Forte Disappointing

[The Kaiser]

I don't believe you can blame Forte's performance on the OL.

He doesn't look like the same back this year. His 2nd gear hasn't turned up once. In the passing game, he's not getting separation when he is called on. He is extremely tentative at the LOS and is not hitting the holes hard at all. He constantly misses cut back opportunities and seems to be struggling with his vision.

I have no idea what is going on with him but he is a huge disappointment to me this season.

[Bigwill]

It's almost like good-but-not-great RBs are fungible products of heir situations... ;-)

[PC Load Letter]

I've been driving this bus the entire year. He seriously gets tackled more one-on-one and arm tackles than any "elite" back that I watch. He broke off one nice run yesterday to pad his YPC but that's about it. He doesn't strike me as a dude that would get lazy after getting paid so I don't know what's up with him. Some of it is on the OL but a lot of it is him not hitting holes and going down way too easy.

[PSUmtj112]

I do not think his ankle has been right all year.

[Moriarty]

I wouldn't be surprised if he's been playing hurt all year.

Last time he had a subpar season, that's what we found out, after the season ended.

And it's what a lot of us who didn't want to give him an extension were predicting from the unrelenting heavy carry workload he's had all career - college and Bears.

[DaSuperfan]

Pretty sure his ankle is just not 100%. If anyone remembers Forte in week 1 when he was healthy, he looked like the 2011 Forte where he showed some speed and explosion. Since he hurt his ankle in week 2 against the Packers, he hasn't been able to get back on track. The game he came back against the Cowboys, he had the same ankle tweaked on the first play but stuck it out. And then against the Vikings at Soldier Field he had that awful play where he got caught underneath a pile and had his ankle bent backwards. He's a guy who works extremely hard in the offseason to keep himself in shape, for anyone to insinuate that he's playing poorly because he got paid seems like a huge stretch to me.

[brh]

Pretty sure his ankle is just not 100%. If anyone remembers Forte in week 1 when he was healthy, he looked like the 2011 Forte where he showed some speed and explosion. Since he hurt his ankle in week 2 against the Packers, he hasn't been able to get back on track. The game he came back against the Cowboys, he had the same ankle tweaked on the first play but stuck it out. And then against the Vikings at Soldier Field he had that awful play where he got caught underneath a pile and had his ankle bent backwards. He's a guy who works extremely hard in the offseason to keep himself in shape, for anyone to insinuate that he's playing poorly because he got paid seems like a huge stretch to me.

This ^

He's still averaging over 4 YPC, so it's not like he's been terrible. I think it's pretty clear though that he's lacking the burst we're accustomed to seeing from him and that is highly likely due to his ankle never getting quite right. He's the least of my worries on the offense.

[thunderspirit]

what PSU, Mori, DaSup, and brh said. (saves me a lot of typing. )

[Biggix]

Pucken Fackers pucked him up :(

[steelcitysledge]

This thread could have been titled "<anyone on offense except for Marshall> Disappointing". Seriously, can you name anyone else on offense that you feel has met or exceeded your expectations?
The only other guy I've been excited about is Jeffery and he can't seem to stay on the field.
I'm just exhausted by the repetitive, neverending suck that is our offense. It's like a glacier just grinding down my enthusiasm over the years. Slow, deliberate, unending.
All I want is an average offense. We'd win the Superbowl.

Go Bears!

J

[DaSuperfan]

This thread could have been titled "<anyone on offense except for Marshall> Disappointing". Seriously, can you name anyone else on offense that you feel has met or exceeded your expectations?
The only other guy I've been excited about is Jeffery and he can't seem to stay on the field.
I'm just exhausted by the repetitive, neverending suck that is our offense. It's like a glacier just grinding down my enthusiasm over the years. Slow, deliberate, unending.
All I want is an average offense. We'd win the Superbowl.

Go Bears!

J

I think we all feel that way. It's highly frustrating to watch. Whenever the opposing team scores first, I automatically feel like we're going to lose. How sad is that?

[LakeAussie]

This thread could have been titled "<anyone on offense except for Marshall> Disappointing". Seriously, can you name anyone else on offense that you feel has met or exceeded your expectations?
The only other guy I've been excited about is Jeffery and he can't seem to stay on the field.
I'm just exhausted by the repetitive, neverending suck that is our offense. It's like a glacier just grinding down my enthusiasm over the years. Slow, deliberate, unending.
All I want is an average offense. We'd win the Superbowl.

Go Bears!

J

I am more and more impressed with Cutler all the time. Other than his meltdown in the Packers game when Tice immediately abandoned the game plan and threw the offense to the wolves, Cutler has been impressive to me this year. He's really growing into his own. He isn't as turnover prone. He seems to be taking advantage of turnovers more. He's finding more ways to make plays despite an awful line.

[Coolhandluke]

I think we all feel that way. It's highly frustrating to watch. Whenever the opposing team scores first, I automatically feel like we're going to lose. How sad is that?

welcome to the lovie smith era - year 9.