Atlanta’s Rison to Occasion : Pro football: Receiver scores two touchdowns, helping Falcons pound Rams, 31-13.

Wide receiver Andre Rison guaranteed a victory, and as Falcon Coach June Jones fretted, the Rams had the videotape to prove it.

The Rams were motivated Sunday, enraged really, so angry that they rushed out and scored a season-high two touchdowns, pulling as close as 18 points of Atlanta by game’s end.

How bad would it have been had the Rams (1-1) not been fired up?

The Falcons (1-1) pounded the Rams, 31-13, in front of 55,378 in the Georgia Dome, providing Jones with his first NFL victory as a head coach and vaulting Rison right up there with Carnac and the Amazing Kreskin.

“The good thing about this game,” said Anthony Newman, Ram safety, “is that we get to meet again.”

A guarantee of revenge? Or a death wish?

The Falcons not only won, but cruised to victory with Bobby Hebert mopping up for starting quarterback Jeff George and Rison mugging for the TV cameras along the sideline.

“The media ran with (the guarantee),” said Rison, who had two 16-yard touchdown receptions. “June didn’t like it a lot, and Chuck Knox showed it to his team to fire them up. I came in with a little added pressure with the guarantee, but I’ve got some teammates that can play.”

George, for one, can throw, and for the sixth time in his career he threw three touchdown passes. George, who was playing in his 53rd NFL game, topped the 10,000-yard mark after completing 29 of 38 passes for 287 yards.

George doesn’t get to play against the Rams’ secondary every week, and yet he still has thrown 277 consecutive passes without an interception--the third-best streak in NFL history.

“Jeff George threw the heck out of the ball,” Knox said, “and we tried to cover Rison. We had double coverage on him, but still he beat the coverage.”

Rison had seven catches for 50 yards in the first quarter, including a 16-yard touchdown reception to give Atlanta a 14-0 lead. Rison tortured Ram cornerback Steve Israel with catch-after-catch, and when Israel thought he had perfect coverage on him, Rison caught the ball.

“All I can do is get better; I can’t do any worse than I did today,” Israel said. “I mean, damn, he had an excellent game.”

Rison had Israel spinning in a circle with a 16-yard scoring reception in the fourth quarter--his 22nd touchdown in his last 21 games--and by game’s end he had a dozen catches for 123 yards to become Atlanta’s all-time leading receiver with 368 receptions.

“It makes him look all the better now,” said Robert Bailey, Ram cornerback. “The way it’s supposed to work is if somebody steps in your back yard, you got to fight for your home.

“When he said what he did he kind of stepped across the line. But we didn’t come out fighting. We just didn’t have the fire.”

Any spark the Rams might have generated was doused early in the second quarter. The Falcons had a 14-0 lead, but the Rams had the ball at Atlanta’s one-yard line.

Running back Jerome Bettis tried three consecutive times to bully his way forward for the final yard, but each time was stopped for no gain. Fourth and goal from the one, and the Rams desperately needed a touchdown, but Knox sent in the field goal team.

Quarterback Chris Chandler, the holder for kicker Tony Zendejas, had the snap from center hit him directly in both hands and then bounce to the ground, aborting Zendejas’ 19-yard field-goal try.

“It’s early in the ballgame and if we get three points there, that’s a big three points,” Knox said when challenged about his decision. “We tried three times to get it in, and were not able to get it in.

“If we had gone on fourth down and didn’t make it--running the ball or throwing the ball--they would have said we should have kicked the field goal. That’s the business, do whatever you want to do with it.”

Second guessing, Part II: Later, in the same quarter with the Rams trailing, 14-0, and stuck at the Falcons’ 34-yard line on fourth and 17, Knox went for it. And the Rams scored.

Quarterback Chris Miller, who was booed soundly upon his return to Atlanta, threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to rookie Isaac Bruce, Bruce’s first NFL career reception, to pull within a touchdown of the Falcons.

After the Rams’ ensuing kickoff, the Falcons had 1:07 to travel 66 yards before halftime, but George placed his team in field-goal position, and Norm Johnson was successful from 48 yards on the final play of the half for a 17-7 advantage.

The Falcons squandered an opportunity to bury the Rams on their first possession of the third quarter when they asked rookie wide receiver Bert Emanuel to play quarterback on third and goal from the two. After scrambling right and then left, Emanuel threw a pass to Ram linebacker Roman Phifer in the end zone.

Back on offense, the Rams’ next three drives each ended in interceptions, including Darnell Walker’s 44-yard return for a touchdown.

“We just made too many mistakes, too many penalties,” Knox said. “I’m encouraged, but discouraged. I’m encouraged by the way we moved the ball, but I’m discouraged by all the penalties and turnovers.”

The Rams compiled 421 yards in total offense, but a week after committing 10 penalties, they had nine against the Falcons.

Wide receiver Flipper Anderson caught five passes for 154 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown pass from Chandler in the final minutes of the game, but tight end Troy Drayton has gone two games without a reception.

Bettis ran for 102 yards in 24 carries, but losing as badly as they were, the Rams did not give him the ball in the fourth quarter.

“We have to bounce back,” said Todd Lyght, Ram cornerback. “We have to play the San Francisco 49ers next week, and supposedly from what I’ve heard they are one of the best teams in the league.”

Any guarantee on who wins?

“I can’t guarantee anything; I don’t play offense,” Lyght said. “I can’t put any points on the board. . . . “