The Patriots’ lack of a running game was a glaring weakness late in the season, and in the AFC Championship it allowed the Broncos’ pass rushers to tee off on quarterback Tom Brady, and hit him a record 20 times. Veteran free agent rusher Matt Forte could be the perfect antidote to their problem.
Forte is unlikely to be re-signed by the Bears, because of his age, and the emergence of rookie Jeremy Langford when Forte was out with an injury. Forte has consistently been among the top rushers in the league, topping 1,000 yards for three straight seasons before notching 898 in 2015, when he missed three games.
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Injuries decimated the Patriots’ running back situation, which had been serviceable with LeGarrette Blount handling the dirty work, and Dion Lewis excelling as a passing downs back. Both were lost to injury before the postseason, and now Blount is a free agent, and Lewis will be coming off a torn ACL.
Signing Forte would be reminiscent of signing Corey Dillon in 2004, when legal issues and age seemed to be catching up to him at the end of his run with the Bengals. Dillon rushed for 1,635 yards that season, and helped the Patriots win a second straight Super Bowl over the Eagles. Dillon played three seasons with New England, rushing for double-digit touchdowns in all three.
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Forte is not the same kind of back as Dillon. In fact, he’d be more valuable to the Patriots, because he is equally as talented a receiver as a rusher. Forte has surpassed 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of his eight NFL seasons, and recorded at least 340 yards receiving. His receiving peak came in 2014, when he caught 102 passes for 880 yards.
At 30 years old, he would still be spelled by Lewis, provided he’s healthy, but having Forte on the field increases the Patriots’ unpredictability on every play and frees up TE Rob Gronkowski and WR Julian Edelman. Belichick will just have to sell Forte on a possible pay cut for the chance to compete for a championship.
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