Coming off a 12-carry, 121-yard effort against the lowly Lions in Week 4, plus having an extra seven days rest after the bye week, Matt Forte managed just 23 yards on 15 attempts in Sunday's loss to the Falcons.

If you throw out the 10.1 yards-per-carry effort Forte put together versus Detroit, which was shut out 26-0 by NFC North rival Green Bay in Week 6, then Forte has averaged 2.2, 2.2, 3.1 and 1.5 yards per carry in Chicago's other four games this year – the Bears are 2-2 in said games and 3-2 overall following the Atlanta defeat. On top of that, Forte has suddenly had a hard time holding on to the football. After only one fumble on 379 touches as a rookie in 2008, the former Tulane Green Wave put the pigskin on the turf on back-to-back plays in the shadows of the Atlanta goal line and lost the second one for a back-breaking turnover.

But it would be premature to assume Forte is going through the dreaded sophomore slump, as his offensive line has not done a very good job of opening up holes in the running game.

Most guilty is left guard Frank Omiyale, who was signed to a $14 million contract in free agency despite only one career NFL start on his resume – and that was at left tackle. Omiyale's transition inside has to be considered a failure at this point, with the 6-4, 310-pounder being whistled for two more penalties at the Georgia Dome and picking himself up off the FieldTurf seemingly as often as Forte. While it's fair to say that an O-line needs time to jell, especially one with three new starters like Chicago's, the Omiyale experiment simply isn't working five games into the 2009 campaign.

Last season's starter, Josh Beekman, may not have been on his way to a Pro Bowl career, but Forte was much more productive with Beekman in the lineup.