| 03 January 2010
Part of what comes out after a season is officially over is injuries that were not reported during the season partially to not give away "intelligence to the enemy" so to speak.
The first such announcement from the Chicago Bears came out today with Ron Turner admitting that Matt Forte wasn't healthy for the better part of the season.
Quoting Turner "I think [his health] had something to do with it," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "I don't think coming into it he was as healthy as he was a year ago. I think as the season wore on, that improved, and it showed."
"I think there was a drop-off [after the MCL injury], definitely," Turner said. "I don't think he had the acceleration or the burst we normally see from him. Yeah, I definitely had an affect."
"It's a factor anytime you play football, everybody has injuries," Forte said in the postgame locker room. "That's not an excuse as to why the running game struggled, or we had an unproductive season. But everybody has to deal with injuries."
This revelation comes as not much of a surprise to most Bears observers as Forte didn't seem to have the same burst or acceleration that Turner mentioned.
While this injury revelation may have played a part in Forte's overall struggles, the offensive run blocking was fairly anemic all season long.
Compared to the 2008 offensive line which couldn't pass block very well, the 2009 offensive line on the whole was much worse off at run blocking and pass blocking both. Obviously it's something that needs to be addressed in the off-season is solidifying the offensive line.
The major question is how will the Bears address their shortcomings on the O-Line as well as the shortcomings they have elsewhere on the roster? Unless a new collective bargaining agreement is agreed upon before the free agency period starts there won't be a lot of talent out there for the Bears to address their O-Line problems. Likely putting the Bears in the same situation they were at the beginning of the 2008-09 off-season, finding a Frank Omiyale part version 2.0.
Further complicating matters is the lack of quality draft picks the Bears have, no first because of the Cutler trade and no second rounder because of the Gaines Adams trade.
So what exactly can the Bears do to help Matt Forte experience a better year in 2010?
One thought may be to have Lance Louis move in to left guard and shuttle Frank Omiyale out to RT to have him compete with Kevin Shafer at RT. Louis is only in the 6-3 305-pound range, perhaps better suited for the right guard slot, than the left spot. However the Bears could draft a guard and insert him in to compete with Louis on the left side. Louis did show some subtle signs in the pre-season games he played in of being capable of playing as a starter in the NFL.
With all that said Matt Forte finished with 929 yards with a 3.6 YPC average. Only three tenths of a yard off his 3.9 YPC average from 2009. The goal clearly should be solidifying the O-Line not only for Forte but for Cutler too. It would be my stance to have the Bears have a big powerful offensive line that lines up and punches people in the mouth, wears an opponent down so that Cutler is given more of a chance to work out of play-action pass situations.
A comparison of Forte's first two seasons reveals the only major difference being the eight touchdowns in '08 to the four touchdowns this year:
2008: 316 carries 1,238 yards for a 3.9 YPC average on the year.
2009: 258 carries for 929 yards and a 3.6 YPC average on the season.
Had Forte carried the ball 316 times this season he would have finished the year with 1,137 yards on the season a mere 101 yards less than his season last year.
That much lack of production, with an injury and during a season in which the Bears threw the ball about 65% of the time on the season.
As soon as I am able to find updated stats for total plays ran on the season and then able to work it out down to the percentage between passes and runs we'll be able to find out just what kind of "sophomore slump" Matt Forte had on the season.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
