Matt Forte 'frustrated' by Bears' inability to run the ball effectively

Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte has always put wins ahead of his own personal statistics, but even with the Bears sitting comfortably at 2-1 on the season, the Tulane product admits to being "frustrated" about the team's inability to run the football effectively in the early going.

“It is frustrating during the game,” Forte said, via ESPN. “It’s not that we’re not calling runs. We are calling run plays. But sometimes, the defenses are set up so that the run play we call is not going to work against that defense. Each week we’re continuing to work on it, and we’ve got to get everybody on the same page up front. Some guys that are stepping in for injured players, we have to get everybody on the right page where we’re blocking the right looks so if they change the personnel or change to a different defensive front, we know how to block that as well.” 

Forte rushed for 82 yards in a Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills, but has totaled only 54 rushing yards over the last two games, averaging 2.2 yards per carry.

The team's starting center, Roberto Garza, and starting left guard, Matt Slauson, both suffered high ankle sprains in Week 1 and haven't returned to action since.

According to Forte, those changes haven't impacted the team's play-calling.

“It’s just sometimes we might have blocked it wrong or didn't block somebody or whatever the problem was,” Forte said. “There is a little bit of a learning curve when we’re so used to having Slauson and Garza in there, and those five (offensive linemen) solidify that line. There is a little bit of a learning curve, but that’s with every team in the league. Everybody has injuries, and everybody has to step up. We have to figure that out and make it work.” 

Bears offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer thinks the team can turn things around Sunday when they face a Packers rush defense that ranks 30th in the league, allowing 156.3 rushing yards per game.

“Last year when we played them, (Clay) Matthews didn’t play and that makes a big difference when he’s in the game,” Kromer said. “They’re at full strength now. So we need to bring our 'A' game to gain yards and have Matt Forte gain yards. We need to continue to work a balanced attack and give him opportunities.” 

Bears head coach Marc Trestman has no intention of giving up on the ground game after two rough weeks.

“Everybody’s gonna have an opinion on that,” Trestman explained. “We’ve had two very difficult weeks against two extremely strong fronts. That doesn’t mean we’re making excuses for it. We recognize we’ve got to get better. We had a reasonable start in Game 1. We’ve been bogged down the last couple weeks. We’re cognizant of that. We’re making it a point of emphasis. But we think we’ve got to work through the next few games and try to get a sense for where we really are with things. I can tell you we’re working at it."