Matt Forte continues to get stronger as the season goes along, and a lot of that has to do with an offensive line that continues to play better the longer it stays together.
Sunday's game was the eighth straight with the same players at the same five O-line positions. The Bears have won seven of those games, and in the last six, Forte has rushed for 508 yards on just 97 carries, a 5.2-yard average.
"I think they're getting a little confidence, each week getting better and better," Forte said of the line. "That's what we want to do, just get better each week. They did a great job. It's one of their best games. They protected the quarterback pretty well, and we ran the ball well."
RB Matt Forte
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Forte rushed for 113 yards against the Jets, averaging 5.9 yards on 19 carries, including a 22-yard TD run. Forte also caught four passes for 56 yards. Not a bad day.
"No, it wasn't," he said. "I'm just proud of our team, especially the offensive line. That was a good defense, and they pushed them around up front and allowed me to get through some holes."
The Jets came in with the No. 4 run defense in the NFL. But Forte became the first Bears running back since Thomas Jones on Sept. 26, 2004 to rush for more than 100 yards and have more than 50 receiving yards in the same game.
Forte goes into Sunday's season finale just 22 yards shy of 1,000 yards, and his 4.4-yard average is a career best and a big jump from last year, when he slumped to 929 yards and a 3.6-yard average after a rookie season of 1,238 yards and a 3.9-yard average.
"You have to run the ball this time of the year," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "Matt Forte was outstanding, like he has been lately."
Forte has been held to less than 4.9 yards per carry just once in the past five games.
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