PRO FOOTBALL: RAMS 17, NEW YORK GIANTS 10 : Victory Takes Curse Off Defense : Rams: Players who felt responsible for two losses find relief, joy in winning.

There were little hints Sunday that the good times were back for the Rams.

“Yeah, you know things are going your way when a one-armed guy makes an interception,” Ram defensive back Marquez Pope said.

Anthony Newman, right-hand wrapped like a mummy, snagged a pass intended for New York Giants wide receiver Mike Sherrard. Newman then wandered around Anaheim Stadium, broken finger and all, looking for the end zone.

Meanwhile, his teammates were looking for the exit. They had a 17-10 victory locked up and wanted to get going while the going was good.

“I was celebrating and he’s out there running around,” defensive end Robert Young said. “I said, ‘Anthony, get down.’ ”

One can hardly blame him.

Young and the defense had seen too many strange things the past two weeks. They had done their share, twice, but had nothing to show for it. Two leads became two losses and it was getting to be too much.

The Rams held the Atlanta Falcons scoreless through three-plus quarters, then gave up one measly touchdown and lost, 8-5. They took a 17-3 lead into halftime against Green Bay, but again lost, this time, 24-17.

The defense knew it was to blame even if no one else did. Its members looked in the mirror.

“You got to take responsibility,” defensive tackle Jimmie Jones said. “Our job is to stop the other team. That’s what we get paid to do. If we don’t let the other team in, we win those two games.”

It’s a skewed view.

After all, the offense pulled vanishing acts in both losses. Poor special teams play cost them in Green Bay. The defense had been a rock, but could only stand so much. It had crumbled in the final quarter.

“You got to make the play when it counts,” said Newman, who broke his finger during practice for the Giants. “You can make plays in the first quarter, the second quarter and the third quarter, but you have to make plays in the fourth quarter. We wanted to stay late and put in some overtime.”

The Ram defense did a full day’s work.

In the first quarter, Joe Kelly intercepted a Dave Brown pass and returned it 31 yards to set up the Rams’ first touchdown.

In the second quarter, Young got in Brown’s face on third and five at the seven. Brown ditched the pass and the Giants settled for a field goal.

The big plays just kept getting bigger.

The Giants trailed, 17-10, in the third quarter, and had a fourth and one at the Ram 35. The ball was going to Rodney Hampton (25 carries, 109 yards), which was common knowledge. The Giants didn’t even try to disguise it, bringing in three tight ends.

“I looked over at Darryl Henley and said, ‘Where are the wide receivers,’ ” cornerback Todd Lyght said. “We were supposed to be in a zone, but we turned it into a blitz. Marquez told me he was going in and to watch his back. I told Anthony to watch my back, I was blitzing too.”

It worked. Shane Conlan got there first, as he swooped in untouched and hit Hampton in the back field. Pope, Lyght and company soon followed. Hampton lost a yard.

“We made up a defense and it worked,” Lyght said.

Of course, not all the ad-libs turned out so well.

Hampton blew through a big hole for a 27-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. But the Rams were improvising again, using only 10 players.

“The play before, we were short personnel too and called a timeout,” Jones said. “Instead of losing another timeout, we just went ahead and tried to play it. We came to the sideline and said, ‘That’s our fault. That one’s on the defense.’ ”

They weren’t about to give up another.

The Giants got a final chance. They had the ball on their 20 with 1 minute 6 seconds left. Nerves were getting a bit frayed.

Said Young: “I was saying, ‘Oh Lord, don’t let this happen again. I can’t take another loss.’ ”

No worries. Brown let one fly and Newman chased it down. End of story, if Newman would just get down.

“I took some time off the clock,” Newman said. “I tried to help my (return) average a little bit.”

His teammates were happy just to get the victory.