Ram Defense Stops Patriots : Pro football: L.A. pass rush harries an injured Millen to spark 14-0 victory, its first in 12 games. Zendejas’ field goal streak ends.

How long? Some of the Rams didn’t remember, some didn’t care, and some remembered the last time they had tasted victory in excruciating, bittersweet detail.

After the Rams completed their 14-0 victory over the New England Patriots Sunday, they acted like little boys, flashing smiles that had been pent up for 11 games.

They waited more than 11 months for this, endured almost a calendar year’s worth of failure, and although it came in a quirky fashion, for the Rams it was everything they had been missing since Oct. 13. It was a victory.

Tony Zendejas, the kicker who did not miss once last season, missed three field goals, but the Rams won. They took advantage of a Patriot quarterback who was suffering from a shoulder separation almost all game long, but they won.

They totaled only 13 first downs, but they are 1-1 and tied for first--and last--in the NFC West.

No one is nominating them as the league’s new power, and a few would point to the Patriots as its new doormat. But they won.

“Man, you bet I knew we had lost 11 straight,” said cornerback Todd Lyght, who picked off two Patriot passes Sunday. “It got so I didn’t know if we were ever going to win a game here.

“So right now, I’m just thrilled. I’m so happy I don’t know what to do.”

The Rams, who started this season with a 40-7 loss in Buffalo last Sunday, snapped back this week with their best defensive performance in years before an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 40,402.

Behind a pass rush --and that netted seven sacks and harried Hugh Millen into four interceptions, the Rams posted their first shutout since 1988.

For a Ram defense that had only 17 sacks and 11 interceptions last season, this qualifies as a rampage.

“The monkey’s off our back,” said Ram quarterback Jim Everett, who, sticking to a conservative game plan, completed only 10 of his 22 pass attempts for 130 yards, no touchdowns, and most importantly, zero interceptions.

“We needed a win, and somehow, some way, our defense stepped up to the plate and hit some home runs for us. They did a fantastic job.

“A victory, it’s just amazing how things might just start rolling once you start winning. We’ve had a lot of criticism about us, we had a tough one the first week, you come back and get a win, that’s kind of nice.”

Millen suffered a separated left shoulder during the first quarter, and played like it the rest of the game, completing 18 of his 32 attempts for 145 yards.

But when you lose your last 10 to close 1991 and lose the first game of the Chuck Knox Era II by 33 points, you take a wounded quarterback and four interceptions and seven sacks and you run.

And you jump and you yell and you laugh. Which is exactly what this young Rams team did.

“I just think this is more of a moral victory than anything,” cornerback Darryl Henley said. “It’s been a long, long road.

“Some people could look and say, ‘Well, they’re 1-1, they’re acting like they just won the Super Bowl.’

“But you’re talking about a team that’s just been struggling uphill for a year and a half, (was) anxious to play and then when you get your chance to play, you go and you get cracked in Buffalo your first game.

“To get this victory, well, it’s been a long time.”

It was a long time before the Rams could actually put points of their own against the Patriots.

Determined to run the ball more than last week and keep Everett protected, the Rams used a lot of two- and even three-tight end sets and gave the ball to Cleveland Gary and Robert Delpino a combined 27 times for 121 yards.

Gary took care of the scoring, punching in one-yard and nine-yard touchdown runs.

The Ram defense made the safe-and-sane offensive plan work, mainly with pressure from linebacker Kevin Greene (three sacks in this game after three in all of 1991) and defensive lineman Mike Piel (two sacks in the game, one last year).

After a scoreless first half that featured the first field goal Zendejas has missed in his year-plus as a Ram--and ended his flirtation with the NFL record for consecutive field goals--the Ram defense set up a scoring situation for the struggling offense.

On the first play of New England’s second second-half possession, defensive end Gerald Robinson knocked the ball from Millen’s grasp and into the hands of linebacker Roman Phifer.

One play later, Everett passed to Flipper Anderson open in the end zone, and only obvious pass interference by cornerback Jerome Henderson prevented the touchdown. That was handled soon enough by Gary’s one-yard plunge after the penalty was assessed.

The Rams’ defense continued to contain New England--the Patriots did not get past midfield during the second half--but the offense didn’t put the game away until late in the fourth quarter. Lyght’s second interception of the game gave the Rams the ball at the Patriot 11.

Two Gary carries later, it was 14-0 and the Rams’ only remaining goal was to keep that zero up on the board.

“It’s not even the shutout,” Piel said. “It’s just getting that win. And earning it. We felt like we really earned it. It was just hard-nosed football, just keep after them and try to keep them out of the end zone.”

And after last week, anything resembling a rout of the Rams was sure to make the criticism harsher and the burden of a losing streak heavier.

“If we don’t win, all we’re going to read about, hear about every day is the same old show, same old routine,” Knox said.

“So I think the win was important for us.”

Ram Notes

No. 1 pick Sean Gilbert left the game during the second quarter because of a sprained left ankle, and did not return. X-rays taken at the stadium showed no serious damage. . . . Tony Zendejas was attempting to tie Kevin Butler’s record of 24 consecutive field goals. He was stopped at 23 when he missed a 47-yard attempt during the second quarter.