RAM NOTEBOOK : Robinson Finds Right Idea to Quiet the Giants’ Taylor

Lawrence who?

Lawrence Taylor, the Giants’ sack leader with 12, wasn’t much of a factor Sunday. He had only two tackles all afternoon, and the only time he drew attention to himself was when he lined up offsides on two consecutive plays late in the third quarter.

It wasn’t as if the most feared defensive player in the National Football League just had a terrible day. The Rams had a hand in keeping him out of the limelight--and quarterback Jim Everett’s face.

“We ran the other way,” Ram Coach John Robinson said, smiling. “We didn’t run to the left at all. And when we passed, we made sure we had a tackle on him. We made sure he never got a back (blocking him).”

Ram running back Robert Delpino, who was probably grateful for that strategy, said Taylor was unusually quiet.

“Usually, when Lawrence is having a good game, he’s talking a lot,” Delpino said. “And he wasn’t saying anything today.

“Of course, I didn’t want to get too close to find out, either.”

When asked if Sunday’s victory was especially important or “just another game,” Everett shook his head in dismay.

“It wasn’t just another game,” he said. “I don’t know who told you that. Heck, we were playing the best team in the NFL.”

Wonder if that quote will find its way to the 49ers’ bulletin board?

Giant cornerback Mark Collins, a standout at Cal State Fullerton, didn’t have a great homecoming. He spent the first half watching Everett and his receivers play catch. Then he hurt his knee and sat out the second half.

“We were mentally ready, but we just got beat physically,” Collins said. “This is what we needed, though, getting our butts kicked. Sometimes things can go too well, and you get cocky. We just have to go back to basics.

“We didn’t lose any ground today (in the standings) but the bottom line is, we got beat and this is two years in a row that they have embarrassed us.”

The Rams beat the Giants, 45-31, last season.

Well-balanced attack: The Giants didn’t score many points in the first half Sunday, but quarterback Phil Simms completed 13 of 19 passes for 121 yards and definitely made good use of his assets.

Ten receivers were involved in Simms’ first 11 completions. Five are running backs--David Meggett, George Adams, Lee Rouson, Ottis Anderson and Maurice Carthon. Four are wide receivers--Odessa Turner, Stephen Baker, Lionel Manuel and Mark Ingram. And one, Zeke Mowatt, is a tight end.

Halloween is long gone, but Robinson was still seeing evil spirits from the Rams’ four-game losing streak.

“There were some ghosts flying around our heads out there,” he said. “But I think our team played the type of football the Rams are capable of playing.”

Tight end Pete Holohan took a nasty hit from Giant linebacker Carl Banks late in the first half and suffered what was termed a “mild concussion.”

He doesn’t want to find out how a not-so-mild concussion feels, however.

“I was in a different time zone there for a while,” Holohan said. “For all I knew, I could have been in New York.”