Matt Forte rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Chicago Bears to a 23-6 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Forte scored on carries of 18 and 68 yards in the first half. It was the first two rushing touchdowns of the season for Chicago (4-1), which played with Todd Collins at quarterback as Jay Cutler remains sidelined with a concussion.
Collins was replaced after throwing four interceptions and replaced by Caleb Hanie. But the combination of Forte and the Bears' defense were more than enough to get Chicago back on the winning track.
Carolina (0-5) was limited to 147 total yards. Veteran defensive end Julius Peppers had an interception in his return to Carolina.
DeAngelo Williams led the Panthers with 51 yards on 12 carries, but rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen was sacked five times and intercepted once.
Matt Moore replaced Clausen late in the game and threw a pair of interceptions.
Chicago’s Robbie Gould booted field goals from 28, 53 and 43 yards out late in the game to complete the scoring.
Chicago | Carolina | |
Matt Forte | Player | DeAngelo Williams |
22 | Attempts | 12 |
166 | Yards | 51 |
7.6 | Avg Yards | 4.2 |
2 | Touchdowns | 0 |
68 | Long | 23 |
Chicago | Carolina | |
Matt Forte | Player | David Gettis |
2 | Receptions | 3 |
22 | Yards | 32 |
11.0 | Avg Yards | 10.7 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
14 | Long | 13 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Chicago | 247 | 218 | 29 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5.0 | 1 |
Carolina | 147 | 85 | 62 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3.0 | 0 |