LANDOVER, Md. The list of the reasons the Washington Redskins lost to the lowly St. Louis Rams yesterday appears to be long.

Pete Kendall, an offensive guard, somehow managed to catch a deflected pass, only to fumble and watch in disbelief as Rams safety Oshiomogho Atogwe turned that into a 75-yard touchdown play.

The offense lost two other fumbles. The defense dropped two certain interceptions and gave up a 43-yard pass to set up the Rams' last-second, game-winning field goal.

Punter Durant Brooks sliced a 26-yard punt out of his end zone, giving the Rams the ball on the Redskins' 33.

Costly mistakes, no doubt about it. But the Redskins were on the wrong end of a 19-17 score because of something else.

They were too certain they were going to win.

NFL players do not lack confidence. No matter the situation, they enter a game thinking they will prevail. The Rams were an example of that yesterday.

The problem comes when players are so certain they will win that they forget they actually have to play.

The Redskins were an example of that yesterday.

The Rams came into the game 0-4, and their average losing margin was 26 points. Their coach, Scott Linehan, was fired two weeks ago. Disarray is a polite word to describe the situation in St. Louis.

The Redskins were 4-1, coming off road victories at Dallas and Philadelphia. They looked at their next three opponents, St. Louis, Cleveland and De troit, and saw a combined 1-11 record.

The Redskins were thinking 7-1. Today, they're looking at 4-2.

"I think the headlines got good," said Redskins running back Clinton Portis said. "And guys started high-fiving, 'Yeah, we're here. We got three games we could win.' We hadn't thought ahead all season long until this week. We overlooked a team that came in here ready to play.

"Coach [Jim Zorn] really got on us a lot this week. The previous weeks, he didn't have to. We kind of just got loose. I don't think we've put our backs against the wall or anything, but at the same time, when you've got an opportunity, we've got to capitalize."

The Rams aren't good. The team that just won in Dallas and Philadelphia should have broken the Rams' spirit early and put the game away in the first half.

The Redskins did take a 7-0 lead after Marcus Washington stripped the ball out of the hand of Rams running back Steven Jackson at the 3-yard line. The Redskins needed just one play, a run by Portis, to take a 7-0 lead.

And the rout should have been on.

Instead, it was too much, too soon and far too easy.

"There is a danger there," Zorn said. "You can take a breath. We made sure we expressed this idea, 'Don't get fooled into thinking that was something we earned.' We earned it on defense, but it wasn't like we had put together some massive, long drive to put us ahead."

That expression was not strong enough. The players never embraced the idea they could lose to the downtrodden Rams. Portis wasn't the only one who had that thought.

"If you don't show up every week and treat your opponent with respect, like they're the best team in the league, you can end up on the short end of the stick," Redskins defensive end Jason Taylor said.

Portis is right about one other thing. Yesterday's loss did not put the Redskins' backs against the wall.

But they let a game they should have won get away, a costly error and painful learning experience in the NFL.

"We've been underdog since I've been here. We came out with a fight in every game," Portis said. "For us to expect St. Louis not to come out and fight, I don't know how we let St. Louis shock us like that."

Sure he did.