Rams give skid the boot, slip past Redskins

LANDOVER, Md. - The St. Louis Rams seemed almost determined to sink to 0-5.

They fumbled at their 4-yard line on their second play from scrimmage. They were going nowhere until a fluke turnover flipped the momentum. They blew a 9-point lead in the fourth quarter. They set themselves up for an easy winning field goal, then committed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

But this is the start of the Jim Haslett era, so maybe the ball is finally going to bounce the Rams' way. The defense forced the Washington Redskins offense into its first three turnovers of the season, and Josh Brown kicked a 49-yard field goal on the last play yesterday to give the two-touchdown underdogs a 19-17 victory.

"I'm kind of, like, blank. I don't know if I want to cry or laugh," Rams linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa said.

The Redskins (4-2), guilty of playing down to the opposition after two big NFC East road wins, appeared set to win their fifth straight game when Clinton Portis's 2-yard run with 3:47 left gave Washington a 17-16 lead. St. Louis, however, had enough time to mount a comeback. Reinstalled starter Marc Bulger hit Donnie Avery down the right sideline for a 43-yard gain on third and 13 to move into field goal territory.

But the Rams (1-4) nearly botched it from there. With his team trying to kill the clock to set up for the easy kick, lineman Richie Incognito said something to an official that prompted a flag. Brown, who was already 3 for 3 in the game, no longer had a chip shot to win it.

With the Redskins in scoring position near the end of the first half, a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage ended up in the hands of offensive lineman Pete Kendall. Tinoisamoa knocked the ball away from Kendall, and Oshiomogho Atogwe picked it up and ran 75 yards for a TD that gave the Rams a 10-7 lead.