The Los Angeles Rams' defense of their Super Bowl championship hasn't gone as expected so far this season. They have looked fairly mortal in the early-going, and have struggled to control games in the manner they did last season. That trend continued in Week 4, where they were handed their second loss of the season by the San Francisco 49ers.

It was an ugly all-around game for the Rams. Their offense struggled to figure out the 49ers defense, while their defense allowed San Fran to pull off big plays that won them this game. Los Angeles entered the season with Super Bowl expectations, but it remains to be seen whether or not those expectations are actually attainable this season.

The Rams clearly have a lot of things to figure out moving forward, and it's fair to wonder whether they are in trouble. Before moving forward, though, it's important to take a step back and take a look at their loss to the 49ers last night first. Let's take a look at the three biggest takeaways from the Rams loss, and how they could play a role in their season moving forward.

3. The Rams need to figure out what's going on with their ground game

The Rams offense has really struggled early on in the season, and a big reason for that is because their rushing attack hasn't been able to get off the ground. There's been no consistency in the backfield, as head coach Sean McVay swaps between Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson as his favored running back every single drive, and it's starting to really hurt his team.

Through four games, Los Angeles has turned 82 carries on the ground into 274 yards and three touchdowns. That's good for a woeful 3.3 yards per carry, which is even worse considering Akers and Henderson should be one of the best running back duos in the league. McVay is going to need to establish some sort of consistency in the ground game moving forward.

Right now, Akers has 38 carries on the season while Henderson has 34. Henderson has been much more effective, but it's clear that Akers ceiling is much higher than Henderson's. Regardless, one of these guys is going to need to step up and become the team's top running back. Until that happens, the Rams offense will continue to flounder.

2. The Rams defense continues to get torched by big plays

The Rams defense is pretty solid, but they have been plagued by big plays early on in the season. They shut down San Francisco for long stretches of the game, but they gave up five plays of over 20 yards, two of which resulted in touchdowns. It doesn't matter how good you are playing if you can't eliminate the big play, and the Rams have struggled with that all season long.

The two biggest plays of the night were plays that could have been prevented. Deebo Samuel's 57-yard catch and run touchdown involved him breaking several tackles on his way to the end zone. Jeff Wilson Jr.'s 32-yard touchdown run also involved him evading a couple of Rams defenders who probably should have stopped him before he scored.

Los Angeles didn't have a terrible defensive outing, but they allowed San Francisco to make winning plays. On a night where their offense couldn't do the same thing (they didn't have a single play go for 20 or more yards) that simply couldn't happen. But it did, and that's a big reason why they lost. Figuring out how to prevent those game-changing plays from happening moving forward is going to be crucial.

1. The Rams need more from Matthew Stafford

A lot was made of Matthew Stafford leading the Rams to a Super Bowl victory in his first season with the team. Due to his success last season, many expected him to be able to do similar things this season, but that just hasn't been the case so far. Stafford has struggled in the early going, and it's beginning to become a big concern for Los Angeles.

Stafford had another mediocre performance against the 49ers last night, in which he completed 32 of his 48 passes for 254 yards, no touchdowns, and a game-sealing pick six. Stafford was sacked seven times on the night (the second time that's happened this season) and he never looked comfortable in the pocket throughout this game.

Los Angeles' offense as a whole is becoming way too predictable, with their poor running game and a quarterback who is targeting his favorite receiver (Cooper Kupp) an average of 13.5 times per game. Matthew Stafford plays a big role in that. He's not getting a lot of help, yes, but he needs to be better moving forward, or else this will end up being a very disappointing season for Los Angeles.