Rams Shake Up the Giants for a Seismic Victory : Football: They dominate New York in all aspects of the game to win, 38-17, their largest winning margin since 1990.

It was a game-long performance so thorough, even Sean Gilbert’s aptly titled “Earthquake” sack dance seemed understated in its debut.

It was a victory so thorough, supporting-act Rams such as David Lang, Pat Carter and Jeff Chadwick, and virtually anybody else wearing blue and gold on this day had long moments in the spotlight.

It was so thorough, the once-great New York Giants (2-4) seemed like just another mediocre team.

Call this a shock to the system. A seismic event not experienced by the Rams in years.

Emerging from back-to-back heartbreaking losses on the road to tough division foes, the Rams (3-4 heading into this week’s NFC West bye) snapped back Sunday, dominating and frustrating the Giants, 38-17, in front of 53,591 at Anaheim Stadium.

The last time the Rams beat somebody by as much as three touchdowns was in Week 2 of 1990, a 21-point victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“It’s nice,” Chadwick said, “to really put it to a team.”

For the Rams, the easy victory was especially sweet after their three-point losses to the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints the past two weeks.

“That was a real special win for us today because we’ve been so close the last two weeks,” Coach Chuck Knox said. “This is a young football team, and we’re getting better.

“It’s tough to say that sometimes, when you’re losing on the road, by three points at two different places.

“But we’re making progress. We’re not there yet, but I like their attitude, I like what they bring to the stadium on Sunday. They’re going to lay it all out there, empty the tank and they did that today.”

Knox didn’t announce whom was awarded the game balls, perhaps because the Ram locker room, for a change, was overflowing with choices.

There was quarterback Jim Everett, who completed a career-high 85.7% of his passes and led the offense to 356 yards. There was tailback Cleveland Gary, who bounced back from a lost first-half fumble to reach personal bests in carries (31) and rushing yards (126).

There was exuberant No. 1 pick Gilbert, who did his improvised fist-pumping, hip-swerving dance after the first sack of his NFL career in the fourth quarter; and the rest of a youthful Ram defense that held the Giants to 10 points before a score in the last minutes of the game.

And, most intriguingly, there was Lang, a backup fullback who finished the scoring with a one-yard run and caught two passes for 38 yards; Chadwick, who came back early from a back injury to catch a touchdown pass and one on a key third-down play on the Rams’ first drive, and Carter, who had a touchdown reception.

Regular starting wide receivers Henry Ellard and Flipper Anderson combined for one catch for 31 yards, and that came at the end of the game. But when your backups start romping on the Giants, the Rams suggested, victory is not difficult.

“It’s about time that everything has come together,” Chadwick said, “because we’ve been sporadic this year. We knew that we were due for a game like this.

“It turned out, probably the first time in all this year, that we took the first initial drive, went down and scored. And we took our second drive and scored. . . .

“We got on a roll. We played with confidence, and when you play with confidence, you can make things happen.”

Coming into this game, the Rams had made a tradition out of surrendering a first-quarter lead, and had been outscored in the first quarter, 48-0.

On Sunday, they stopped the Giants on their first possession when Matt Bahr missed a 51-yard field goal attempt, then scored on four of their first five possessions, marching on drives of 67, 82, 38 and 81 yards.

They did it with Everett looking as comfortable as he ever has in the pocket, completing passes to seven receivers. They did it by slowing down Giant star tailback Rodney Hampton, who chopped through them early but ended up with only 38 yards in 11 carries after a career-high 167-yard outing last week against the Phoenix Cardinals.

They did it by turning two errant Jeff Hostetler passes into interceptions, and have now had interceptions in each of their seven games of 1992.

“The Rams,” said Giant Coach Ray Handley, “just beat the heck out of us.”

After the Giants’ early missed field goal, Everett completed five of six passes and Gary rushed five times into the heart of the Giants’ defense, culminating in a third-down, one-yard scoring run.

The Giants answered with a touchdown drive of their own, finishing it off on Hampton’s 10-yard sprint through the Rams’ defense to tie the score, 7-7.

But the Rams’ offense was in hyper-speed, zooming back into the end zone on nine plays, finished by Everett’s nine-yard pass to Carter for a 14-7 lead. It was the first time all season the Rams have scored touchdowns in consecutive possessions.

“When our offense is clicking, you can’t stop them,” said Ram safety Anthony Newman, who got his fourth interception of the season in the fourth quarter.

The Rams held a 14-10 lead at halftime, after a Giant field goal in the closing minutes. After the Rams took the second-half kickoff and went 38 yards in eight plays, Tony Zendejas’ 46-yard field goal made it 17-10.

A Giant punt set up what might have been the best drive of the Rams’ season. Given the ball at their 19-yard line, Gary ran seven times for 32 yards and Everett was four of five, including a 19-yard fade pass to a diving Chadwick on third and inches that made it 24-10, and the route was on.

With the Rams ahead, 31-10, after Newman’s interception set up another short Gary touchdown run, Gilbert shot clean through a gap to pound Hostetler to the ground.

What followed was the “Earthquake,” as it was later called by defensive end Warren Powers, and it symbolized everything about the Rams as they launch into their post-bye schedule.

“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Gilbert said. “When you start, you might be the best, but afterward, what’s important is are you still the best or are you just another chipmunk?

“We’re trying to build a program where we finish stronger than we started.”