LOS ANGELES_The Los Angeles Rams want to see Jared Goff make strides and become the franchise quarterback they deemed him after choosing him with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.
Through two exhibition games, Goff has made some noticeable stumbles.
On Saturday night at the Coliseum, Goff tripped and fumbled on his second snap against the Kansas City Chiefs. He fumbled on the final play of his second series.
Goff mixed in several good passes, including a short touchdown pass to running back Malcolm Brown early in the fourth quarter that helped give the Rams a 21-20 lead. That held up for the final score as the Rams improved to 2-0 in the preseason.
But Goff does not appear to be near ready to start the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, or even challenge for it.
And the Rams still have plenty of problems to fix before they head to Levi's Stadium on Sept. 12
A week after they thrilled fans in a nearly sold-out stadium last week against the Dallas Cowboys, the Rams played before what appeared to be about half as many in a game that felt like a typical NFL exhibition.
The defense that is supposed to be the team's strength struggled early for the second consecutive week. The secondary remains a major question mark.
And after committing only two penalties against the Cowboys, they were flagged seven times through three quarters against the Chiefs.
On the positive side, an offense that ranked last in the NFL in 2015 once again showed signs of improvement.
Starting quarterback Case Keenum engineered two touchdown drives before giving way to Goff early in the second quarter.
Keenum followed last week's confident and efficient effort against the Cowboys with another strong showing. He completed four of five passes for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps more telling: The fifth-year pro shows no sign of feeling a challenge from Goff.
The game also marked the season debut of star running back Todd Gurley.
Gurley, the 2015 NFL offensive rookie of the year, rushed for 20 yards and touchdown in four carries during the first series.
That was it for Gurley, who spent the rest of the night with his helmet off on the sideline.
"I was a little sluggish," Gurley said at halftime. "I felt like I could've done a lot better."
Goff might feel the same way, though his statistics line looked fine. He played six series and completed eight of 12 passes for 82 yards and the touchdown _ and at least two of his passes were dropped.
Last week in his debut, the former California standout played only two series, an appearance that was cut short after he was hit hard twice during his 13-play stint. Goff was hit as he threw a pass that was intercepted and also was sacked on his final play.
But he inspired confidence by drilling a pass through tight coverage, only to have rookie receiver Pharoh Cooper drop the ball.
During practice last week, Goff worked with the first-team offense and bounced back from one of his most inconsistent workouts with one of his best.
But it did not seem to translate against the Chiefs.
He came on with 10:01 left in the first half and struggled.
Working from under center, he dropped back and passed to receiver Brian Quick, but the pass fell incomplete. On the next play, Goff dropped back and then attempted to move forward in the pocket. He tripped and fumbled, and the Chiefs recovered at the Rams' 16-yard yard line.
The Chiefs converted the turnover into a field goal and a 17-14 lead.
Goff's next series started better. He completed a 10-yard pass to Quick on the second play before Malcolm Brown carried on four consecutive plays to move the ball to the Rams' 40.
But on third down, Goff moved out of the pocket to elude pressure and rolled toward the left sideline while looking for a receiver. Instead of throwing the ball out of bounds, he held it and was sacked by safety Daniel Sorenson. Goff fumbled the ball out of bounds and the Rams punted.
Meantime, former Rams quarterback Nick Foles played well against the team that traded for him before last season, benched him in favor of Keenum and then released him this month in the aftermath of trading up to draft Goff.
Foles came on late in the second quarter in relief of starter Alex Smith and completed 18 of 22 passes for 133 yards.
Last week, the Rams gave up a return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff. Against the Chiefs, Greg Zuerlein kicked the ball out of the end zone for a touchback.
Smith methodically moved the Chiefs down the field with a 13-yard drive that running back Spencer Ware ended with a two-yard touchdown run.
