BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (AP) — Hours after Chicago
completed a gutsy win at Philadelphia, running back Matt Forte and cornerback
Charles Tillman started studying again. Only this time the subject was finance
— part of a community service program at a local high school on Tuesday
morning.
And yes, that big 30-24 victory against the Eagles
made their quick turnaround a whole lot easier.
"It was a great game," Forte said.
"We came back from being down and it shows how resilient our team
is."
The Bears (5-3) used a fast start and a strong
finish to earn their third consecutive win and move within one game of the idle
Lions for second in the NFC North behind the unbeaten Packers.
Chicago hosts Detroit on Sunday after the Lions
cruised past the Bears 24-13 in their first matchup of the season on Oct. 10.
The biggest key to Chicago's resurgence has been
the play of its refurbished offensive line.
Longtime center Olin Kreutz decided to sign with
New Orleans in August after contract negotiations with Chicago turned sour, and
the Bears' shuffled line struggled at the beginning of the season.
Jay Cutler was sacked 14 times and the Bears
managed just 161 yards rushing on 51 carries during a 1-2 start.
But the linemen eventually settled into their new
roles and started clearing out wide running lanes for Forte. Cutler got some
time to throw, and the Bears started rolling again one season after they won
the division and advanced to the NFC championship game.
"They're really coming together," Forte
said. "They're getting used to being in the same positions that they're
in. A lot of injuries got healed up, and they're playing real well."
Forte ran for 133 yards at Philadelphia and is
averaging 137.2 yards on the ground in the past five games. Cutler wasn't
sacked for the first time since a 10-6 loss at San Francisco on Nov. 12, 2009,
snapping a 30-game streak.
"When that front five is comfortable and
they're picking things up, and the pocket's clean, it's going to be hard to
stop us," Cutler said Monday night.
The Bears rewarded one of those linemen on Tuesday,
announcing a two-year contract extension with center Roberto Garza that runs
through 2013.
Primarily a guard in his first 10 seasons, Garza
moved inside when Kreutz departed and helped stabilize the line after the rough
start.
Forte, who ranks second in the NFL with 805 yards
rushing, has been vocal about his desire for a new deal, but said he is happy
for Garza.
"Of course. I'm happy anytime one of my
teammates signs a deal, especially an extension," he said. "He's a
good player for us. He's been doing great at center."
Forte will make $600,000 this season in the last
year of the rookie contract he signed after he was drafted by the Bears in the
second round of the 2008 draft out of Tulane, where he majored in finance.
The 6-foot-2, 218-pound Forte was transported back
to some of his college classes Tuesday when he led his team of high schoolers
to an 8-7 victory over Tillman's squad in Financial Football, a computer game
developed by Visa Inc. that teaches kids important financial terms.
Forte and Tillman talked to the students before the
game about managing their money responsibly, and Forte later acknowledged the
irony in the address about financial freedom given his push for a new contract.
"You could say that if you want to, but it
kind of just happened that way," he said.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Matt Slocum)
