Matt Forte, Bears hope strong rushing attack continues after bye week

The Chicago Bears can take further control over the NFC North on Monday when they take on the 2-3 Detroit Lions. The game is not quite the meeting originally intended, with the Lions looking much-less like the team folks expected and the Bears looking like a team that is finally living up to expectations. Many will credit the improved passing game with Jay Cutler, but if you ask running back Matt Forte, he thinks the Bears need to keep grounded to win on Monday.

Forte said that the Bears shouldn't get ahead of themselves, in a quote from ESPN:

"It's always important to get back to the basics of the offense, what you want to do, which is just like technique stuff, blocking and making sure that we don't get ahead of ourselves, like saying, ‘Well, last game we ran the ball well and threw the ball well. We're just going to come out and run and gun.' We've got to get back to the basics and not try to call all these extravagant plays."

That, in so many words, means that the game should be in Forte's hands for this one. The rushing attack hasn't been the point of focus this season, though as the article notes, the time of possession scale has been tipped in Chicago's favor four out of five times this year, and all four times it was tipped to their side, Chicago brought home the win.

Forte recently tasted success when the Bears had a season-best 214 rushing yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars prior to their bye week. They also have some injuries on offense, most notably to wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, while Earl Bennett is just returning from an injury of his own. It might be the smart thing to appease Forte and his desires.