With Cutler Out, Matt Forte Must Step Up

With Jay Cutler on the shelf for the Bears' Monday night game with the 49ers, the Bears will turn to Jason Campbell. Campbell is experienced, competent and has a big arm, but he can't do everything. He'll need to fill in at quarterback, but they'll need Matt Forte to fill in as the team's big weapon on offense.

Forte is coming off of a bad game against the Texans, running for just 39 yards on 16 chances. The good news is that he has followed up poor showings with big games in the past. In 2011, his 2-yard game against the Packers was followed by a 205-yard against Carolina. A 25 yard game in 2010 was followed by 92 and 113-yard games.

But the bad news for Forte is that San Francisco is effective at stopping the run. They allow less than 100 yards in a game, sixth best in the NFL. Minnesota's Adrian Peterson is the best rusher in the league, but he only dropped 86 on the Niners.

This is the type of game where Forte has to show why the Bears gave him a big contract before the season started. He has to be the big weapon the Bears need.

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