Rams coach Jeff Fisher had an extremely general goal for what he wanted to see from his team from game one of the preseason to game two.

Fisher said he wanted improvement “everywhere” and undoubtedly wanted to see his first team offense and defense make strides.

Just five minutes into the first quarter against Kansas City at the Edward Jones Dome on Saturday night, Fisher got a resounding response from his top group as the Rams jumped to a two score lead on their way to a 31-17 victory.

“What happened tonight was directly related to what happened last week,” Fisher said. “We had a really good week of practice. We got some more things in and things started to come together for us during the week. I was pleased with the outcome all around.”

In the preseason opener against Indianapolis, Fisher cited the Rams’ inability to finish drives as one of the biggest areas of concern. The opening drive against the Colts saw quarterback Sam Bradford and the Rams march into Indianapolis territory but the drive died in no small part because of a delay of game penalty.

After that, the Rams never visited the end zone.

This week, though, Bradford and the top unit seemed set on righting that wrong as fast as possible. On the game’s first play, Bradford floated a perfect pass down the right sideline to receiver Danny Amendola, who came streaking across the field from his position in the left slot for a gain of 35 yards to Kansas City’s 45.

Running back Steven Jackson then took his turn, busting an 18-yard run off left tackle to the Chiefs’ 27. Jackson picked up 4 more yards on the next play to set up a first down at Kansas City’s 23.

Bradford faked the handoff to Jackson and found a wide open tight end Lance Kendricks running free down the middle. Kendricks hauled it in and staved off a couple of tackle attempts as he tumbled into the end zone.

Just one minute and 58 seconds into the game, the Rams seized a 7-0 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.

“It felt really good to get our feet under us and get our confidence built up in what we’ve been doing in practice for the last two, three weeks,” Jackson said. “We wanted to come out and get a quick start so we could get the running game and the passing game established.”

On the other side of the ball, Fisher hoped to see crisper tackling and a defense that will take advantage of its opportunities. Much like the offense, the defense wasted no time in bouncing back as well.

On second down from the Chiefs 21, quarterback Matt Cassel hit receiver Jonathan Baldwin over the middle for 7 yards but he was hit immediately by cornerback Janoris Jenkins, jarring the ball loose.

Safety Craig Dahl scooped it up to give it back to the Rams at Kansas City’s 31.

“The defense came out fast, (a) turnover helps a lot,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “I thought we did a better job running to the ball, better effort. We have some things to clean up, as you always do and I think it’s important that last week after a down game, we came out and practiced hard.

“This week, after a good start we need to come out and practice even harder and make sure we’re getting better.”

Bradford led the offense back on the field and went right back to work, hitting Amendola for a gain of 15 to the Chiefs’ 16.

Jackson gained 3 on first down but a false start penalty seemed to doom another drive as Fisher voiced his displeasure from the sidelines. Two plays later, Bradford hit Steve Smith for a gain of 10 to make it fourth-and-2.

Much like last week, Fisher didn’t hesitate to put his trust in the offense. Although Fisher indicated that those decisions might not be the same as what they’d be in the regular season, he left the offense on the field without a second thought.

Bradford and Amendola rewarded Fisher’s faith as Bradford floated a pass to left corner for Amendola, who turned back to adjust to the ball and came down with it despite a pass interference flag.

A second under five minutes into the game, the Rams held a 14-0 lead, a drastic improvement on their start from a week ago.

“It felt great,” Bradford said. “Obviously last week we came out moving the ball but weren’t able to put any points on the board. We wanted to come out tonight, put the ball in the end zone and that’s what we were able to do the first two drives.”

The first team offense got one more opportunity and pieced together a drive that ended near midfield when Jackson was stopped on third and short.

All told, the first unit gave Fisher exactly the improvement he was looking for as it rolled up 151 yards in the first quarter.

Bradford finished six-of-nine for 102 yards with the two scores and no interceptions for a rating of 144.4. Perhaps more important, Fisher saw improvement in another area of concern: the pass protection. Bradford was not sacked and only hit once.

“Coach (Schottenheimer) did a good job of mixing the run and the pass together to keep the Kansas City defense off balance,” Jackson said. “When we had a chance to run, we had some open lanes due to the offensive line.”

The first-team defense also did its part, shutting down the Chiefs save for a touchdown allowed early in the second quarter.

Against a Kansas City team known for its running ability, the Rams were most pleased with their ability to slow the run. Kansas City rushed eight times for 33 yards against the Rams top defensive unit.

Despite giving up the score, the defense was pleased with the strides made from last week.

“I’m excited about the way we played first team (defense),” linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar said. “We brought intensity, physicality. We talked about it all week, just having an identity. What is this defense? What can we hang our hat on? And I think that’s what we did today. I think we brought out the physicality and the things that we need to be a good defense.”

There wasn’t much drop off as the Rams called it a night with the first team after one quarter and went to the backups.

Rookie kicker Greg Zuerlein booted a 52-yard field goal with no problems and rookie back Isaiah Pead leaped over the Chiefs defense for a 1-yard score to give the Rams a 24-10 lead going into the fourth quarter.

There, they would score on a 4-yard touchdown run from rookie back Daryl Richardson to make it 31-10 with 12:51 to go in the game. Kansas City would later tack on a touchdown late for the final margin.

The Rams grabbed four takeaways – Dahl’s fumble recovery, an interception by defensive tackle Matt Conrath and fumble recoveries by linebacker Rocky McIntosh and safety Rodney McLeod - with no turnovers of their own and consistently converted those into points.

In the end, the Rams did a little more scheming and took a slightly more advanced approach to Saturday night’s game. More than anything, they gained some confidence from a solid performance but just as they kept last week’s loss in perspective, they’ll take this week’s win in stride as well.

Such is the nature of the preseason.

“The preseason you just want to fine tune,” cornerback Cortland Finnegan said. “You want to mesh with one another, you want to come out fast and you want to play well in all phases and I think tonight we did that. But there’s still a lot to build on.”