Scrutiny targets Forte, line

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Bears coach Lovie Smith is fond of saying that the Bears like to get off of the bus running.

In that case, now might be a good time to get off of the bus.

An ineffective running game that had served as an early-season irritant has developed into a full-blown problem for the Bears. They entered Monday with the 27th-ranked rushing offense in the NFL, averaging 89.8 yards a game on the ground compared with 229 yards a game through the air.

Running back Matt Forte took a step forward with a 121-yard game in Week 4 against Detroit, but he fell several yards backward Sunday with a woeful performance at Atlanta. Forte was limited to 23 rushing yards on 15 carries in a 21-14 loss that was punctuated by his two fumbles on the goal line.

In one broken play against the Falcons, quarterback Jay Cutler tucked the ball against his chest and rushed for 30 yards down the right sideline. That single play made Cutler the Bears leading rusher for the day.

“It’s like that sometimes,” Smith said. “They’re a good football team. They’re a 4-1 team, so they’re definitely a decent defense. You’re not going to always be able to run the football against them.”

Statistics tell a different story. The Falcons entered the game with the league’s 24th-ranked run defense, which had allowed 127 rushing yards a game through its first four contests.

Other Bears coaches and players followed Smith’s lead and insisted that the team’s running game was fine.

“I don’t know how much of a chance we gave it,” Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. “We were trying to mix [plays] and do all that kind of stuff. We’ll be able to run the ball. We’ve just got to keep with it.”

The Bears hoped that the running game would be cured after Forte’s breakout game against the Lions. But even in that game, statistics were skewed by two long runs that accounted for 98 of Forte’s 121 yards.

Take away those two rushes, and Forte has gained 196 yards on 84 carries this season. That is an average of 2.3 yards per carry, which is far short of his 3.9 yards per carry during a 1,238-yard rookie season.

“I think we’ll be fine,” said Forte, who endured the fourth-heaviest workload of any running back last season. “We’ve just got to keep working and get better each week, and just not harp on things too much.”

Some have questioned whether Forte’s 316 rushes and 63 receptions in 2008 simply wore him down, or whether Forte is hiding the severity of a knee injury that flared up earlier this season.

Others have slammed the Bears offensive line, with left guard Frank Omiyale serving as the most popular target on sports-talk radio shows.

On Monday, Smith left open the possibility that third-year guard Josh Beekman could replace Omiyale in the starting lineup. However, Smith told reporters at Halas Hall not to expect any “major changes” to the line.

The Bears’ oldest veteran, left tackle Orlando Pace, said the team’s inconsistency on offense needed to change in a major way.

“I don’t know what it is,” Pace said. “If we knew, we’d fix it. But it’s one of those things where we’ve got to get in a rhythm early and keep it going throughout the game.”

Bears bits: Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa was scheduled to receive an MRI exam on his injured knee Monday. Smith said the team would know more after an off day today. … The Bears introduced new defensive end Gaines Adams at Halas Hall on Monday.