Rookie quarterback Andrew Luck picked apart the Packers' defense as the Colts upset the Packers on Sunday. (US Presswire)

It’s simple: The Packers live and die, win and lose, with turnovers.

Last year, they had the worst pass defense in NFL history, but they staunched the yardage bleeding by also collecting a league-high 31 interceptions and tying for the most defensive takeaways. They rode a plus-24 turnover differential to a 15-1 regular season record.

But in the playoffs against the Giants, Green Bay had four giveaways with one takeaway --and they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champs.

In the offseason, the team used free agency and the draft to try to improve the defense. While the jury’s still out on how much the overall play on that side of the ball has improved, it’s clear after Sunday’s 30-27 loss to the Colts that forcing turnovers is still a critical component to the Packers winning football games.

Green Bay didn’t lose the turnover battle Sunday; both teams had just one takeaway. But more than other teams, the Packers' defense is predicated on making big plays rather than on playing soundly and getting conventional stops. So when they aren’t consistently making those big plays, they get burned.

Colts QB Andrew Luck passed for a Colts rookie-record 362 yards and was intercepted just once. The interception, a fourth-quarter pick by rookie CB Casey Hayward, was the Packers’ first takeaway since the Week 2 victory over the Bears, when they forced four turnovers.

The turnover-less stretch lasted 11 quarters, nearly three games. Green Bay lost two of those games and was outscored by a combined five points, so an interception or fumble recovery could easily have been the difference between a win and a loss.

A year after averaging 2.4 turnovers a game, they Packers have just five in their first five games, with four coming against the Bears.

Against the Colts, there were plenty of opportunities. As has been the theme the past few weeks, the Packers were on the wrong side of some close, questionable calls by referees that could have resulted in takeaways. In the second quarter, rookie OLB Nick Perry was flagged for unnecessary roughness after a hit on Luck that knocked the ball out. ILB D.J. Smith’s fumble recovery was nullified by the penalty.

While coach Mike McCarthy seemed upset about the call at the time, he said afterward he agreed with it.

“After talking to [referee Walt Anderson] and seeing the replay, he called it because the crown of [Perry’s] helmet hit Andrew Luck in the chest,” McCarthy said. “It was communicated later that it was probably the right call.”

On that same possession, the Colts gift-wrapped a couple more giveaway chances that the Packers squandered. When OLB Clay Matthews hit Luck and the ball again was free, CB Charles Woodson was unable to secure the recovery. Instead of pouncing on the bouncing ball, he tried to pick it and run with it, and the ball squirted out of bounds. And on the ensuing play, Woodson ran into Williams, who appeared to be in position to intercept the pass. Opportunities lost.

Williams, whose third-quarter pick was wiped out when officials ruled upon review the pass had in fact hit the ground first, said the Packers need to make those plays and they will moving forward.

“We feel that every game we go into, we’re going to get quite a few,” Williams said. “It hasn’t been like that quite yet – one game – but we still feel that way. We got our hands on a lot of balls today but just didn’t quite bring them in like we should have. Moving on, we’re going to bring in some of those balls."

For the season, the Packers are minus-1 in turnover differential, with five takeaways to six giveaways.

Follow Packers reporter James Carlton on Twitter: @CBSPackers and @jimmycarlton88.