Rams Trying to Put Slump in Its Place : Pro Football: Despite three losses in a row, 5-3 record puts team on track to match last season’s 10-6 mark.

OK, so the Rams are spiraling and Jim Everett’s passes aren’t.

But the Rams finished the first half of the season 5-3, with losses to teams that have a combined 15-9 record. If the victories and defeats hadn’t come in bunches, would anyone be fingering the panic button?

The point is, the Rams beat 2-6 Atlanta twice, Indianapolis and Green Bay (both 4-4), and eked out a victory over 7-1 San Francisco to go 5-0.

They have scored eight points more than they have surrendered.

So what is wrong with a 5-3 first half? The Rams finished 10-6 last season and still made the playoffs.

It’s all a matter of expectations and perspective, of course. Expectations the Rams raised with a 5-0 start, even though they hardly looked unbeatable. Perspective the Rams can’t find now that they’re in the throes of a three-game losing streak that the Vikings and Giants hope to extend into a zero-for-five free fall.

“Perspective? Right now, perspective doesn’t mean a whole hell of a lot,” Coach John Robinson said. “We’ll obviously come out of this slump and will get back to playing the way we can.”

The question is when, and what kind of damage does a three-game losing streak do to your psyche?

Robinson has done some psyche-damage assessment and certainly he’s not as distressed about the Rams’ overall record as their recent performances.

“We clearly have a problem,” he said. “The confidence, flair and precision that we played with early in the year is not there. We’re wound pretty tight right now.

“We’re fighting our way through a negative period and our biggest concern is getting our football team back in rhythm.”

At this point, the Rams may not be capable of snapping their fingers in time to a rap song. And the condition could persist for the next two weeks, but they might start looking like Fred Astaire after that.

Five of the last six teams on their regular-season schedule are a combined 12-28.

“Over these next three or four games that are tough, we need to win one or two of those,” Robinson said. “Then we have a chance to finish four out of five or something.”

. . . and finish 10-6. Which, when you put it in perspective, isn’t bad.”

How about a little role reversal?

Maybe this midseason slump isn’t such terrible news for the Rams. Remember the 1988 49ers? That team staggered to a 6-5 start and then sprinted all the way to a 20-16 victory over Cincinnati in Super Bowl XXIII.

Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and friends can testify that it’s much more fun to be going good at the end of the season than at the beginning.

The Rams trail the 49ers by two games in the NFC West, and if they can keep from losing more ground, they’ll be in pretty good shape when the teams meet Dec. 11 at Anaheim Stadium.

If the Rams can beat San Francisco and then win their final two games--against the Jets (1-7) and New England (3-5)--a 49er loss to either Buffalo or Chicago would give the Rams the division championship. (The teams would tie in the standings, but the Rams would win the title because of their 2-0 record against the 49ers).

And who would the Rams rather play than San Francisco?

Consider this: the 49ers have lost only three of their past 21, counting exhibition games . . . but all three of those defeats have come against the Rams.

Every Ram fan probably has a favorite key factor when it comes to breaking down the breakdown, but here are a few of the more obvious problems at the heart of the slump:

--There has been nowhere to run. The Rams averaged 138 rushing yards per game in the first five games, but have managed a combined total of 196 in the past three. Greg Bell’s various sprains have put a real strain on the running game. In the first three games, a healthy Bell averaged 5.5 yards a carry. Since then, he has had shoulder, groin, hamstring and lower-back injuries and has averaged 3.1.

--The quarterback has “happy” feet but nobody’s smiling. Everett is definitely out of sync. He’s throwing bad passes off the wrong foot to the wrong people at the wrong time. “He’s aiming the ball a little, pressing and not doing the fundamental things,” Robinson said. “It’s crucial that a quarterback never walks off the field and says, ‘I lost it.’ And I think Jim’s been doing a little of that.”

--The injury-riddled defense can’t seem to escape from being on the embarrassing end of a lot of big plays. The Rams made adjustments and put a little more pressure on the quarterback during the 20-10 loss in Chicago. But, Robinson says, two long, fourth-quarter passes “destroyed an otherwise good defensive performance.”

This Ram defense doesn’t figure to hold many teams to a touchdown and a field goal. The running game is a long way from what it once was. So, whether Robinson likes it or not, the pressure is on Everett to put points on the board.

“We were an extremely explosive passing team early and we got enamored with big plays,” Robinson said. “We need to get back to being an efficient passing team. We can’t seem to sustain our offensive attack and we’ve been absolutely horrible on third down.”

Then, again, you can’t exactly tear up the playbook and start over in November.

“Passing is a big part of our offense,” Robinson said. “We’re geared to it. We organized ourselves to it. We have to make our success in that environment. We have to make it work, not abandon it.

“We can’t suddenly say, ‘OK, we’re going to the single wing.’ ”

Ram Notes

Artie Gigantino, the Rams’ special teams coach, managed to find a bright spot in the game films of the Rams’ loss to Chicago. “If you can find anything positive in there it’s Dale Hatcher’s punting,” he said. “It’s good to see Dale fighting back.” Hatcher had to watch as the Rams auditioned punters last week. But he helped his job security Sunday with seven punts that averaged 44.4 yards, including two 53-yard efforts. . . . It’s a Job to Love/Hate: “This is a great coaching time,” Coach John Robinson said, and then quickly added, “I mean it’s horrible, but great. You’ve got all the antennas out, searching for an answer.” . . . Henry Ellard made his 1989 debut as a punt returner Sunday, filling in for Clifford Hicks (bruised biceps), who was subbing for Darryl Henley (hamstring injury). Both Hicks and Henley are expected to return Sunday against Minnesota so Ellard can concentrate on his role as Jim Everett’s No. 1 target. Ellard leads the National Football League in receiving yards (901) and his 51 receptions are second to Phoenix’s J.T. Smith (60). . . . Robinson said defensive tackle Mike Piel, who started last Sunday in place of Shawn Miller (sprained left ankle), and strong safety Anthony Newman will get increased playing time. “Piel will continue to play,” Robinson said. “And I think Newman is establishing himself in our secondary and he will continue to play more.”