Matt Forte is used to extra attention he receives from defenses. As one of the league’s premier backs, he knows the stacked boxes he regularly faces are part of the deal.
But every once in a while, he’ll see a defense trot out its nickel personnel against the Chicago Bears’ three-wide sets. And when he knows he’s about to get the ball, he smiles.
“It’s a look that you look for — I don’t really get it that often,” Forte said. “I definitely like to see that when you get in there, because sometimes the nickel defenders, they fit it differently than a base defensive guy would, so you can do some things different in that aspect of the run game.