No rush to judge Bears' run game

About 90 seconds into the fifth game of the season, the Bears tried something on their fourth play that they hadn't bothered with through 222 opportunities in 2010.

After the first run produced nothing, the second would have had the same result but Matt Forte ran into a wall and then bounced it outside, making 14 yards from nothing.

A short pass to Devin Hester got them to second-and-5 and then Mike Martz called the play of the game.

Todd Collins took the snap and the entire offensive line flowed right in classic misdirection. Collins hesitated a moment and then tossed left to Matt Forte, who had nothing between him and the end zone but the beautiful turf in Charlotte.

The Bears masked it perfectly, Panthers linebacker Jon Beason failed to contain outside, and Forte was gone for 18 yards.

Johnny Knox made an excellent downfield block and the Bears had a 7-0 lead, all they would need to defeat the hapless Panthers.

That play hasn't surfaced this year because up until Jay Cutler's concussion Martz didn't think the Bears needed to run the football.

Now, they know they do and think they can, though a review of Sunday's tape provided less evidence than the numbers would suggest.

On the Bears' second possession, Forte took the first handoff and ran right, again into nothing but bodies and with no hole in sight.

Forte made a great play to stop and cut back left, in which the Panthers again lost containment, and Forte had 68 more yards and another touchdown before he saw a Carolina defender.

Nice running by Forte, terrible defense by the Panthers, and further proof that Carolina deserves every bit of its 0-5.

But that's 100 yards on 3 carries that had nothing to do with blocking. Credit the line for pulling off the deception on a misdirection, but let's not confuse that with space to run.

Forte had another carry early in the fourth quarter when he made yards out of nothing. Stopped at the line, he spun it around the left end for 5 yards.

So of his 22 carries for 166 yards, Forte had 4 carries for 105 yards that didn't involve line blocking. There were also 12 carries for 16 yards, when there was nowhere to go.

However, if you're looking for a bright spot, there were 6 Forte carries for 45 yards in which the line did create running room, which is probably more than the first 4 games combined.

So there's that.

And of those 6 good blocks, 3 came in the fourth quarter when the Bears were trying to take time off the clock.

With the Bears up 11 in the fourth, 2 good blocks led to 9 yards on an 11-play, 7-minute drive that ended with a punt, essentially putting the game away as the Bears pinned the Panthers deep again.

Forte carried 7 times in the fourth for 25 yards. While not particularly impressive, it did help finish off the game by draining time off the clock.

There were some other good facets, like a nice block by the previously invisible Brandon Manumaleuna that led to a 14-yard gain on first down by Forte late in the second quarter after the Bears started on their 10, and wanted to get out of the half with a 17-3 lead.

And on the 68-yard TD, Earl Bennett stayed with his guy despite the play seemingly going the other way, and he sealed off nicely.

But all in all, it's worth noting that Forte made some big plays on his own against a terrible team that's 0-5 and 27th in the league against the run.

Seattle, on the other hand, is best in the NFC in rush defense, second only to Pittsburgh in the NFL, and the longest run against the Seahawks this season is 16 yards.

So with a line that can't pass block and hasn't proven it can run block, it brings us back to Cutler, who's going to need some semblance of a running game when he returns to keep the defense off-balance.

If Cutler takes the hits Todd Collins took Sunday from a team ranked 26th in the league in sacks, he'll be concussed again and out even longer.

The Seahawks are tied for eighth in the NFL in sacks, and knowing Cutler's head is a bit soft now they'll be coming after him early and often.

Martz has proved time and time again, and beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he doesn't care who's playing QB or what the situation dictates. He will throw it no matter how dumb or dangerous, and no one this side of Dick Vermeil is going to tell him otherwise.

So the Bears want you to celebrate the new-found running game, but the reality is the line blocking wasn't good Sunday.

The truth is their return game is once again capable of changing the outcome, giving the offense a short field or allowing Brad Maynard to pin teams deep.

From there, the defense has been very good and continues to create turnovers.

But 4-1 or 1-4, we've seen the world without Jay Cutler and it's not pretty, and if Martz doesn't alter his thinking, we're going to see it again.

So be it deception, misdirection or electrocution, Martz better find a way to run the ball successfully.

Or else.

brozner@dailyherald.com