OAKLAND, CALIF. ? Trent Green spent his first season as a starting quarterback under Norv Turner in Washington six years ago, and the Redskins lost their first seven games before bouncing back to finish 6-10.

Green learned from Turner’s steady approach during those difficult times.

Now, both men are dealing with similar struggles — Green with the Kansas City Chiefs, and Turner in his first season as Oakland’s head coach.

The Chiefs (3-8), expected to be a Super Bowl contender after going 13-3 last season, are experiencing the same turmoil and drop-off the Raiders (4-7) faced a year ago following their Super Bowl season, and when the teams meet today they will be playing more for pride than any realistic expectations of reaching the playoffs.

That’s such a strange notion for the teams that have combined to win five of the last seven AFC West titles. The Chiefs have lost four straight games, each by eight or fewer points, for the first time since 2001. Oakland has lost six of eight and hasn’t won at home since beating Tampa Bay on Sept. 26.

The Raiders still are on a bit of a high from their best game yet, a thrilling 25-24 win in the snow Sunday night at Denver in which Langston Walker blocked the Broncos’ field-goal attempt to win it in the waning seconds.

Chiefs standout running back Priest Holmes is out because of a sprained ligament in his right knee, and Oakland’s top runner, Tyrone Wheatley, also is sidelined because of a torn hamstring. The Raiders are averaging a league-worst 75.4 yards rushing per game.

But Kansas City still is scoring. The Chiefs have put up 202 points during their past six games, while the Raiders have just 207 points all season.

Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil knows how tough it will be in the raucous Coliseum, especially after the Raiders won last week.

“The atmosphere is different at Oakland,” Vermeil said. “All you have to do is watch a TV game or come out in pregame warmup and look around or drive in on the bus and everybody gives you the finger. It’s not a real warm, friendly environment. It’s not Green Bay, where you get off the bus and everybody welcomes you and afterward congratulates you.”

This is the latest the Raiders have played the Chiefs for the first time in a season, and the first time Oakland has gone into December without having faced its division rival.