LOS ANGELES—On Thursday August 25, the Los Angeles Rams wrapped up their 2016 training camp at U.C. Irvine, before visiting the defending Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos, on Saturday night. The Rams defense excelled in the first half, yet they fell to the Broncos, 17-9 at Invesco field.

The Rams three weeks in Irvine has been a love fest, with thousands of fans on practice day either sitting in the bleachers, or hanging on the fences of Crawford field. Their training camp is being followed nationwide, courtesey of HBO’s, “Hard Knocks.” The Emmy winning series has captured every step of the Rams journey from St. Louis to home.

On the final day of camp, and through the duration of the workouts, the Rams returned the love. Players and coaches stayed hours after practice to thank the fans for their support. All staff seemed genuinely happy to sign autographs, joke with the crowd and take selfies with adorable babies til the sun set.

On to the X’s and O’s, the battle for staring QB is between current starter, Case Keenum, and No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff. Although Goff is the future of the franchise with his leading man looks, the present firmly belongs to Keenum.

It was on to Denver to face the best defense in the NFL. The Rams fall to 2-1 in the pre-season, as they failed to reach the end zone despite moving the ball down the field. Once in the red zone, however, the offense stalled and had to settle for three field goals.

Keenum went 8/12, 77yards, while Goff had an uneven performance. Going just 4/12, 44 yards, to be fair, the Rams receivers dropped passes all night. On the defensive side, the line got to the Broncos Quarterbacks, and Linebacker Alec Ogletree was both savvy and speedy, making key tackles early in the contest.

The Los Angeles Rams final exhibition game is on the road, going up against Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings. Thursday, September 1, at 5:00 p.m. on CBS 2.

Their regular season kicks off on Monday, September 12, when they head to to the Bay Area to face their bitter rival, the San Francisco 49ers, for Monday Night Football. The game will be seen on ESPN, beginning at 7:20 p.m.