Big-play receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery combined to produce all three Bears touchdowns in Sunday's win over the Vikings. But Kyle Long also did some heavy lifting.
In rushing for 117 yards on 26 carries and catching six passes for 58 yards, Forte produced a season-high 175 yards from scrimmage. He now has six games with at least 150 yards from scrimmage this season, one shy of Walter Payton's team record set in 1977.
The 26 carries tied for the second most in Forte's seven-year NFL career. His longest run was a 32-yarder, during which he broke four or five tackles. As usual, Forte credited his teammates.
"Dante [Rosario] did a good job of [blocking] the linebacker," Forte said. "He's a tight end. That's not really what he does. But he gave it up for the team and plays fullback. He made a good block. The o-line controlled the defensive line where I could look downfield at the second or third level.
"I just saw a crease to the outside. Whenever we get a run like that, if you break one tackle and the receivers are blocking downfield, you can get extra yardage, and Brandon and Alshon did a good job."
Stopped short: Leading 14-10, the Bears opened the second half by marching the length of the field. But Jay Cutler was stopped for no gain on a sweep to the left on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
"The design of the play was that we were trying to leverage the defense," said coach Marc Trestman. "We had what we wanted and we didn't execute the play. It wasn't something that we just picked out of a hat on fourth down. It was a play that we had prepared for over the last couple of weeks. There is no reason why it couldn't have worked, but we just didn't put it all together."
Cutler dove for the pylon but was stuffed by 6-3, 288-pound defensive tackle Tom Johnson.
"I thought Jay made a heck of an effort," Trestman said. "He did everything he could. He really offered himself up to get in. He drove his shoulder to try to get to the pylon. That resonates with our football team as well."
Out of time: The game clock did not work most of the day, causing issues for both teams. Soldier Field released a statement that read in part: "The Daktronics scoring and timing system experienced several malfunctions today during the game … At this point in time, it is undetermined what caused the issues. Daktronics is investigating whether the cause was software or hardware related."
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was not happy about the situation, especially after it caused uncertainty on Minnesota's final drive of the game.
"It's hard because no one is able to tell you how much time is left, and the clocks here are [baloney]," Zimmer said. "The whole day the whole thing was going out, so it's just another thing. Excuse my language."
News and notes: The Bears maintained their dominance over the Vikings in Illinois, winning the seventh straight meeting at Soldier Field and improving to 13-1 against Minnesota at home since 2001. … Bears defensive end Jared Allen won his first career game at Soldier Field after eight losses, six with the Vikings and two this season with the Bears. … The Bears have been outscored 41-0 in the first quarter of their last five games. … The Bears converted 10-of-17 third-down opportunities, while limiting the Vikings to just 2-of-11. … With Jordan Mills unable to play due to a rib injury, the Bears started a different offensive line combination for the sixth straight game, with Brian de la Puente at left guard and Michael Ola at right tackle. … Receiver Marquess Wilson made his 2014 debut, catching two passes for 11 yards.
