Rams Have Shot at No. 1--in Draft, That Is : Pro football: A loss to the Bears on Sunday might put them in position to improve themselves next year.

The Rams’ late-season push to be the worst team in the NFL continues on course.

A loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday coupled with a Cincinnati victory over New Orleans would leave the Rams in the running to win the first choice in next year’s NFL draft.

The Rams presently are guaranteed a drafting position no lower than fifth in the first round and are in good shape to pick at least second if they don’t suddenly start playing well and win.

If they tie with Cincinnati at 4-12, or with anyone else for worst record in the league, the top selection in the draft will be awarded to the team that played the easiest schedule in 1993. To date, the Bengals have played more patsies, but this weekend’s results might still favor the Rams.

Statistics, however, suggest that the Rams have already proved beyond a doubt that they are the worst team in the league.

“I think in rushing we’re respectable, but I think that’s about it,” Coach Chuck Knox said Monday. “Arguably, a point could be made we’re one of the worst. There are teams with worse records, and there are teams that got beat up pretty bad Sunday.”

The Rams were beaten on Sunday, 42-14, by quarterback Vinny Testaverde and the struggling Cleveland Browns. The Browns had lost six of seven previous games and had not scored as many as 42 points in a game since 1989.

Two weeks ago, the Rams fell to Cincinnati, which was 1-12 at the time. In the Rams’ last five games, they have been outscored, 150-66.

The Rams have given up 172 more points than the New York Giants this season and rank last in the league in scoring defense. And only Indianapolis and Cincinnati have scored fewer points than the Rams, who are averaging 13.5.

The Rams are No. 27 on defense, No. 28 on special teams and No. 21 on offense.

“We’re not the worst team in football,” safety Anthony Newman said. “If we were to go play Tampa Bay, we’d beat Tampa Bay. If we played at New England, we’d still beat them. This is not the worst team in football.”

The Bengals have the worst record, but they kept the Rams from scoring a touchdown and won, 15-3. The Rams are one defeat away from the franchise’s second-worst record in a non-strike season since 1965.

“I’m not thinking about draft choices, I’m thinking about winning a football game,” Knox said. “We’re going to play it to win it, no ifs, ands or buts about it. This losing is not much fun, I’ll tell you that. It takes a big chunk out of you.”

Chicago has been eliminated from the playoffs. The Bears rank last in the league in offense, last in passing, last in first downs and last in surrendering sacks--and are still favored by three points over the Rams.

“We’re going to win this game and totally knock it down. . . . We’re not going to be the worst team,” Newman said. “I don’t give a damn about the draft. I don’t care who we pick in the draft. All I care about is winning this game.”

The 1994 NFL draft, however, might go a long way in determining how many games the Rams win in the future. The team appears desperate for a quarterback. T.J. Rubley, who passed for a career-high 294 yards against the Browns, has failed to impress.

“I have to go back to playing for myself and not being what somebody wants me to be,” Rubley said. “I wasn’t doing that for the last three weeks.

“It’s all me. . . . I’m not pointing fingers at anybody. I had fun (on Sunday). The three weeks before that, I hadn’t been having fun because I was so concerned about not making a mistake. . . . This past week, I made a commitment to myself: I’m going to go out and have fun regardless.”

If the Bengals hang on and earn the first pick in the draft, they are expected to go after San Diego State running back Marshall Faulk to complement quarterback David Klingler.

Tennessee’s Heath Shuler and Fresno State’s Trent Dilfer are considered this year’s best quarterback prospects, but both players are juniors and have yet to make themselves available for the draft.

“I don’t think you can get a guy who is good enough to play all 22 positions at the same time,” Ram tackle Irv Eatman said. “If you can find a guy like that, then sure, I’d say, ‘Lose the last game and take this guy.’

“Instead, we have to just go out and play and try and win and end the season on a positive note.”