Rams Escape, Enter Playoffs : Pro football: They win, 24-20, as Patriots’ last-second scoring chance barely misses.

Time stood still here, long enough at least for the Rams to gray a few more hairs, fray well-worn nerves, strain overworked larynxes and breeze (as in minus-20 windchill) into the playoffs as maybe the wildest cards to enter the postseason tournament.

One second was the loneliest number the Rams had ever known as New England quarterback Steve Grogan awaited center snap at the Ram four-yard line with one second remaining in the regular season. Gee, who could have guessed it would come down to this?

Down four points, Grogan set up camp in his pocket. He pitched stakes.

“Throw the ball!” Rams’ linebacker Fred Strickland pleaded as he took turns covering receivers who entered his zone. “Throw it! To someone! Pleeeease. That one second lasted forever.”

Unmoved and untouched by the Rams’ prevent defense and pesky three-man rush, Grogan took his time before letting the ball go toward receiver Hart Lee Dykes, who was tip-toeing the back end line--one foot out of bounds--when the pass arrived.

When Dykes dropped the ball, saving Sunday’s 24-20 victory and perhaps their season, the Rams dropped their cold-weather capes and stormed the field. They’d have kissed the artificial surface at Sullivan Stadium if not for a fear of sticking to it.

By the skin of their teeth, however, the Rams are bound for a wild-card game at Philadelphia Sunday.

“We didn’t play like a team destined to win it all,” cornerback LeRoy Irvin said. “As usual, we made it a tough ball game.”

Tough ball game?

Consider these highlights:

--Ram tight end Damone Johnson dropped a sure touchdown pass in the first quarter, the Rams settling instead for a 19-yard Mike Lansford field goal.

--At the end of the half, the Rams allowed the Patriots a 25-yard, desperation completion with one second left to set up Jason Staurovsky’s 44-yard field goal as time expired.

--Lansford, his bare foot reduced to a fleshy Popsicle in the frigid weather, saw his 50-yard field goal attempt bounce off the left upright in the third quarter. Ouch, that hurt.

But what is a 17-3 lead with 9:24 remaining in the third quarter when the Rams are in town?

Just let your 35-year-old backup quarterback loosen up a bit and let him go at the Rams’ secondary. And that’s what the Patriots did with Grogan, who replaced starter Marc Wilson in the second quarter and ended up with 313 passing yards.

Behind by two touchdowns, Grogan let one fly to receiver Irving Fryar, who escaped the Rams’ coverage and jogged in for a 47-yard scoring pass play with 6:39 left in the third quarter.

After Lansford’s 50-yard attempt sent shivers down a goal post, Grogan marched on without a care, his team in no playoff race to speak of.

“When we didn’t put them away early, they were all foot-loose and fancy free,” Ram Coach John Robinson said later. “We’ve all seen games like this.”

So, when the Patriots faced fourth-and-six at the Ram 37 late in the third quarter, they didn’t do the sensible thing and summon the punt team. That’s the strategy of playoff teams, not one playing out a string while trying to please what’s left of 27,940 fans who bothered to show up on Christmas Eve.

Grogan, instead, passed to Fryar for eight yards and a first down. A few plays later, John Stephens swept left from four yards out for the game-tying touchdown with 11:32.

So flustered, the Rams could barely keep hold of the ball on their next possession, let alone advance it. They punted, instead, almost begging to be punished. The Patriots obliged when Staurovsky put his team ahead, 20-17, on a 48-yard field goal with 5:28 left.

Meanwhile, quarterback Jim Everett was sifting through old Ram game plans, trying to figure the coolest way to pull off his sixth fourth-quarter comeback of the season.

“It was a situation where we were definitely saying we were here before,” Everett said. “This was so typical of the way this season is going.”

Everett took over on his 20 with 5:19 remaining. Free safety Fred Marion nearly picked off his pass on first down, but Everett countered on his second with a 53-yard pass play to Henry Ellard to the New England 27.

From there, tailback Greg Bell, who had dominated the game to that point, took over. He had consecutive runs of five, seven, six and six yards to the Patriot three, where he was stopped only by the two-minute warning.

On first and goal at the three, Bell used blocks from right tackle Jackie Slater and fullback Buford McGee to wedge his way in for the go-ahead score with 1:55 left.

Bell, who had totaled only 213 rushing yards in his last six games, finished with 210 yards in 26 carries against the Patriots.

On one Ram scoring drive in the third quarter, Bell gained 63 of his team’s 92 yards in four carries before collapsing in exhaustion after a 30-yard burst to the New England 32.

Some doubted if Bell would ever reach 1,000 yards this season, even after he gained 556 yards the first six weeks. He needed 73 yards to reach the mark Sunday, and eliminated the suspense by rushing for 88 yards in the first quarter.

“Personal goals are not important,” he said. “As long as I’m doing things that are needed, other running backs in the system can be more important. This team has a lot of dimensions and if we keep that balance going, maybe they’ll call us the team of the ‘90s.”

But no one was convinced the game was over after Bell scored with 1:55 left. You need only inspect the Rams’ track record. Sure enough, the ensuing kickoff was squibbed, short, and returned eight yards to the Patriot 37. From there, Grogan pecked away at the Rams’ zone. The Patriots made it to the Ram 28 with 33 seconds left, and still had a timeout remaining.

On second and five at the 23, Grogan then threw 19 yards to a former Ram, Eric Sievers, who held on at the four despite a hammer-like blow delivered by safety Vince Newsome. New England called time out with nine seconds left.

Then, crunch time. Grogan had Fryar open on first down, but he made the catch out of bounds. On second down, Grogan misfired to an open Sievers in the back of the end zone. Some Rams thought the game had ended. But there was one more second, and one more shot.

Fritz Shurmur, Ram defensive coordinator, one second from explaining once more a zone defense that has no pass rush, could hardly watch the last play unfold.

“I’ve probably lost eight years off my life this year,” Shurmur said.

But Shurmur ordered zone defense again for the last play and bit his tongue.

“I said to myself ‘If you blitz, Fritz, you dummy, they’ll get you in man-coverage and they’ll score again.’ ”

The Rams didn’t blitz. They gave Grogan all the time in the world. He needed more.

“Prevent defense my butt,” Shurmur said as he raced for the team charter. “They didn’t score at the end.”

Ram Notes

Although the Rams and Philadelphia Eagles both finished at 11-5, the Eagles will play host to the wild-card game based on a better record against common opponents than the Rams, 7-3 to 5-4. . . . Duval Love started at right guard in place of Tony Slaton. It was Love’s first start of the season. . . . Kevin Greene’s eight-yard sack of Steve Grogan late in the second quarter gave him 16.5 for the season, tying last-year’s total.

Greg Bell’s 200-yard performance was his second this season and the third of his career. Bell has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game eight times since joining the Rams in 1987. Bell finishes the season with 1,137 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. . . . After two critical first-quarter interceptions, Jim Everett recovered to finish 13 of 29 for 181 yards and a touchdown. . . . The Rams reported injuries to Bell (ribs), Brett Faryniarz (right hamstring), Shawn Miller (groin), Larry Kelm (dislocated index finger) and Cliff Hicks (right knee sprain). Of the injuries, Hicks’ appeared the most serious. . . . Cornerback Jerry Gray, who has missed several chances at interceptions this season, picked off a Grogan pass in the first half and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. . . . Linebacker Fred Strickland had two interceptions in the first half, with returns of 29 and 27 yards, respectively.