Matt Forte Has His Eye on Rookie of the Year

It's only two weeks into the 2008 NFL season and the football world is already upside down.

Tom Brady is out for the season.

Peyton Manning is not looking like, well, Peyton Manning.

The 6-2 NFC East looks set to devour the rest of the conference.

And the Panthers, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals, and a Titan team deprived of Vince Young are all 2-0

Meanwhile the Browns, Jags, Chargers, Seahawks, and the Minnesota Adrian Petersons are all 0-2.

This season looks anything but scripted.

There have been new stars.

Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco have had flashes of brilliance, but have also been inconsistent, afraid of the blitz, and with a poor supporting cast they may fold under the bright lights.

Darren McFadden and Chris Johnson have run the ball well, but the youth of their teams and inexperience of the coaching staff may well stop them short.

In Chicago, Matt Forte has been very impressive.

Rushing for 215 yards and a TD that came off of a 50 yard burn against a formidable Colts defensive front, he has pulled off big gains, converted tough downs, and shown field awareness suiting a back several years into the pros.

Chicago has no offensive weapons. They have a poor receiving core, bad quarterbacking, a mediocre O line, and haven't even utilized Devin Hester in the offense.

That being said, teams are expecting the run on thirty plays a game, depending. They can stack the box, put linebackers on Forte, run nickel packages, and throw everything they've got at him. But they can't stop Matt Forte.

And don't forget Lovie Smith. This man took a team to the Super Bowl a few years back because of the Bears' ability to run the ball and play good D. Well they've got good D and they've got a very talented back. And this year Lovie plans to run, run, run, and run some more. 

The season is young and so is Matt Forte, but if he keeps his head up, runs hard, stays healthy, and plays the way he's been playing, the Windy City can expect some winds of change to come blowing through.

And Matt Forte can expect to be the Rookie of the Year.