PRO FOOTBALL REPORT : WEEKDAY UPDATE : RAMS : Four in a Row Comes Only After Three

Three weeks ago, Coach John Robinson, anguishing over the loss to the Dallas Cowboys that dropped the team’s record to 3-7, said he couldn’t foresee a way the Rams could finish with an 8-8 record. Now, after two consecutive victories, does he see the possibility of a .500 record and maybe even a playoff-berth?

“We’re going to try to beat New Orleans (this Sunday), not worry about all that,” Robinson said Monday. “I think we’re making progress. We have some problems. (But) I think we’re making progress, though, as a team.

“If we win the next three, then we’ll start thinking about four in a row.”

Robinson said he didn’t want his offense to try to get running back Marcus Dupree a touchdown in the final moments of the Rams’ 38-23 victory over the Cleveland Browns Sunday. Dupree ran once from the Browns’ eight-yard line and was stopped.

“I was (angry) that we ran the ball there,” Robinson said. (The Browns) were (angry). I wanted to kill it, get out of there, not embarrass them anymore or anything like that. But our linemen got (angry) and threatened Jim (Everett) if Jim didn’t call that (play) and give the guy a chance. . . . They were just having fun.”

But Robinson said that the feeling of the linemen was symbolic of the way the team feels about Dupree.

“Boy, he’s really becoming a favorite of mine,” Robinson said. “He just kind of grins and says, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’ ”