Bears’ X’s and O’s Revolve Around Matt Forte
Published by Andrew Rosten on May 24, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
CHICAGO—Rarely would a second-round draft pick make a significant impact on his team’s playbook, especially in his rookie season.
By leading his team with 1,231 rushing yards and 64 receptions, the Chicago Bears’ Matt Forte proved right from the first game of the 2008 season he was the team’s best offensive threat.
In the first quarter of that game, played on a Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts, he set the tone for the team’s offensive philosophy by running through the defense for a 50-yard touchdown. The score gave the Bears a 7-3 lead en route to a 29-13 victory.
On that play, Forte ran an Iso out of the I-formation. He found a hole in the middle of the offensive line and, with a cut to the right, had a long, clear path to the end zone.
Throughout the season, Forte proved himself to be a north-south runner able to take advantage of any hole given to him. This ability has enabled the Bears to call running plays out of single-back formations, both from double tight-end and three wideout formations.
One of those running plays was called Slam, where Forte could, once again, pick a hole through the middle and run north-south. In single-back formations, the defense is forced to spread to the flats, leaving fewer defenders to defend the middle of the field and stop the run.
Forte’s running abilities have also set up opportunities for open passing plays. For instance, Chicago has a play-action pass play out of the I-formation called PA Power O.
On this play, quarterbacks Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman fake a hand-off to Forte, forcing defenders to key on him for a split second. This leaves tight ends Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen open for a deep pass to the flats.
Plays like these put Clark and Olsen in the top four among Chicago players in receptions. Olsen was second among Bears players with 54 receptions and led the team in touchdown receptions with five while Clark took fourth place with 41 receptions.
Wide receiver Devin Hester placed third in receptions with 52. He also led his team in receiving yards with 665 thanks to plays such as Flanker Cross, run out of the Singleback Ace formation.
Lined up on the left side, Hester runs the cross route through the middle of the field in this play. It is set up by a tight end running to the deep flats from the same side of the line of scrimmage.
If run effectively, Hester has the ability to run through open space down the middle once he catches the ball.
Forte took first place, however, thanks to plays such as HB Check out of the Shotgun formation. On this play, while the tight end looks to catch a deep pass in the flats and the wide receiver on the same side runs a curl route, Forte hesitates for a split second before running his route, leaving defenders to believe he will not run a route.
Then he will run a curl route down the middle, possibly with an open field to work with once he catches the ball.
With newly-acquired quarterback Jay Cutler joining the Bears, their passing plays should produce more for the offense. With Forte in the backfield, however, defense will always need to respect the Bears’ running game.
