For the second year in a row, the Rams are 7-4 after 11 games. Unlike last season, they have six more games instead of just five, giving them some extra time to figure out exactly what’s gone wrong in the last three games – all of which the Rams lost.

When comparing last year’s Rams team to this season’s squad, there are quite a few noticeable differences. But from a high-level view, the biggest contrast is that the offense was supposed to carry the load this year, while the defense was forced to do that a season ago.

With Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Odell Beckham Jr., Tyler Higbee, Darrell Henderson Jr. and Robert Woods before he got hurt, the Rams offense was supposed to be able to make up for any deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball.

And there absolutely was expected to be some regression on defense after losing Troy Hill, John Johnson, Morgan Fox, Samson Ebukam and most importantly, Brandon Staley. The problem is, the offense hasn’t come close to carrying its weight in recent weeks and the defense isn’t nearly good enough to make up for mistakes that are being made by Stafford and his receivers.

Against the Packers on Sunday, the Rams turned the ball over three times. One was a lost fumble by Stafford, another was a pick-six and the third was a fumbled punt by J.J. Koski. The defense allowed a touchdown after Stafford’s fumble and held the Packers to a field goal after Koski’s mistake, but this isn’t a unit that’s capable of consistently stonewalling opposing offenses.

The Rams gave up 36 points to a banged-up Packers team that was missing three starting offensive linemen and had a limited Aaron Jones at running back. Yet, they sacked Aaron Rodgers only once and rarely generated pressure, allowing 307 yards and two touchdowns with no defensive takeaways in the game.

The Rams gained 353 yards as a team but a lot of that was late and a good chunk was on two plays – a 79-yard touchdown to Van Jefferson and a 54-yarder to Beckham. They didn’t have a single drive that lasted longer than three minutes, forcing the defense to go back on the field much too quickly.

Despite having stars such as Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and Von Miller, this isn’t a defense you want out there for nearly 40 minutes like it was against the Packers. In Week 10 against the 49ers, the Rams defense was on the field for 39:03.

The Rams can’t expect to win games while losing time of possession and the turnover battle the way they have in their last three games. Last year’s defense might’ve been able to make up for these types of struggles on offense. It was the best defense in football, allowing the fewest points and yards in the NFL.

But this year’s defense isn’t close to being as good as Staley’s group and that showed against the Packers on Sunday. It’s why the Rams were able to win 10 games last season despite Jared Goff throwing only 20 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions in 15 starts.

The defense shouldn’t be blamed for all of the team’s recent issues. That falls more on the offense. And until Stafford gets things going in the right direction by cutting down on the turnovers and hitting his receivers with consistent accuracy, the Rams aren’t going to have much success because the defense isn’t good enough to make up for his five interceptions and one lost fumble in the last three games.