His reasoning? Stopping the clock would have only allowed the Bills more plays, and they were gaining ground steadily as it was.

"Watching what was going on, they kept moving on us each play that they ran," Kiffin said. "I didn't want to call a timeout earlier. I wanted to keep the field goal where it was, give them a chance to miss it, as opposed to calling the timeouts, letting them hand the ball off to (Marshawn) Lynch again and all of sudden be down there at the 5-yard line with a chip-shot."

--Tight end Ben Troupe, signed after he was cut by Tampa Bay last Friday, was already getting in some work with the first team on his first day at practice.

"He's a very explosive athlete," Kiffin said. "Our offense needs some explosion right now and we don't have time to sit around and wait for a guy to develop. So if he can develop, we're going to throw him in."

Troupe seemed relieved to be in a less complicated system than in Tampa Bay.

"I don't think anything compares to Jon Gruden's offense, that guy his mind is always working," Troupe said. "I'm trying to get in there and work as much as I can, then taking what I learn on Sunday."

--It was faint praise, but better than no praise at all and worth considering that the Raiders fared far better against Buffalo than they did in similar situations late last season.

Last season, in Week 14, the Raiders were coming off back-to-back wins over Kansas City and Denver and visited Green Bay, where the Packers were on the verge of clinching their division title.

Oakland was crushed, 38-7.

Two weeks later, the Raiders faced a playoff-bound Jacksonville team and lost 49-11.

Even in their disappointment, Kiffin thinks the players understand there is progress.

"We just played a playoff-caliber team in Buffalo, a team that's 3-0, a team that plays extremely well at home," Kiffin said. "I look at that and compare it to last year, basically two similar situations where we went on the road, long trips, to Green Bay and Jacksonville, and we got handled pretty well. We (outplayed) Buffalo and were up two scores with six minutes left."

--Kiffin told members of the San Diego media on a conference call his wife was fending off realtors at his Pleasanton, Ca., home.

"That's the unfortunate thing about this business and this situation here," Kiffin said. "My wife's pregnant with our third child, and it's due in January, so she has a lot of concerns. ... You know how this thing is, all of a sudden she's got realtors coming by the house asking if we're putting the house up.

"So it's tough, especially on a pregnant woman that doesn't know where she's gonna be when her child's delivered. If there was any regret, that's what it would be."

BY THE NUMBERS: 1 -- Times the Raiders have outrushed the Chargers during their nine-game losing streak against San Diego. The Raiders outrushed the Chargers 122-120 in last year's season finale. Over the course of the streak, San Diego has gained 1,385 yards to 660 for Oakland.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I don't know what's usual. This is the only place I've been a head coach in the NFL." -- Coach Lane Kiffin, when asked if it was unusual to have not talked to owner Al Davis since before the regular-season opener.