NOTES : Quiet Enough to Hear a Penalty Flag Drop

The weather outside the Metrodome Sunday wasn’t exactly frightful--it was sunny and there wasn’t much wind--but it was plenty cold, minus three degrees at game time.

Inside, the temperature was 65, but the football was frightful. In the early going, the Rams and Vikings seemed to be moving in slow motion as they sleepwalked through an uninspired performance.

If the physical part of the game was not impressive, the mental aspect was laughable. Minnesota was penalized for two false starts and an illegal snap on its first possession, and the Rams drew first-quarter flags for offsides, offensive pass interference, a false start and roughing the passer.

The crowd responded by sitting in silence. Earlier in the week, Ram Coach John Robinson talked about the difficulty of hearing the snap count in domed stadiums.

It was so quiet Sunday a Ram assistant on the opposite side of the field yelling defensive signals could be heard in the press box.

Here Today, but . . . : Marcus Dupree was clearly unhappy that Cleveland Gary got all the playing time at tailback after starter Robert Delpino left in the first quarter with a leg injury.

Did Robinson explain to Dupree why he didn’t play?

“No,” Dupree said.

Did he ask?

“No.”

After the game, Robinson said Gary and Dupree would split time next week in the season finale. Dupree was not impressed.

“We’ll see,” he said, vaguely, “if I’m still here. . . . “

Mixed Signals: The Rams’ defense received a 15-yard penalty in the second quarter for trying to confuse the Vikings by imitating quarterback Rich Gannon’s snap count.

If you’ve never heard of that one, referee Bob McElwee didn’t sound as if he was used to explaining the infraction, either.

“Defensive people calling confusing signals, unsportsmanlike conduct, a 15-yard penalty,” McElwee announced to the crowd.

A moment later, he turned his microphone back on and said, “The defense was simulating the snap count.”

Trojan Booster: Former USC safeties have benefited greatly from Jim Everett’s errant passes this season. Minnesota’s Joey Browner intercepted two Sunday; the Raiders’ Ronnie Lott had two Oct. 20 at the Coliseum, and Phoenix’s Tim McDonald had one in the season opener at Anaheim Stadium.

Everett has thrown 18 interceptions this year. He had four Sunday, equaling his career high on Nov. 6, 1988, against Philadelphia.

The Rams’ center-snap lost fumble that ended their chances at a come-from-behind victory Sunday was their fifth lost fumble during a quarterback exchange.

Four have come on snaps between new center Tom Newberry and Everett, including Sunday’s. One occurred between longtime center Doug Smith and Everett.

Two have ended chances for victory. One came on the Rams’ first possession of 1991, and was returned 85 yards for a touchdown by the Phoenix Cardinals. One came last week on the game’s first offensive play.

“There have been a lot,” Everett said Sunday. “You’ve got to realize Tom has never played center before . . . that’s new. We’re rotating the centers (Newberry for most of the game, Smith on pass downs) . . . that’s new for me.

“You can look at it and say Tom Newberry is a rookie playing center. Not placing all the blame on Tom Newberry--he’s fighting his butt off and doing a nice job.

“I could be pulling out early at times. I have a tendency to do that, but it takes time to adjust.”

Rookie Jimmy Raye was activated off the practice squad and got his first real action in an NFL game Sunday.

Raye, who went to Irvine High School, sparked the Rams’ third-quarter touchdown drive, returning the kickoff 48 yards to the Minnesota 48.

“It was fun,” said Raye, son of receivers coach Jimmy Raye.

On the kickoff, Raye took the ball at the four-yard line and ran up an open seam, almost breaking for a touchdown before kicker Fuad Reveiz barely forced him out of bounds.

Did he think he had a chance to score?

“I did,” Raye said. “I didn’t even know I stepped out of bounds. Now that I think about it, I probably should have cut it back, avoided that last guy, but at the time I thought I could get by him clean.”

Linebacker Kevin Greene got his second sack of the season--after registering a league-leading 46 the past three years--and said Ram defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher threw in a few things Sunday that made it more comfortable for him.

This season, Greene had been lost in the Rams’ switch to a four-man front from the previous 3-4 system that allowed him more room to blitz from the outside.

“What I was thrilled about is we played more of the so-called ‘Eagle’ defense we played two or three years ago,” Greene said, referring to the Fritz Shurmur defense that frequently allowed him to break free from the left corner to the quarterback.

“It was good for me to get outside and just go hard up field. It was good to get a sack. It was great to get back into a position where I can do some things.

“The coaches, they’re kind of adjusting the defense to the way we used to do it, learning what we’re most comfortable doing. We’re calling it the ‘46,’ but it’s essentially the same thing we ran a few years back.”