Rams Come Up Short in Battle of Backups : Pro football: Hebert rallies Falcons to 8-5 victory in relief of George. Maddox throws key interceptions.

Blame it on Ram defensive end Fred Stokes.

The Ram defense had scored two points, enough to win Sunday, and it was pitching a second consecutive shutout, a feat not accomplished by this team since 1945 when it was known as the Cleveland Rams.

The Falcons were goners, but then Stokes went helmet to helmet with Atlanta quarterback Jeff George, knocking George from the game with a concussion and prompting the appearance of Bobby Hebert in relief.

Hebert’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Sanders with 3:14 to play in the game and his two-point conversion toss to Terrance Mathis propelled the Falcons (3-2) to an 8-5 victory over the Rams (2-3) before 34,599 in Anaheim Stadium.

“I had a good feeling after knocking George out of the game,” Stokes said, “because our quarterback (Chris Chandler) was out and now their quarterback was out. To say I evened things out, though, was kind of an overstatement on my part because Hebert has been there in pressure situations before.”

The same could not be said for Ram quarterback Tommy Maddox, and as a result, the battle of backups swung decisively in favor of the Falcons. Maddox could not get the Rams into the end zone, and Hebert’s fourth-quarter rally negated a strong defensive effort, which included five sacks and an interception,

“What a shame,” Ram cornerback Robert Bailey said. “It’s like working for 23 hours a day, they work one hour and get the most pay. It feels like we’ve been cheated, but we have no one to blame but ourselves. If they don’t get on the board, we win.”

The Rams’ final try for a tying field goal or winning touchdown ended when Kevin Ross intercepted Maddox’s pass intended for Isaac Bruce at the Falcons’ 38-yard line with 1:37 to play.

“I just threw a bad ball,” said Maddox, who completed seven of 15 passes for 86 yards with two interceptions. “I think I was a little limited; I didn’t get any reps in practice this week.”

The Rams started Chandler at quarterback, but he was carted off the field in the second quarter with a severely sprained left ankle.

Chris Miller, who had started the Rams’ four previous games, lacked the arm strength to play against the Falcons because of a shoulder injury suffered against San Francisco two weeks ago.

“I did what I needed to do at halftime to get it ready to go out and not feel anything,” said Miller, who had taken injections for pain the past few weeks. “I don’t know how effective I would have been. I hadn’t thrown hard since Wednesday.”

Coach Chuck Knox stayed with Maddox for the second half despite a costly mistake in the final minute of the second quarter.

Safety Marquez Pope’s interception and 51-yard return had given the Rams the ball at the Falcons’ 28-yard line with an opportunity to build on a 2-0 lead. After getting a first down at the 17, Maddox tried to go to Flipper Anderson in the end zone but the pass was intercepted by cornerback D.J. Johnson.

“I just haven’t thrown enough balls to Flipper and I was on a different page with him,” Maddox said. “It’s a ball I shouldn’t have thrown.”

Another mistake from a backup performer once again cost the Rams a chance to score a touchdown in the third quarter.

Jerome Bettis plowed his way to the Falcons’ one-yard line on the opening series of the third quarter. But guard Chuck Belin was caught holding on the play, wiping out Bettis’ 27-yard gain and forcing the Rams to eventually settle for Tony Zendejas’ 28-yard field goal.

Belin was forced into the game because center Bern Brostek suffered sprained ankles, which required left guard Tom Newberry to move to center.

Bettis went over the 100-yard mark for the fourth consecutive week, gaining 117 yards in 29 carries.

“We lost Chris Chandler and that was a key injury in terms of offensive production,” said Bettis, who had to leave the game on several occasions because of a sore back. “We just couldn’t put the points on the board that we needed in order to put the game away.”

The Ram defense had shackled George and the high-powered run-and-shoot offense through three quarters. Norm Johnson’s 51-yard field-goal attempt, which strayed wide right, on the final play of the first half was as close as Atlanta could come to scoring.

Tackle Sean Gilbert decked George in the end zone for a second-quarter safety and a 2-0 halftime lead, and the Falcons’ offense was in disarray. Cornerback Todd Lyght’s relentless coverage on wide receiver Andre Rison eliminated him from the attack, and the play of Ram defenders Jimmie Jones, Robert Young and Stokes had George ducking.

“My worst fear was, yeah, we’re shutting them down, but we’re just going to give up one score and that’s going to be it,” linebacker Shane Conlan said. “The bottom line is we had to shut them down and we didn’t when we needed to. They don’t score and we win.”