And that was before halftime.

Never mind that the Raiders were outscored 49-11 against the playoff-bound Jaguars in the worst regular-season loss in managing general partner Al Davis' 45-year reign.

This is a game destined to be remembered as the time coach Lane Kiffin learned there's more than one way to lose a game. He now knows all about the Raider way.

"I was real unhappy," Kiffin said in response to his team's second-quarter meltdown. "(Game) 15, it's the first time that you really saw lack of discipline. I'm not happy at all. That represents our team. And we've talked about whether this guy did this or that, but the bottom line is, that represents us, what we're doing, and that falls on me."

Kiffin might have suspected he was in for a long day when the Raiders were called for having too many players on the field on Jacksonville's first offensive play. The do-over resulted in a 62-yard touchdown run by the Jaguars' Fred Taylor.

Later in the first half, cornerback Stanford Routt exchanged words with Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio after Routt made a tackle on the Jacksonville sideline.

The capper came on Jacksonville's final possession of the half. Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and defensive end Derrick Burgess were called for offsides on back-to-back plays, though the Jaguars declined the second infraction because they netted more yards on quarterback David Garrard's scramble.

Four plays later, the wheels came all the way off the Kiffin Express. Jacksonville right offensive tackle Tony Pashos was called for illegal hands to the face on Burgess on a third-and-10 play that ended with an incomplete pass.

Initially, the officials announced that the Raiders had declined the penalty.

"They didn't even look at me, and they declined the penalty, and I would have taken the penalty to knock them out of field goal range," Kiffin said of the officials' premature ruling. "Maybe that's what started it, because Warren (Sapp, defensive tackle) was right there with me when I was talking about taking the penalty."

After a short discussion with the officials, the Raiders opted to take the penalty instead of forcing the Jaguars to attempt a field goal. Seconds later, Sapp received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.

Burgess joined the fray and received the same penalty. Sapp marched toward the officials and was nailed again. And again. With the penalties came a disqualification. The Jaguars went from a third-and- 20 situation from the Raiders 35-yard line to a first-and-goal from the Raiders 2.

Referee Jerome Boger said the flags started flying when Sapp "disrespectfully addressed the official. ... Then we had one for Burgess for doing the same thing. And then Warren continued to escalate with the same situation, and so he was assessed another one. The third came when he bumped the umpire (Garth DeFelice)."

Sapp was long gone by the time the media reached the locker room after the game. The fallout lingered.

"It's unfortunate he got thrown out," Pashos said. "Warren's a great player. It's a game of emotions, and he might have gotten carried away a little bit."

Either way, the Raiders walked off the field with a taste in their mouths that Kiffin has worked hard to eliminate.

"It's sad," Asomugha said. "The whole game was out of control, from the second play on defense, when he took that run in. It wasn't embarrassing, it was mortifying. That was probably the most disappointing loss I've had, especially this late in the season when everybody has been preaching: finish strong. ... Then they come out and put those points up on us; it was very disappointing."

Running back Dominic Rhodes said Oakland's lack of discipline is something endemic on losing teams.

"We can't do that if we want to become a great team," Rhodes said. "That's the difference between great teams and so-so teams."

Linebacker Kirk Morrison snuffed out the drive added by the four unsportsmanlike conduct penalties with an interception in the end zone. No matter. By then, the ugly factor had been stamped all over this one.

For the record, the Raiders suffered their 11th loss of the season. However, it marked the first one under Kiffin that bore an eerie resemblance to ones that punctuated the undistinguished coaching tenures of predecessors Bill Callahan, Norv Turner and Art Shell.

At least the players vented their anger, frustration and displeasure toward the opponent and officials, and not at Kiffin. In years past, players marked losing seasons by turning on Callahan, tuning out Turner and sparring with Shell.

All Kiffin could do Sunday was take in the histrionics from his sideline perch. And wait for the nightmare that was Oakland's trip to Jacksonville end so that he can begin work on restoring sanity to a team that lost more than a game Sunday.

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(c) 2007, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.).

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