Chicago Bears

Matt Forte reaches dreaded age of 30 for NFL running backs

Published Dec. 10, 2015 5:19 p.m. ET

foxsports

You could wish Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte a happy birthday, but he's probably not too happy about turning 30 years old.

Forte "celebrated" his 30th birthday on Wednesday, marking a point when once-elite NFL running backs are officially considered over the hill. Pro Football Focus conducted an in-depth analysis on this phenomenon a few years back.

Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase isn't concerned about Forte's age, though. He hasn't noticed a drop-off in the eighth-year veteran's performance just yet, according to ESPN's Jeff Dickerson:

Forte missed three games this season with a knee injury, and now he is projected to finish with the lowest rushing yardage total of his career. The Bears have a tough decision ahead of them, as Forte is set to become a free agent in the spring and rookie running back Jeremy Langford has shown plenty of promise for the future.

I just know for us right now he’s playing really well. He’s doing some things that I haven’t seen many running backs be able to do because he’s so good in all three areas of the game for that position. We lean on him. I think this last game showed you, what did he have, 21 carries, and he was effective in all those rushes and really probably should have had over 100 yards if we don’t get that holding call. We had an explosive run that put us in great position and then we get it called back. For us, I feel like he’s still playing at a very high level.