LOS ANGELES -- Todd Gurley rushed for a touchdown in his preseason debut, and the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 21-20 on Saturday night.
Gurley, who was held out of preseason games last season as a rookie while recovering from a torn ACL, rushed for 20 yards on four carries and scored on a 3-yard run.
With the Chiefs (0-2) holding out four defensive starters, including safety Eric Berry and linebacker Josh Mauga, the starting offensive line played four series and allowed Rams running backs Gurley, Benny Cunningham and Malcolm Brown to rush for 85 yards on 15 carries.
Case Keenum started at quarterback and led the Rams (2-0) to two touchdowns, going 4 of 5 for 53 yards with an 11-yard scoring pass to Pharoh Cooper before giving way to rookie Jared Goff.
The No. 1 overall draft pick mostly struggled for the second consecutive week despite working with the first-unit offensive line for two series. Goff lost a fumble after tripping over left guard Cody Wichmann and fumbled out of bounds while being sacked.
Goff's first touchdown pass came on a 10-yard throw to Brown, who made a juggling catch to put the Rams ahead early in the fourth quarter. Goff played the entire second half and finished 8 of 12 for 82 yards.
Alex Smith was 9 of 12 for 137 yards and one touchdown, leading the Chiefs to 17 points on four possessions. Smith's pump-fake on a 20-yard touchdown pass completely fooled two Rams defenders and allowed Jeremy Maclin to step into the end zone untouched.
Maclin and Rams cornerback Lamarcus Joyner were ejected with 44 seconds left in the first half after trading slaps to the head.
Copyright 2016 by The Associated Press
