Forte's 2 fumbles take away from a great performance

It was an up-and-down evening for Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte, but his team was able to overcome some uncharacteristic miscues to defeat the Eagles, 30-24, on Monday at Lincoln Financial Field.

Known for his dependability as much as for his versatility, Forte strayed far from the norm at times, coughing up two fumbles that led to two Eagles touchdowns, one directly.

Most notably, Forte was picked up by quarterback Jay Cutler. While Cutler was wild with his throws early in the game, at least none of them landed in Eagle hands. Cutler threw for 208 yards, two touchdown passes, and no interceptions.

Forte, in fact, contributed to the win with some hard running early and late. It's the middle portion that he'd like to forget.

How out of character was this for Forte?

His first fumble, in the second quarter, resulted in Brian Rolle's 22-yard touchdown return. It was the first time Forte had fumbled since Oct. 24, 2010, a span covering 347 touches.

Holding a 10-3 lead late in the first half, Chicago was in the midst of a disastrous drive. After Dane Sanzenbacher dropped an easy pass from Cutler, Forte made a third-down reception, and, while spinning, had the ball knocked out by Rolle at the 24-yard line.

Rolle fell on the ground, picked up himself and the ball, and darted into the end zone, tying the score at 10 with 1 minute, 38 seconds left in the first half.

In the third quarter, Forte fumbled on a running play after being hit by Trent Cole. Mike Patterson recovered on the Bears 41 yard line. Two plays later, LeSean McCoy scored on a 33-yard touchdown, giving the Eagles a 24-17 lead.

Between the fumbles, there was the usual production on the ground from Forte. In fact, he started the game looking like the player who entered the contest averaging 5.4 yards per carry.

On the game's opening drive, Chicago went 79 yards on 12 plays, scoring on a 5-yard pass from Cutler to Matt Spaeth. On that opening drive, Forte gained 52 yards on six carries.

Among the other Bears doing some heavy lifting were receiver Earl Bennett (five receptions, 95 yards, one touchdown) and Forte's understudy, former Dallas Cowboy Marion Barber, who rushed for 31 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.

For the game, Forte rushed for 133 yards on 24 carries. On most days this would constitute an outstanding game, but this was an evening when his teammates had to pick up for Forte's fumbling.