"The Bears are fortunate they have some depth at running back, but Sunday in Denver they may realize just how valuable Matt Forte is to their offense and their team philosophy.

With Forte injured, the Bears will be missing several things. Among them:

•The potential for multiple breakaways.

Forte has had 21 runs of 20 yards or more over the last two seasons. Neither Marion Barber nor Kahlil Bell is such a danger.

"Without Forte, you take away the threat of a big run" an NFC team executive said. "But with eight or nine in box as much as they have seen lately, those runs aren't there very often anyway.""