Rams Hum as They Drum Jets : Pro football: L.A.’s heart-stopping finishes are replaced by a 38-14 breather as playoff pursuit continues.

The Rams dedicated Sunday’s 38-14 victory over the New York Jets to all fans with stomach conditions, pacemakers, and shrinking cuticles.

Could it be? No overtime, fumbled kickoffs, fourth-quarter rallies, stick-in-the-mud center snaps, blocked-punts or 90-yard receptions?

It could.

Things were so calm that the Rams’ Gaston Green actually buckled his chin strap and took a pitch with 6:37 remaining. Gained six yards, too. And Ram rookie Cleveland Gary even scored a touchdown.

Wonders never ceased. Backup quarterback Mark Herrmann led a touchdown drive. Defensive end Brian Smith, who was a linebacker on injured reserve a few minutes ago, had two sacks in his NFL debut. Brett Faryniarz, a pass-rush specialist who entered the game with no pass-rush credentials, took it out on the world with his first three sacks of the season and two fumble recoveries.

Six days after their nervous breakdown loss to San Francisco on national television, the Rams stormed the Anaheim Stadium tunnel with all the fervor of a mini-camp practice.

Cornerback LeRoy Irvin was there to describe the feeling. “We had all the emotion of two 80-year-old women,” he said.

Library setting or no, the Rams worked over the Jets and went about their business, which is avenging last week’s loss to the 49ers by gaining a rematch in the NFC title game.

It’s quite a vision, considering the Rams haven’t clinched a wild-card playoff spot. It could have happened Sunday had either the Washington Redskins or Green Bay Packers lost, but no such luck. The Packers beat the Chicago Bears, and the Redskins rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-30.

With a 38-7 lead in the fourth-quarter, the Rams had the luxury of monitoring the Redskins’ comeback on the scoreboard. The game was still in progress when the Rams finished, but most players disliked having their fate determined by others.

“That’s why I hate to watch,” receiver Henry Ellard said. “You get all excited and then something happens.”

The Rams aren’t looking for favors, they insist. Their destiny is clear. Defeat New England next week in Foxboro, Mass., and go to the playoffs. A loss wouldn’t necessarily eliminate them, but Coach John Robinson says he is not considering the mathematics of defeat.

“If the team keeps winning, we go all the way to New Orleans,” he said, anticipating a Super Bowl finish. “If we lose, we go home. it’s simple. We’re in postseason play as far as I’m concerned.”

The Rams performed as if wearing playoff blinders. Forgive them for not working up the same steam accorded the 49ers last Monday night.

“Before that game, we were bouncing off the walls,” Ellard said.

Bouncing New York Jets was good enough Sunday, and easy enough, as it turned out.

If it was quarterback Jim Everett’s goal to be out of his shoulder pads by 3:30 p.m., he reached it.

Everett completed 16 of 26 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. He has passed for 4,129 yards this season, breaking the single-season record he set in 1988.

His first touchdown pass, a 25-yarder to tight end Pete Holohan in the first quarter, gave the Rams a 7-0 lead. So much for letdowns.

“We all realized that if we did let down, Christmas with our families would be coming soon,” Everett said.

“It’s all on the line. Our playoffs started today, because one more loss and we might be out.”

The Jets made the Rams squirm only once, when safety Jerry Gray gambled on a deep pass from quarterback Tony Eason to JoJo Townsell, missing the deflection. Townsell scored untouched on the 63-yard play, which made the score 7-7 with 2:56 left in the first quarter.

But the Rams put the game away with a 21-point second quarter, ignited by two relative Ram unknowns, linebacker George Bethune and Faryniarz. With the Jets looking at third and nine at their 11, Bethune sacked Eason at the one, stripping the ball in the process. Faryniarz recovered, setting up Greg Bell’s touchdown run to make it 13-7.

On the Rams’ next possession, Everett looked deep to Flipper Anderson, a cornerback’s worst nightmare this season. A 43-yard touchdown resulted, although it wasn’t textbook.

“It was a stop-and-go,” Everett said. “Only he forgot to stop and I forgot to go.”

Everett also threw short, but Anderson came back for the ball and then beat Jet corner Bobby Humphery to the end zone.

“It’s not underthrown by design,” Anderson said. “But the defensive back never had a chance.”

The Rams went up 28-7 with 38 seconds left in the half on Bell’s five-yard run, capping an 84-yard drive.

But the stunner Sunday was the Rams’ defensive line, so decimated by injuries that nose tackle Alvin Wright started the game at left defensive end.

In fact, it was getting so bad for Faryniarz that he has been slouching at team meetings.

Faryniarz is a linebacker playing defensive end in the Rams’ pass-rush defense, the hope being his quickness would drive offensive tackles crazy the way teammate Kevin Greene does from the left side.

But Faryniarz entered the game without a sack this season, a statistic that usually makes former free agents free once more.

“You sit in those meetings with all those coaches, and it’s ‘Faryniarz doesn’t have a sack in how many weeks?’ I don’t know what they’re thinking,” Faryniarz said.

Look for Faryniarz to take a front-row seat at today’s flim session. On one play Sunday, he recorded a sack against Jets’ quarterback Ken O’Brien, forced a fumble and recovered the ball. Hat trick.

Faryniarz’s three sacks also kept him one ahead of the rookie Smith, who had two in his first NFL start.

Faryniarz admitted being upstaged by someone who had spent the year on injured reserve didn’t look good.

“I’ve played all year, and they stick in a guy who gets a sack,” he said.

Not a bad day for Smith, who shook off some considerable cobwebs after being activated this week.

Remember, Smith is only on the roster because of injuries on the line to Mike Piel, Doug Reed and Bill Hawkins.

Smith felt the pressure.

“I don’t want to be the weak link, the one every one picks on,” he said.

At 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, such a circumstance is doubtful.

Next up for the Rams is Christmas Eve in New England, where the temperature drops by the minute. Nothing’s on the line except the season, maybe. Cold weather. Rams. Playoff pressure.

Anyone see a problem here?

Ram Notes

Safety Anthony Newman suffered what the Rams are calling a hairline fracture of the left elbow. He will have a CAT scan today. The team is saying he could be lost for the season. Newman thinks not. “I’ll be back soon,” he said. “Hopefully this week.” . . . Greg Bell finished with 52 yards in 15 carries, the most he has gained in six weeks. He still needs 73 yards next week to reach 1,000 for the season.

Quarterback Jim Everett, whose contract expires Feb. 1, gets to bring the first 4,000-yard passing season in team history to the negotiating table. “I’ll talk about that after the season,” Everett said. . . . Everett and Ram Vice President John Shaw have agreed to hold discussions until after the season. “After that, we’ll be fair to each other,” Everett said. “The Rams have been fair to me.”