The season that began with Matt Forte leading the Bears off the bus running was saved late Monday night when Forte and his offensive linemen decided to take over a game that had belonged to the Green Bay Packers for most of the evening.
With the season hanging by a thread, Forte came to life in the fourth quarter and brought the Bears back with him. Forte, whom the Bears hope will be their franchise back, did it when it mattered most. He had just 20 rushing yards and none receiving through three quarters. But in the final quarter, he rushed for 52 and added 14 on his first reception of the game.
Forte finished with 101 of the Bears' 210 total yards of offense.
The rookie carried on seven of eight snaps on the Bears' final possession in regulation, picking up a yard on a fourth-and-1 at the Green Bay 4 and then scoring the game-tying touchdown on a 3-yard run. He then caught a 14-yard swing pass in overtime to help set up Robbie Gould's winning field goal.
Forte arguably swung the game to the Bears' side when he burst off left end for 28 yards on his first carry on that final Bears drive in regulation. He followed that with runs of 8 and 3 yards for a first down at the Green Bay 12, then finished the drive with his TD plunge.
After Greg Olsen's 17-yard catch and a personal-foul penalty, Forte curled out of the backfield to take a Kyle Orton pass for 14 yards to set up a first down at the Green Bay 20 in overtime. That set up Robbie Gould's game-winning field goal.
Indeed, what the Bears needed was the Forte that they had.
It was painful going early for Forte. The offense had picked up exactly one rushing first down in the first half as the Packers were building a 14-3 lead. Forte had 12 yards on seven carries in the first quarter, with a long gain of 3 yards. It got worse in the second quarter when the Bears ran exactly eight plays and put the ball in their franchise back's hands exactly once, for 2 yards.
jmullin@tribune.com
