PRO FOOTBALL: RAMS 17, NEW YORK GIANTS 10 : RAM NOTEBOOK : Newman Has Cast, Midas Touch

Imagine catching a pass wearing an oven mitt on one hand, and then you’ll understand how Ram free safety Anthony Newman felt Sunday in the final minutes of the Rams’ 17-10 victory over the New York Giants.

Newman, wearing a large cast on his right hand to protect a finger he dislocated in practice, intercepted a Dave Brown pass intended for Mike Sherrard at the 50 and returned it 24 yards with 1 minute 13 seconds remaining to preserve the victory.

“I had nothing but a nub, a club,” Newman said. “I don’t know how I got the interception with one hand. When things like that happen, you concentrate a little bit harder.

“The cast was big, it was heavy and it was always in my way. They (doctors) did a good job of putting the cast on. Maybe if I wear casts on both hands, I might get two interceptions next game.”

Newman’s interception Sunday was his first since a 38-17 victory over the Giants on Oct. 18, 1992. Linebacker Joe Kelly intercepted a Brown pass in the first half, Kelly’s first since 1991, when he was with the New York Jets.

The Rams have 10 interceptions in seven games this season, one shy of their season-total last year.

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Tailback Jerome Bettis was held to less than 100 yards for the second consecutive game--gaining 88 yards in 30 carries--but he caught three passes for 62 yards.

“He takes a lot of pressure off me,” Miller said. “He opens up the passing game.

“But in the second half, sometimes we lean on him a little too much. We say, ‘Here you go Jerome, here’s eight or nine dudes up there, let’s see how many yards you can get.’ Those are hard-earned yards.”

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Defensive end Fred Stokes and defensive tackle Jimmie Jones dedicated Sunday’s victory to Corona’s Barry Barrier, a cancer patient they, along with quarterback T.J. Rubley, visited Saturday.

“When I saw his situation, it really brings you back to reality,” Stokes said. “I’m really glad we won because we had dedicated the game to him.”

The Rams had learned that Barrier, a longtime fan, had refused his medication before last week’s Green Bay game because it made him drowsy and he didn’t want to miss the game on TV.

“I have a picture of him here in my locker and I looked at it before the game. I’ll be praying for him.”

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Jessie Hester’s streak of consecutive games with a catch was in danger until the Ram wide receiver caught a 12-yard pass from Chris Miller with about three minutes left to play.

Hester has caught at least one pass in 69 consecutive games.

“It looked pretty bleak at the moment,” Hester said of the streak. “We had to move the ball a little bit and get some passes and I thought, ‘Maybe I have a little ray of hope here.’ ”

The reception came on third and eight from the Ram 39 and kept alive the Rams’ drive.

They ran off nearly two more minutes before punting the ball away.

“It’s nice that it (the streak) is still alive,” Hester said, “and we got a victory as well.”

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Crowded house: Tight end Troy Drayton, on the crowd of 40,474, the second-largest to see a Ram game in Anaheim Stadium this season: “Those 40,000 people are faithful fans. I would rather have 40,000 people who are faithful fans than 60,000 or 70,000 fair-weather fans. At least I know half of those guys out there (in the stands). The guys in the end zone, those guys will be there no matter what. They’re the die-hards.”

Added Farr: “They’re the few, but they’re the loud.”

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Quotebook: Farr on his lack of size (6 feet 1, 270 pounds) for a defensive tackle: “Six-foot-one doesn’t mean anything. So I can’t see over a bathroom stall, big deal.”