Robinson Is Warming Up for Patriots : Rams: Coach makes case for his team faring well in New England's cold weather.

By CHRIS DUFRESNE

Dec. 19, 1989 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM —

At last glance, it was 14 degrees in New England. The Rams are dropping passes in their sleep just thinking about it.

Or so the legend goes. As the mercury plunges, so plunges every postseason notion the Rams will ever consider.

This week, the Sunshine Boys take their precision, warm-weather pass offense to Foxboro, Mass., for a crucial season-ending game against the Patriots. Depending on league paper work, the Rams might have to win just to qualify for the playoffs.

And if they don’t secure their home field for the wild-card game, the Rams could be looking at three consecutive East Coast trips, should they keep advancing through the playoffs.

So once again, it’s the Rams vs. a barometric reading. And somewhere in the tundra of Minnesota, retired Viking linebacker Wally Hilgenberg--in short sleeves, no doubt--is plowing away snowdrifts to make room for the winter lawn furniture.

A half-dozen or so chilling Ram stories are not easily expunged, if only for the memories of freezing road playoff losses in 1969, ’74 and ’76.

“I was in college when they lost those cold games,” Ram Coach John Robinson said, not willing to be linked with the memories.

Yet, under Robinson’s watch, the Rams were trounced in the playoff snow in Washington, 51-7, on Jan. 1, 1984, and in Chicago, 24-0, on Jan. 12, 1986.

Cold, hard facts?

“Washington was going to kill us no matter what,” Robinson said. “And the Bears were going to kill us no matter what, (even) if we played in Bermuda. That was a club we couldn’t match up against.”

Robinson’s team did beat Dallas, 24-17, in the wild-card game of 1983, in Texas, where it was cold. There are always exceptions.

Robinson concedes that warm-weather teams are at a disadvantage in the cold, but not for reasons relating to hexes or history.

“We’re all living in weather that’s 75 degrees on an average,” he said. “We may go into weather over the next month which is zero or 10 degrees, and that’s a 65-degree drop. None of us are going to fare really well. It’s the reality of life. People equate that to being tough. But those same tough guys go into Florida, or any place it’s humid, and they drop 100 pounds of sweat. Whatever the weather changes are, they cause problems.”

The answer, of course, is simple: Secure home-field advantage by having the best record. The Rams promise to look into it as soon as Joe Montana retires.

For now, Robinson can only warm his team’s heart by telling snow-time stories with happy endings, none better than last year’s NFC title game in which the San Francisco 49ers beat the Chicago Bears, 28-3, at Soldier Field, in temperatures that dipped well below zero with the wind-chill factor.

Robinson said Monday he has grown tired of a popular sport called Greg Bell-bashing, especially since his tailback has gained more rushing yards this season than Minnesota’s Herschel Walker, 927 to 872.

And while it’s true Bell hasn’t had a 100-yard rushing game in 12 weeks, Robinson insists 100-yard games aren’t the measuring stick of this franchise anymore.

“We’ve gone through a period of time when throwing is the prime focus of what we’re doing,” he said. “It’s hindered us running. I think perspective is important.”

Offered a rare chance to get Cleveland Gary and Gaston Green some playing time, Robinson pulled Bell from Sunday’s 38-14 victory over the New York Jets after he gained 52 yards in 15 carries.

“If we’d have left Greg Bell in the game and played him throughout the second half, Greg would have 1,000 yards today,” Robinson said. “And he would be a 1,000-yard rusher two years in a row. There’s been a lot of focus on Greg Bell and a lot of comments about him that I think--I don’t know if they’re undeserved--but I think he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt in many of the things I see or hear.

“He hasn’t done anything but be a solid football player. Sometimes he’s been more successful than others. But if one were to say that in two years here Greg Bell was going to rush for 2,000 yards, one would say that’s pretty good. And if one were to say that in rushing for those 2,000 yards, he’d have one of the lowest fumble rates in the league, somebody would say that’s pretty good.”

Was it something someone said? Yes.

“I’ve got to stop listening to these talk shows,” Robinson confessed. “I find myself shocked with some of the statements people make about people. I very seldom see perspective about any player when he’s in a negative circumstance.”

Second-year safety Anthony Newman will likely miss the remainder of the Rams’ season after X-rays revealed a fracture in his left elbow, the club said Monday.

Newman was injured in the second half of Sunday’s victory over the Jets at Anaheim Stadium.

The Rams have exhausted their free roster moves for the regular season, meaning they can’t activate safety James Washington from injured reserve this week. The team’s options are signing a free agent or getting through the Patriot game with one fewer safety.

The Rams would have one free roster move for each playoff game, at which time Washington would likely replace Newman on the active roster.

Ram Notes

Quarterback Jim Everett, the NFL leader in touchdown passes with 28 and in passing yardage with 4,129, would seem to be a lock to make this year’s NFC Pro Bowl squad, but he’s not taking anything for granted. Everett led the league in touchdown passes last season and was edged out by Minnesota’s Wade Wilson. San Francisco’s Joe Montana has this year’s starting spot locked up, with Everett and Green Bay’s Don Majkowski seemingly battling for the backup position. Everett leads Majkowski in every significant statistical category, yet it’s difficult to discount Majkowski’s miracle season with the Packers. Everett, as always, is being diplomatic about this week’s balloting. “If my peers think I’m deserving, it would be a great honor,” he said. In the pursuit of home-field advantage for the wild-card game, the Rams are rooting for the Raiders to beat the New York Giants Sunday at the Meadowlands. “I always root for the Raiders,” Ram cornerback LeRoy Irvin said. “I’m a fan. Anything that’s avant-garde, that’s good for me.” . . . The Rams are talking tough about the playoffs. Just getting there isn’t enough. “We have the potential to win them all,” Coach John Robinson said. “We can certainly look eye-to-eye with anyone who’s ahead of us.”

THE RAMS BY THE NUMBERS

HIGHLIGHT

BRETT FARYNIARZ

The second-year pro out of San Diego State had a “highlight film” game against the New York Jets. A linebacker by position, he was cast into the role of a defenseive tackle because of injuries to Shawn Miller, Mike Piel and Bill Hawkins. He responded by sacking Jet quarterbacks three times, making five tackles, assisting on another, and forcing a fumble. Not bad for a guy who hadn’t had a sack this season and recorded only one last year. On one of his sacks Sunday, on Ken O’Brian, his tackle forced a fumble which he quickly recovered.

SEASON TO DATE

Fifteen-game totals

FIRST DOWNS RAMS: 301 OPP: 282

RUSHING YARDS

RAMS: 1,676 OPP: 1,473

PASSING YARDS

RAMS: 3,852 OPP: 3,703

RUSHING

RAMS

ATT AVG TDs 440 3.8 18

OPP

ATT AVG TDs 380 3.9 12