CHICAGO – Faking would-be tacklers out of their shoes and bolting untouched into the end zone Saturday night, running back Matt Forte hardly looked like he was playing in his first game in nearly eight months.

“It seemed like he was back in his old form,” coach Lovie Smith said after Forte rushed for 58 yards on nine carries in a 17-3 preseason win over the New York Giants at Soldier Field.

Matt Forte's 32-yard touchdown run gave the Bears a 10-0 lead Saturday night.

On the Bears’ second possession, Forte took a handoff up the middle and froze cornerback Kevin Dockery with a tantalizing stutter-step move en route to a 17-yard gain. Three plays later, the second-year pro dashed up the middle for a 32-yard TD run that gave the Bears a 10-0 lead with 4:16 left in the first quarter.

“The hole was there,” Forte said. “The o-line did a great job of creating that running lane. I stretched it and I saw the safety come down and just made one cut and took it up the field.”

After the game, Forte bristled at a reporter’s suggestion that the running back appeared to be more energized than usual because he had been held out of the preseason opener in Buffalo.

“I’ve always got energy,” Forte said. “I was ready to play last week too. They just held me out. I was ready to come out this week and show what I have.”

Anchor man: Like Forte, Tommie Harris also made his preseason debut in Saturday night’s win over the Giants, starting at defensive tackle next to Anthony Adams.

“As we talk about our defensive line, Tommie is one of the anchors,” Smith said. “It was good to get him his first bit of action like we talked about Matt. Tommie’s been working hard. We kept him out last week, but it was good to see him get a few plays. I think he was able to get about 15 plays. That’s what we wanted to get for him in his first game.”

Count on him: The favorite to win the starting left guard position, Frank Omiyale strengthened his case by blasting Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn out of the hole on Forte’s long touchdown run.

“I was just trying to do my job,” said Omiyale, whose responsibility on the play is to help center Olin Kreutz with the nose tackle before releasing to block a linebacker. “It makes you feel good that you did your job. It’s like a count-on-me attitude, so yeah, it felt good.”

Aches and pains: Linebacker Jamar Williams (ankle), defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek (knee) and cornerback Marcus Hamilton (neck) exited Saturday night’s game with injuries.

Bears who sat out the contest with injuries included cornerbacks Charles Tillman (back) and Zackary Bowman (hamstring), defensive back Danieal Manning (hamstring), linebacker Nick Roach (concussion), defensive tackle Matt Toeaina (concussion) and offensive lineman Tyler Reed (knee).

The Giants played without six starters, two on offense (guards Rich Seubert and Chris Snee) and four on defense (middle linebacker Antonio Pierce, weakside linebacker Michael Boley, cornerback Aaron Ross and safety Kenny Phillips).

Sack attack: Dvoracek, Alex Brown, Adewale Ogunleye, Marcus Harrison and Josh Bullocks all registered sacks for the Bears. Rookie defensive end Henry Melton nearly joined them. But as he spun Andre Woodson to the ground late in the game, the Giants quarterback flung the ball out of bounds.

Wake-up call: Giants defensive end Justin Tuck was disgusted with his team’s performance after the Bears’ No. 1 offense scored two TDs and a field goal on its only three possessions Saturday.

“I think this loss right here will wake some people up,” said the fifth-year pro from Notre Dame. “It’s human nature, but it’s easy for us to look at all the talent we have on this football team, especially on defense, and get complacent.

“In a way I’m kind of glad we played like that because I know for a fact we’ve got a bunch of guys on the sideline that don’t ever want to see that. We don’t ever want to have that feeling. Our starters didn’t want to come out because it was embarrassing.”