Through the first four weeks of the season, the Los Angeles Rams allowed 1,471 yards to their opponents – or 367.8 yards per game. There were questions about whether they had the personnel to fit Wade Phillips’ scheme, and how long it would take for the defense to come together.

In the past five weeks, however, the Rams have allowed just 57 points, proving to be one of the best defenses in the NFL yet again. It’s a big reason the Rams have won four in a row and six of their last seven.

Quietly, they’ve risen to No. 1 in the league in takeaways after forcing seven turnovers in the past two games. They now have 19 total this season – 12 interceptions, seven fumble recoveries – ranking third in turnover differential at plus-seven.

So how have the Rams gone from allowing the 49ers to score 39 points to leading the league in takeaways? Wade Phillips shed a bit of light on the turnaround Thursday, crediting his players for playing extremely well.

“Well, it’s hard work at what you do. Hopefully, a little coaching has something to do with it. You work on certain things that help cause turnovers,” Phillips said. “Pressure certainly helps on interceptions and so forth and being in the right place, guys being able to cover well, or double cover, or knowing what to do. There’s a lot of cases that they think somebody’s open, but somebody else is helping and you get an interception.”

The Rams are getting interceptions from a variety of players, too. Mark Barron leads the team with three from his linebacker position, while Trumaine Johnson, Nickell Robey-Coleman and Lamarcus Joyner all have two each. It’s not just the cornerbacks getting picks, which is a good sign for the defense.

What’s helped generate turnovers is the amount of pressure Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers and several other players are generating. Even when they’re not getting sacks, they’re forcing quarterbacks to get rid of the ball quicker than they’d like.

It also helps that the Rams have “as many batted passes as anybody in the league,” as Phillips pointed out.

“Obviously points are the most important, but turnovers are the second most important thing as far as winning ball games,” he added. “You have to keep them from scoring first, but also you need to turn the ball over and our guys have done a good job of that all year. We’ve had an interception in every game except for one. I commend our guys. They’re really doing a good job.”

Generating turnovers against the Vikings might be a challenge on Sunday with Minnesota giving it away only 10 times this season – good for the fifth-fewest in the league.