Thanks - most sensible post here.
There is simply no way you can blame the woes of this team on the defense. First of all, we've had a number of injuries - significant ones - that have severely impacted their ability. Losing Quinn and 'Tree for extended periods of time. That's two of our best three defensive players (Donald being another one in the top three). Those are guys that can make impact, game-changing plays. You can repeat the "next man up" cliche all you want, but the fact is those guys are elite, and part of the reason is because the next man up is never going to be able to do as good of a job as they do. If they were, they wouldn't be the "next" man up - they'd be in there already. Couple that with injuries to guys like TruJo, Long, and so forth, and there is no way you can expect the defense to perform at an elite level. The injuries hurt, and they are beyond the control of the players or coaches. Earlier in the season, when all those guys were healthy, they played some pretty good football. Only once in the first eight games did they give up more than two offensive TD's, In two of those games, they only gave up two TD's, in three more they only gave up one TD. And in two of those games, they only gave up a pair of field goals.
That being said, our defense in its current, injured state, still might not be that bad if we had anything resembling an NFL offense. Hell, if we even had a bad NFL offense they'd be better, but ours is so bad that they have not risen to the level of bad yet. Our offense is so inept that it couldn't score in a whorehouse with five $100 bills hanging out it's zipper. They can barely get a first down, and can't do so with anything remotely resembling consistency. Our rate of 3rd down conversions is historically bad. As such, our defense, already reduced in strength by injuries to some of its best players, spends more and more time on the field, game after game, and they are getting worn out. They get negligible support from the offense, including in today's game (and somehow, still held the Cardinals - the league's #1 offense - to only 10 points at the half).
This defense, players and defensive staff, have no control over the injuries that have impacted them on that side of the ball. Nor do they have any control over the extreme ineptness of an offense that gives them no meaningful support. To blame them for the current woes of the Rams is shortsighted at best, and in my opinion, just completely wrongheaded.