Gary Is Missing Ingredient : Rams: Running back, playing nearly pain-free for first time in this season, scores twice, gains 102 yards in 19 carries and provides much-needed balance to the offense.

Jim Everett’s favorite running back had a secret to reveal Sunday after the Rams’ 44-24 victory over Atlanta.

“We can run the ball,” Cleveland Gary said. “I don’t want to hear anything more about how we can’t run the ball.

“I’m gonna tell you a little secret. All you critics have been saying all this stuff about us not being able to run the ball and I take it personally. Atlanta was the No. 1-ranked team in the league against the run and that gave me extra incentive. Today, we proved we can run the ball.”

Indeed, Gary, who did not play in the last 13 1/2 minutes, had 102 yards in 19 carries, including touchdown runs of 23 yards and one yard. And the Rams finally showed the kind of offensive balance that persuaded a number of experts to predict they could reach the Super Bowl this season.

It’s probably no coincidence that Gary, who missed the entire preseason and the first regular-season game because of a lower-back injury, was playing pretty much pain-free for the first time this year.

“Everybody says he’s my guy, my guy,” said Everett, who has long been a vocal fan of Gary. “I like to say he’s our guy. I believe Cleveland Gary is the prototype 1990s running back. He’s a slashing-type guy.

“The holes aren’t as big any more and he can squirt through. He’s a physical guy, physical enough to run through them. That’s what we needed.”

The Rams, who staggered to a 1-4 record going into Sunday’s game, had been averaging only 92 yards per game while regularly falling behind by two or three touchdowns. Gary, who also caught four passes for 11 yards, had 84 yards rushing all by himself in only three quarters on this afternoon.

And he wasn’t barreling through gaping holes in the Atlanta defense, either. The blitz-happy Falcons did not send as many linebackers Sunday as they sometimes do. On more than one occasion, however, Gary found himself heading for the designated hole and staring at a charging defender who was using the same avenue to get into the Ram backfield.

He didn’t try to dance out of harm’s way, though. He just ducked his head and plowed forward, running the way the Rams envisioned he would when they drafted him out of the University of Miami in the first round in 1989.

“Cleveland Gary is not an individual, he’s a function of our group,” Coach John Robinson said. “But, yes, he’s a very good football player. We have believed he was a very good football player all along. And, yes, we’re very happy he’s back in there. I think he’s been every bit as good as our expectations.

“He catches the ball well. He makes yards as a receiver and he makes extra yards as a runner. He goes in there, there’s a collision and then something seems to happen and he winds up on the other side of that collision.

“He was very effective today. If he would have played the whole game, he would have had 120, 130, 140 yards.”

Gary would like to think that’s a conservative estimate. He finally was into the flow of a game, gaining rhythm and confidence with each carry. And he’s not one to hide behind false modesty.

“I’m the type of runner that the more I get the ball, the stronger I get,” he said. “So, with that many carries, I got into the flow of the game. I’m a very physical runner and I get more punishing as the game goes on. I was just beginning to feel at home, welcome, comfortable.

“I didn’t want to come out, but the boss said, ‘That’s it. Take a break.’ And that’s the way it goes.”

Of course, Gary’s not exactly a slouch in the early going, either. With the Rams trailing, 10-0, he scored a touchdown on the third play of second quarter, blasting up the middle for 23 yards.

“It was just an off-tackle play and I exploded up in there, made a guy miss and then accelerated into the end zone,” Gary said. “A lot of people say, ‘He’s a big, punishing runner.’ But I’m quick and can cut, too.”

You’ll have to excuse Gary for singing his own praises, but he’s spent a lot of time whistling another tune while stretching out his sore back and precious little time butting heads with NFL linebackers.

He didn’t even get many chances to practice this year. Almost every time he went out on the practice field, he came back off with muscle spasms.

“I’m just grateful to be here and be part of the Rams,” he said. “It’s been frustrating. It’s been a long way back. You just keep working and you begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“I’m not quite there, in terms of timing and all. Physically, I’m almost full speed. The twinges are still there a little bit, but I don’t have to think about it as much. I’m very close to being 100%.”

If Sunday was any indication, the Rams will be happy to settle for three quarters of 99% of Cleveland Gary.