Babich trying his best to shore up run defense

LANDOVER, Md. -- When the Vikings rolled over the Bears for 311 rushing yards in Week 6, including 224 by Adrian Peterson, the run defense plummeted from No. 12 to No. 26, and it's stayed right around there ever since, dipping to No. 27 the past two weeks.

There hasn't been any one reason for the demise, according to defensive coordinator Bob Babich, who is more interested in fixing the problems than assigning blame.

"I think it's a combination of things," Babich said. "As we go through and look at the cut-ups from this season, we're going to be very disappointed in a number of things. But we can't dwell on that right now. What we've got to do is try to fix the problem. We've got to make sure as coaches we're getting it done, starting with me."

The emphasis on improvement was stepped up this week in preparation for the Redskins, who came in ranked ninth in the league in rushing yards, led by Clinton Portis, whose 920 rushing yards were fourth in the NFC.

"Washington's going to come out and run the ball with the short week and the things that they've been dealing with," Babich predicted. "And we've got to be able to stop it."

The Bears won that battle, holding Portis to 36 yards on 17 carries and a 2.1-yard average and limiting the Redskins to just 31 rushing yards as a team on 24 attempts.