RAM NOTES : Tagliabue Optimistic About an Agreement

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, on hand for Sunday night’s Buccaneer-Ram game, said he is optimistic that a collective bargaining agreement between league management and players can soon be reached.

“The key elements of an agreement, I think, are falling into place, so that people can see what’s in it for both sides,” said Tagliabue, who has been working with a group of lawyers representing the players. “We have some more work to do, but within the next 10 days, I think we can have something to present to our committee and they can present to their side.

“There are four basic elements. On the one hand, you have the two financial elements. One would be a guaranteed share of the revenue going to the players every year and there also would be a salary cap. And then there would be a considerably different free-agency system and the draft would be continued in a modified form. Those are the key elements and then we’re working on a number of details.

“I think we’re further along now then we’ve ever been. We’ve been in discussion for well over a year, and right now we have the clearest framework and a broader preliminary agreement on what the basic elements would be. So what we’re striving to do in the next 10 days is to take it from the preliminary stage to the final stage.”

Tagliabue admitted there is a sense of urgency to reach an agreement before the end of the season.

“Everyone thinks it would be easier to get something done while the players are still with their clubs,” he said. “And also if the players are leaving, they can know what the system will be in terms of free agency as of Feb. 1 and beyond.”

Milli-Milestone: Running back Reggie Cobb hit the 1,000-yard mark late in the third quarter when he went around end for three yards. Cobb is the first Tampa Bay runner to gain 1,000 yards since James Wilder accomplished the feat in 1985.

Cobb finished with 100 yards in 26 carries and has 1,016 yards on the season.

“It always takes away from it when you lose,” Cobb said. “You feel like you still could have done something more.”

Hometown boy: Tight end Pat Carter, who grew up in Sarasota, Fla., was beaming after catching the winning touchdown pass Sunday night.

“I couldn’t have trumped this,” he said. “It’s great. I paid for 13 tickets for family and friends myself, but I’m not sure who all was here.”

Carter said the Rams were on such a roll in the second half, they almost wished the game would never end.

“Once we got it back together again, we just had our confidence and we were rolling, man,” he said. “I don’t think we could have been stopped the rest of this evening, even if we played another quarter.

“This team has a lot of character. I’ve never seen anyone around here quit. I wasn’t going to give up and neither was anyone else.”

Benched: Cleveland Gary got a rude welcome to the second half. After catching a swing pass on the Rams’ first possession of the third quarter, Gary was shoved out of bounds by Tampa Bay linebacker Broderick Thomas.

Gary knocked over an aluminum bench on the Buccaneers’ sideline and slammed into a temporary fence, eliciting oohs and ahhs from the crowd. He wasn’t seriously hurt, however, and returned to the huddle.

Gary picked up a first down on the next play with a seven-yard run.

The long way: The Buccaneers had only 18 scoring drives of 80 or more yards in 44 games before Sunday night. Against the Rams, they went 81 and then 92 yards for touchdowns in the second quarter alone.

Quarterback Jim Everett conceded that the Ram players were aware that they had lost their last nine consecutive prime-time games heading into Sunday night’s game.

“I couldn’t believe that statistic,” Everett said. “I guess we had to check everyone for glasses at nighttime or something. But we proved we can play in the dark.”

Other players said they were motivated to come back in part by the desire not to be embarrassed with a national television audience watching.

“We were talking at halftime that they’re probably saying on TV, ‘This is why the Rams are 4-8,’ ” receiver Flipper Anderson said.

Rams’ No. 1 pick Sean Gilbert had his second two-sack game in three weeks, after missing most of last week’s second half because of a sprained right ankle. Gilbert agreed that he is beginning to feel very comfortable in the NFL.

Gilbert now has five sacks on the season, after going 10 games with only one.

“What can I say? It feels good,” Gilbert said. “I’ve got to give credit to the rest of the defensive line because sometimes they were forcing up (to where he was), but it feels good. No doubt about that.”

After Buccaneer quarterback Vinny Testaverde burned the Rams for 41 yards rushing in four first-half dashes from the pocket, Gilbert said the Ram defensive linemen knew they had to change things up on him.

“We tried to get a little bit closer to him, get him on his toes,” Gilbert said. “You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the secondary because they had the receivers all tied up. We were getting caught up on blocks and it was creating big holes and it was opening the door for him to run 15 or 16 yards a pop.

“In the second half, me and (Marc) Boutte and Robert (Young) and Gerald (Robinson), we said we’re going to rush him, we’re going to get to him right way. And it worked.”

The Rams’ 24-point comeback tied for the league’s third-biggest comeback of all time. The biggest of all time was 28 points, on Dec. 7, 1980--almost exactly 12 years ago Sunday night--when the San Francisco 49ers’ rallied from a 35-7 halftime deficit to win, 38-35. . . . The last time Everett threw for 300 yards or more was Dec. 17 of last season against the Detroit Lions.

Middle linebacker Larry Kelm, who didn’t practice in pads all week after suffering a sprained left knee in last week’s game, suited up, started, and played the entire game. . . . The only Rams’ injuries listed after the game were: guard Bern Brostek (sprained right ankle), defensive end Jim Skow (bruised ribs), cornerback Darryl Henley (pinched nerve, but returned to the game), and defensive tackle Marc Boutte (mild concussion).

Times staff writer Tim Kawakami contributed to this story.