Despite winning, the Packers had trouble stopping the run in Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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Green Bay — The Green Bay Packers rank fifth in the National Football League in passing yards allowed.

They rank tied for 10th in passing touchdowns allowed.

They rank sixth in lowest opponent quarterback passer rating.

And they have accomplished all this facing Seattle's Russell Wilson, Detroit's Matthew Stafford and Chicago's Jay Cutler, three quarterbacks with current passer ratings of 91 or higher.

So, in a league obsessed with passing the ball, should the Packers be concerned that they rank dead last in rushing yards allowed per game?

It's a pressing question given the peculiarity of their 38-17 victory over the Chicago Bears. In what bizarro world do you give up 235 yards rushing yet yield just two touchdowns and a field goal?

The answer is sandwiched somewhere between the game plan defensive coordinator Dom Capers crafted to defend the Bears and the performance of those whose job it was to carry it out.

As the Packers get ready to face a similar — albeit less star-studded — offense in their Thursday night matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, Capers will again have to decide whether he can risk having a team run him out of the stadium.

"Again, our goal is to limit the number of points because it gives us the best chance of winning," said Capers, whose unit has allowed 27 points in the last two games. "I feel like our run defense has been pretty good in a couple games and hasn't been very good the other couple games.

"What we have to do is get it back to where it was against the Jets and the Lions. I know we're capable of doing it because I've seen us do it."

But understand this: Capers is not going to vacate space to crafty veteran Greg Jennings and speed demons Cordarelle Patterson and Jarius Wright on Thursday night in the name of tightening up the seven-man box. He instead is going to ask those seven to accept being in a compromised position and just play better.

"If you're concerned about the receivers beating you 40 or 50 yards up the field, you have to make some decisions," Capers said. "Are they going to get 5 or 6 yards a run or are they going to throw the ball up the field for 35, 40 yards?

"Ideally, you'd like to take it all away. When you're playing a talented offensive team, you have to make some decisions on what is going to give you the best chance to win."

It's a risky proposition and one Capers' job could depend on this season. Maybe forcing the Bears to run the ball and average 11 plays per drive in the first half swung the odds so that they were due to make a mistake — they wound up throwing interceptions on their 51st and 57th plays.

Or maybe the two second-half turnovers were dumb luck.

If Cutler doesn't throw those two picks, the Bears might have finished with 600 yards instead of 496.

Whatever the case, Capers made the decision that he was going to spread his defense out to match Chicago's. When the Bears went with three wide receivers and a tight end split left or right, he widened out his nickel personnel so more of the field was covered.

In some cases, there was a lot of real estate between the front four. There were gaping holes upfront due to alignment, creating tremendous pressure on the defensive tackles to cover their territory. But it allowed the inside linebackers to spread out and get into pass coverage quicker, which allowed the corners to focus on not letting receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery and tight end Martellus Bennett get behind them.

"When playing a team like that, we can close it down and stack that box in there, but now you're one-on-one with Jeffery, Marshall, Bennett," Capers said. "That's why they do it; (they're) a team that can spread you out and run the ball, when you have a runner like (Matt) Forte.

"We'll see some of that this Thursday night with these same guys. We can stop the run, but you don't want to be giving up 35, 40–yard passes."

The longest completion the Bears had was 27 yards to Bennett. The previous week, the Lions had a 52-yard completion and nothing else more than 26 yards. Against the Jets in Week 2, the longest was 29 yards and no other was more than 20.

The question facing Capers and the defense is whether it can play the run better even when stopping the pass is the focus. Against the Bears, the Packers missed at least 10 tackles and gave up more than 40 extra rushing yards on four of them.

"We had some instances where we hit the ball carrier at 3 yards and he would bleed us for 5 or 6 yards," Capers said. "There were two or three scheme runs where our leverage wasn't proper.

"I think we have the capability to play way better run defense than we did Sunday."

So how come they didn't?

"Very simple assignment issues, technique, where we're fitting," linebacker Clay Matthews said. "I know we said this in the past, but that's really all it comes down to is just fundamentals and trusting the guy next to you and understanding that person is going to be there.

"It's simple. We just need to do it, really."

Coach Mike McCarthy's decision to go with leaner, more athletic players upfront affects the defense's ability to protect inside linebackers A.J. Hawk and Jamari Lattimore, neither of whom has the size to consistently beat offensive line blocks. Losing nose tackle B.J. Raji to a torn biceps muscle took away a lot of run force on first and second down.

Free agent Letroy Guion was supposed to be a part-time player, but he has been thrust into a full-time role and has been exposed. Defensive tackle Mike Daniels has been up and down and tackle Datone Jones is more of a nickel rusher than an early-down defender.

The so-called elephant players — Matthews, Julius Peppers, Mike Neal, Nick Perry — have to become better run defenders at the same time they are being asked to keep constant pressure on the quarterback.

The 4-3 package that was introduced this year was a flop in Seattle and considerably better in running situations against the Jets. Against the 4-3 look, which employs three of those "elephants," the Jets averaged roughly 2.0 yards per carry.

Against Detroit and Chicago, Capers abandoned the look and spent the day mostly in nickel and dime to contend with the multi-receiver sets thrown at the defense. The base 3-4 look that was once a staple of this defense has been used only about 17 times in the last two games.

One player that Capers thinks can significantly help the run defense as the season goes on is rookie safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Though not always in the right place, his aggressiveness to the ball is better than any safety the Packers have had in a long time.

He showed up with five tackles and a quarterback hit, often having to come down from a deep safety position to get involved. Capers appears willing to put up with some of his mistakes in order to reap the benefit later in the season.

"The more he plays, the more comfortable he gets, the more you see him show up," Capers said. "A guy with Ha Ha's ability, there are going to be two or three times where you say, 'Wow, that was a good play.'"

For the future, the defense is going to have to trim the 176 yards per game rushing average just to cut down on the need to come up with turnovers to stop an opposing offense. It's possible the Packers don't have the personnel and Capers the formula for doing it.

That will be determined over the long run.

"In order for us to be successful in the end, we have to change what's going on now," Jones said. "Giving up the yards, we have to change that. We have to start winning games giving up fewer yards.

"We're good where we're at now. Our heads are not down. We're even more motivated to show who we are."