RAM NOTEBOOK : Interceptions New to Rams’ Strickland

Before Sunday, Ram linebacker Fred Strickland didn’t remember intercepting a pass in his life.

Apparently, he was saving up for the New England Patriots. In the Rams’ 24-20 victory at Sullivan Stadium, Strickland had two key interceptions in the first half that may have saved his team’s season.

The Patriots were second and 13 at the Rams’ 14-yard line late in the first quarter when Strickland stepped in front of a Marc Wilson pass and returned it 29 yards, bailing the Rams out of deep trouble.

“On the first one,” Strickland said, “LeRoy Irvin came over to me and told me to watch out for the quick slant in from the wide out, and as soon as I looked at the quarterback he looked that way and I ran right toward the wide out. I just tried to run as far as I could run.”

Strickland’s second interception, in the second quarter, came against Wilson’s replacement, Steve Grogan. Again, it stopped another potential scoring drive. This one came with the Patriots on the Rams’ nine with a first down.

Strickland returned this interception 27 yards to the 32.

To put it as mildly as possible, Jim Everett endured the cold. He completed 13 of 29 passes, had two interceptions and finished with 181 yards, his lowest total of the season.

But he also put 24 points on the scoreboard, enough to get the Rams into the playoffs.

“Mistakes are part of the game,” Everett said. “We’re human. I made a couple of early mistakes, but the main thing is to recover from them. Go on from there. Don’t dwell on them.”

Everett finished the regular season with 4,210 passing yards, the ninth-highest total in National Football League history. With one touchdown pass Sunday, Everett ended the season with 29, two shy of the Ram record he set in 1988.

Meanwhile, the Patriots’ four-headed quarterback fell short of 4,000 yards, with Steve Grogan, Marc Wilson, Doug Flutie and the recently departed Tony Eason combining for 3,957 yards.

The breakdown:

--Grogan: 1,697 yards.

--Wilson: 1,006.

--Eason: 761.

--Flutie: 493.

Each quarterback had at least three starts, with Grogan leading the pack with six.

New England running back John Stephens on the Patriots’ 5-11 season: “No one person in particular did terribly bad. I’m just glad we were able to stick together.”

Best politically motivated banner of the year: In reference to Central America’s most elusive runner, fans in the bleachers at Sullivan Stadium held up a poster that read: “Tackle Noriega.”

File this one under the Inauspicious Debut category: Crowd favorite Steve Grogan got a roaring ovation when he took the field to replace former Raider Marc Wilson at quarterback early in the second quarter.

Grogan then fumbled his first snap from center and fell on it for a two-yard loss.

On the Patriots’ next possession, Grogan’s first pass was blocked and, on the next play, he lost control of the ball while pump faking. After a television replay, the play was ruled an incomplete pass.

Irvin’s assessment of Sunday’s game: “Just another typical Ram game.”

Despite the elements, the Rams drew the fewest number of penalties--three--of any of their 16 regular-season games. The 26 yards assessed was the second-lowest only to the 25 they were charged with in the Oct. 22 game with New Orleans.

Times Staff Writers Chris Dufresne and Mike Penner contributed to this story.