Packers Prove Way Too Slick for the Rams : Pro football: Green Bay, still in the hunt for a playoff berth, defeats L.A., 28-13.

GREEN BAY, Wis. —  The Green Bay Packers, fighting for their tenuous playoff lives, performed pirouettes and skated circles around the Rams on the fuzzy green and brown ice rink that passed for a football field here Sunday.

The Rams, who are one week away from a long hibernation, anyway, stayed as warm as they could, actually moved the ball crisply and had plenty of chances to stay in this game.

But instead, they slipped and skidded all over Lambeau Field when it counted, losing, 28-13, in front of 57,796.

With a kickoff temperature of eight degrees, and a wind-chill factor of 15 degrees below zero, it was the coldest Ram game in 28 years. The defeat lowered their record to 5-10, and the weather did not do much for their collective mood.

“I don’t like the cold,” said tailback Cleveland Gary, a Florida native. “I hate it. But I don’t think we should blame it on the cold.

“The effort was there. We drove the football at will. We drove the football like I’ve never driven a football before, under the circumstances. It’s just that when we got inside the (scoring) area, we didn’t score.”

The victory extended Green Bay’s winning streak to six and kept the 9-6 Packers in the playoff hunt. But they still must beat the NFC Central champion Minnesota Vikings in the final game and need a loss by either the Washington Redskins or the Philadelphia Eagles to gain a NFC wild-card berth.

Sunday, the fancy stepping was handled by Packer cornerback Terrell Buckley, who had two interceptions, one of which he returned 33 yards for a touchdown, and receiver Sterling Sharpe, who caught eight passes, all in the first half and two for touchdowns.

Buckley and Sharpe left trails of fallen Rams in their wake, together sparking the Packers to a second-quarter outburst of 28 points, which erased an early 10-0 Ram lead and was all the Packers would need.

“It’s great to win at home in a game that really means something,” rookie Packer Coach Mike Holmgren said.

The rest of the Packers’ defense did the drudge work, allowing 337 yards of Ram offense but holding the Rams without a touchdown for the final 57:17 of the contest.

The Rams got inside the Packers’ 25-yard line five times after the first quarter, but managed only six points.

In those five chances, Everett was intercepted once, the Rams handed it over on downs twice in the fourth quarter, and they settled for two Tony Zendejas field goals.

“I don’t think the cold affected (the game),” Ram Coach Chuck Knox said. “In fact, it was nice down there, it really was.

“Can’t remember a game, though, where we had as many opportunities to put some points on the board offensively and didn’t get it done.”

In the fourth quarter, down by 15, with the Packers’ offense quieted and the Rams finally looking like they had their feet under them, they had two chances to at least make the score closer.

But tight end Jim Price and wide receiver Jeff Chadwick dropped short fourth-down passes that would have resulted in touchdowns, ending any flickering hopes and sending the Rams’ thoughts to their last game of the year, Sunday at home against the Atlanta Falcons.

“That’s been the story around here for a little while now,” cornerback Darryl Henley said. “Yeah, it’s frustrating. Tired of it. But all you can do is just keep fighting.”

The Rams veered from their normal pattern of falling behind fast Sunday when linebacker Roman Phifer recovered a Darrell Thompson fumble on the second play of the game, giving the Rams the ball at the Packer 31.

Quarterback Jim Everett made it 7-0 with a snap pass to Flipper Anderson, who cut in front of cornerback Buckley for a 16-yard touchdown.

Later, the Rams looked as if they would make it 14-0 when running back David Lang uncorked their longest play of the season, a 71-yard sweep down the left sideline.

Buckley saved a touchdown by tackling Lang at the three-yard line. A penalty advanced it to the one-yard line, where three consecutive runs failed to gain a yard, and Zendejas’ field goal made it 10-0 early in the second quarter.

Then the Packers got going and didn’t stop until the first half was history. Green Bay took the ensuing kickoff and marched 61 yards in nine plays, scoring on a two-yard run by Thompson.

Three plays into the Rams’ next possession, the Packers blitzed safety Chuck Cecil on third and five, causing Everett to float a pass toward rookie receiver Todd Kinchen, who was outpositioned by Buckley.

“I was caught off guard by what happened, but that happens when you have a rookie receiver in,” said Everett, who had three passes intercepted Sunday.

Buckley made the interception near the left sideline, headed left, then made a huge move backward toward the center of the field, weaving through a mass of Rams and eventually slipping down the right sideline and into the end zone. “It was great to get into the open field,” Buckley said. “I love that. Maybe I should move to wide receiver.”

Next it was Sharpe’s turn to bedazzle the Rams, who realized too late they had the wrong kinds of shoes on for the frozen conditions. Lining up for the most part in a tight slot position, Sharpe caught five passes from quarterback Brett Favre in the final three minutes of the half for 75 yards and two scores.

“They just wanted to put him five yards out, just turn around and have everybody try to break on him,” safety Anthony Newman said. “And when you try to tackle him, you’re sliding and slipping and he’s just going in all kinds of directions. . . .

“He just used his athletic ability to beat us in those conditions. It was like playing on an ice skating rink.”