In End for Rams, Loss Could Be Win : Pro football: A victory by the Chicago Bears today would give Los Angeles a chance at getting the top pick in the draft.

It’s fan appreciation day at Anaheim Stadium, and if long-suffering Ram fans are to be really rewarded for their loyalty, the Chicago Bears will triumph today.

The Rams, after all, need one more loss this season if their future is to appear brighter.

One more loss, and if tiebreakers fall their way, the Rams will have one of the top two picks in the 1994 draft and the opportunity to start anew with Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler or Fresno State quarterback Trent Dilfer.

One more victory and all might be lost. One more victory and the quarterback-poor Rams risk falling as low as fifth in the first round of the draft.

Juniors Dilfer and Shuler, who are expected to make themselves available for the NFL draft by the Jan. 10 deadline, are considered the only two Rick Mirer- and Drew Bledsoe-like candidates in the draft.

One more victory and the Rams will have to spend their off-season trying to trade valuable draft picks or key performers to move forward from the fifth pick in the draft to land one of the top two spots.

The Rams (4-11) are one game behind the Cincinnati Bengals (3-12), who play at New Orleans, and tied with the Indianapolis Colts (home against the Buffalo Bills) and New England Patriots (home against the Miami Dolphins).

One more victory and the Rams can finish no better than Cincinnati and the Washington Redskins (4-12), who lost to the Minnesota Vikings on Friday. One more victory and the Rams could tie with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-10), but fortunately for the Rams they already hold a decisive strength of schedule tiebreaking advantage over the Buccaneers.

One more loss and Ram fans will have the opportunity--as they do in playoff cities--to do some scoreboard watching on the final day of the season. Losses by the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants and victories by the New York Jets, Dolphins and Bills improve the Rams’ tiebreaking numbers.

“I’m not concerned about the draft or tiebreakers,” Coach Chuck Knox said. “I’m thinking about winning a football game.”

One more victory, however, and Knox will talk about how it gives the Rams something to build on for next season, the same thing he said after the Rams won their final game last year. Players, who contribute to such a victory, will point out later they didn’t quit. Some might even ask for a raise.

One more loss, however, provides Ram fans with a reason to get excited about next year.

But then it’s not going to be easy for the Rams to lose today.

“I think we’re going to play hard,” said Knox. “I’d like to think we’re not going to have a run for the buses. We got a game to play and a job to do.”

The Rams will be motivated and trying to win the NFL rushing title for rookie Jerome Bettis, who starts the day 35 yards behind Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys.

“I don’t think I have a great chance of doing it because the Bears are tough and have the fifth-ranked defense,” Bettis said. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t be trying to make it happen.”

Wide receiver Henry Ellard needs 79 receiving yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the fifth time in his career.

The Bears (7-8) don’t have anything on the line. The Vikings’ victory over the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday night eliminated the Bears from the playoffs.

The Bears have scored fewer touchdowns than the Rams. They come to California with the NFL’s No. 28-ranked passing attack and No. 28-ranked offense.

The Rams, of course, have their own problems on offense, which makes losing such a priority. As a starting quarterback, Jim Everett has lost 40 of his last 57 starts. T.J. Rubley, who replaced Everett as the team’s starter, has one victory in six tries.

But Rubley, who passed for a career-high 294 yards last week, is trying to impress. Although the Rams have already decided that he’s not the answer to their quarterback woes, Rubley hasn’t gotten the message and will be trying to win today.

Everett, who has earned a reputation for having “happy feet,” is not scheduled to start, but there’s always a chance he could be called on to relieve in what is expected to be his final appearance as a Ram.

Everett’s belly-flop this year, which included an 0-4 exhibition start, probably will forever remain a mystery. But in hindsight it ignited the team’s collapse.

“I had not counted on that situation,” Knox said last week. “It kind of blew up on us.”

If there are to be any fans in attendance for next season’s fan appreciation day, the team will need to acquire a quarterback.

The Rams have already studied the free-agent market and have come to the conclusion that there isn’t going to be much available. They will probably try to trade for Jeff George of the Indianapolis Colts, but securing one of the top two picks in the draft reduces the urgency of finding a quality veteran quarterback.