(My Sportsbook) - Game after game, the same weaknesses surface for struggling teams. In the case of the St. Louis Rams, that weakness is run defense.

The Rams dropped their third straight game, and second in a row at home, while giving up 186 yards rushing in a 31-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Chiefs running back Larry Johnson arrived in St. Louis confident he could match LaDainian Tomlinson's performance from last week -- when the Chargers RB steamrolled the Rams for 183 yards.

Johnson almost did, rushing 27 times for 172 yards and a touchdown against what is now the NFC's worst run defense.

Rams safety Corey Chavous blamed here-and-there lapses when the defense is giving up large chunks of yardage -- like Johnson's 45-yard run early in the first quarter, which moved the Chargers out of bad field position and helped set up his touchdown.

"There's no reason to try to sugarcoat it," Chavous declared.

Indeed, there is no WAY to sugarcoat it. The Rams have surrendered 141.2 yards rushing per game, seven yards more than the next-worst run defense in the NFC. They are allowing five yards per carry -- a number that went up when Johnson gouged them for nearly 6.4 yards per touch on Sunday.

Teams know they can run on St. Louis, and so that's what they are doing. Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard attempted only 15 passes in the win -- a product of Kansas City's early 17-0 lead, sure, but also key to the team's game plan.

Even when the Rams are able to come back from an early deficit -- as they did Sunday, pulling as close as 24-17 in the third quarter -- they were unable to keep Kansas City's offense off the field for any length of time.

On consecutive first-down carries early in the fourth quarter, Johnson ran for 16 and 15 yards. Four plays later, the Chiefs scored another touchdown for their final margin.

"When we ran the ball in the fourth quarter and took time off the clock it felt like we had control of the game again," said Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards.

TURNOVERS ALSO KILLING RAMS

Now 4-4 and trailing Seattle in the NFC West, the Rams have been losing a battle they were winning early in the season.

They are giving the ball away more than they are taking it away.

"Anytime you have turnovers, your chances of winning the ball game go way down," Rams guard Adam Timmerman said. "When you have a negative-three turnover ratio, the numbers are astounding at how your chances of winning go down to about five percent. We have to take care of the ball."

St. Louis fumbled four times, losing three of them to the Chiefs. During a three-game winning streak earlier this season, the Rams had the best turnover ratio in the league.

"That's pretty big. It's really hard to lose when you've got some turnovers," said Edwards. "That's their big deal, turnovers. They were plus-10 and we were minus-one going into this game and came out plus-three (today). That takes us to plus two for the season."

MARK IT ZERO

The Rams are now 0-3 since going 4-1 over the easiest part of their schedule, which included games against San Francisco, Arizona, Detroit and Green Bay.

Their three consecutive losses have come against Seattle, San Diego and Kansas City -- making next week's rematch against the Seahawks an interesting test of this team's mettle.

"We have too many good players and too much character," said quarterback Marc Bulger, who passed for 354 yards and a touchdown against Kansas City. "We'll come back fighting this week."

UP NEXT: IN SEATTLE

The Rams lost a heartbreaker, 30-28, to the Seahawks in Week 6 when head coach Scott Linehan, confused by a rule, believed his team had the game won before Seattle kicker Josh Brown booted a 54-yard field goal as time elapsed.

St. Louis has dropped three in a row to the Seahawks, who are leading the NFC West with a 5-3 record.