RAM NOTES : Taylor Won’t Be Getting Any Curtain Calls

Lawrence Taylor’s farewell tour of Southern California was a flop.

After losing to the Raiders in the Coliseum two weeks ago, the Giants came up with another dismal performance Sunday against the Rams that certainly won’t be eliciting rave reviews from the New York critics.

And the longtime star of the Giants’ show--who announced 10 days ago that he will retire after the season--says he won’t be a matinee idol when the team views the game film today.

“I made more mistakes out there today than in the whole 12 years I’ve been playing,” a disgusted Taylor said. “There were a couple of bad decisions at the wrong time. I lost a couple of people on pass completions.

“I did nothing to help the team.”

Taylor wasn’t taking all the blame, however. The 38-17 loss to the Rams, he says, was a team effort.

“They really played well and we played like (crap),” he said.

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All shook up: Sean Gilbert said he had been thinking about what he’d do when he got the first sack of his pro career. Seven games into it, when he was left with a clear avenue at Giants quarterback Jeff Hostetler, the Rams’ $7.5-million No. 1 pick got his chance.

He popped Hostetler, fell with him to the ground, sprang back up, and did an arm-waving, slow-motion, hip-shaking dance that his defensive line teammate, Warren Powers, quickly named “The Earthquake.”

All improvisation, Gilbert said.

“It just happened,” Gilbert said, “just got pumped, got excited. It’s my first sack, so I was letting all loose.

“You’re always sitting and thinking about it--if I get a sack, maybe I’ll jump up, maybe I’ll roll, maybe I’ll do back flips, maybe I’ll say hi to Mom. . . .

“When the time comes, when it actually happens, you don’t know how to take it. It’s a shock. But I was pretty happy.”

Was it a calling card letting other teams know he’d be back there again?

“You can count on that.”

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Revolving receivers: Rams receiver Flipper Anderson, who got his break three years ago when fellow rookie Aaron Cox was sidelined with a hamstring problem, said he was glad Cox shined Sunday against the Giants with Anderson slowed by the same injury.

Cox started and tied his career-high with five catches for 73 yards. Anderson, who hasn’t fully participated in practice for two weeks with the tight hamstring, played, but only sporadically and caught one pass for 31 yards.

Going into the game, Cox had five catches on the season.

“I was happy to see Aaron Cox play the way he did,” Anderson said. “He hasn’t had much opportunity to show what he can do. I’m just happy for Aaron, he had a pretty good game. He showed a lot of courage across the middle.

“I went down, Aaron just came in and filled my shoes. Just like when he went down, I came in. . . .”

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It’s in the schedule: Asked if he was afraid of losing the momentum because of next week’s bye, Coach Chuck Knox shrugged.

“I don’t dwell on those things, because they make the schedule and the bye is there,” he said. “But I’d rather go into the bye coming off a win because at least it allows you to enjoy the week off a little.”

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Carmen Miranda lives: How giddy were the Rams after Sunday’s victory? Kevin Greene took off his helmet and donned a watermelon headgear tossed down from the fans behind the north end zone.

Hopefully, it won’t do anything to tarnish Greene’s image, but it’s difficult to be in awe of a linebacker who wears fruit on his head.

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Injury report: In addition to the serious injury (broken bone in his left forearm) to strong safety Michael Stewart, the Rams suffered two minor injuries--concussions to receivers Cox and Todd Kinchen.

Stewart was replaced in the lineup by a rotation of rookie Chris Crooms and former starting safety Pat Terrell.

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Tips accepted: Hostetler’s pass intended for Chris Calloway was tipped once, tipped twice--and landed in the arms of Ram safety Anthony Newman.

Blind luck?

Try good planning, Newman said.

“Jeff was throwing balls kind of high,” Newman said. “I kept telling myself, ‘Keep getting to the ball and you’re going to get one of those tipped balls.’ ”

Three other times, he settled for close but not quite. But when Hostetler’s fourth-quarter pass from the Giants’ 35 was tipped once by Calloway, then tipped again by cornerback Steve Israel, Newman was there.

“Our line was putting so much pressure on (the quarterback) he was throwing high,” Newman said.

Israel would have liked to pick the pass off himself, but found himself on the wrong side of Calloway.

“The way the receiver was positioned, I didn’t want to risk it,” said Israel, who was concerned about drawing a pass interference call.

Newman was there to grab it out of the air and scramble 16 yards to the New York 29. Two plays later, the Rams scored a touchdown for a 31-10 lead.

Times staff writers Tim Kawakami and Robyn Norwood contributed to this story.