday. It was the third 100-yard game for Forte this season and the first against the Jets in 22 games.
Forte broke off big chunks, scoring on a 22-yard run in the first quarter, an outside zone read in which he got nice blocks from tight end Greg Olsen, right tackle J’Marcus Webb and wide receiver Johnny Knox.
He had a 32-yard run in the fourth quarter and then moved the chains for a first down with less than three minutes to play on an 8-yard gain. That allowed the Bears to hold the ball until punting with 74 seconds remaining.
He also caught a 24-yard pass from Jay Cutler to the 2-yard line, setting up the quarterback’s 2-yard keeper on the next play.
“It wasn’t a bad day,” Forte said. “I’m just proud of our team, especially the offensive line. That was a good defense and they pushed them around up front and allowed me to get through some holes.”
Forte has rushed for 205 yards in the last two games and has 978 for the season, putting him on the cusp of his second 1,000-yard season.
While 1,200 yards is a better benchmark for running backs, Forte is now averaging 4.4 yards per carry this season. That is one element that has helped Mike Martz’s offense come around. It’s not about big rushing numbers as much as it is running the ball effectively when they choose to do so, and the Bears are doing that with Forte.
“He has been unbelievable all year,” center Olin Kreutz said. “He makes us look better than we are and he’s about as fast of a big back as there is in the NFL. He’s having a hell of a year.”
Forte has nine runs of 20 yards or more this season after totaling 11 in his first two seasons. He attributes that to the new playbook.
“That’s the type of offense Mike Martz has, it’s an explosive offense and we had a lot of big plays in this game and that’s what we focus on doing,” Forte said. “When we get in the red zone, we have different types of packages for that, but a lot of plays are designed to be big-strike plays.”
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