Never mind that the San Diego Chargers had the ball for more than 33 minutes and amassed almost 400 yards by the time they trotted on the field for one final drive, needing a touchdown. The Raiders defense felt as if it had the Chargers right where it wanted.

In the end, the Chargers marched 39 yards in six plays and scored a game-deciding touchdown en route to a 31-28 victory at the Coliseum on Sunday.

“As a defensive player, you always want to be in that situation,” Raiders veteran defensive end Justin Tuck said. “It didn’t work out the way we wanted it to do (Sunday), but you always want to have the opportunity to stop an offense and deserve a win.”

The loss dropped the Raiders to 0-5 and left a sour taste in the mouth of linebacker Sio Moore the way it was decided.

“The goal is to win the game,” Moore said. “We didn’t do that. We didn’t execute in the last bit of plays when we needed to, how we needed to.

“It’s a very sick feeling because we let a team off the hook that’s not supposed to be let off the hook. They’re not what they’re acclaimed to be, whatever the situation is. I’m pretty pissed about it.”

Moore said it doesn’t matter how long he and his teammates have been on the field or where the opposing team begins the drive. It’s the Raiders job to make a play that preserves a hard-fought lead and yields a victory.

Instead, it was the Chargers offense that made all the plays on their pivotal possession.

Quarterback Philip Rivers scrambled for 7 yards and a first down on the second play. Then, rookie running back Branden Oliver ripped off runs of 12, 10 and 7 to get the Chargers to the Raiders 1-yard line.

Oliver capped the drive with a leap across the goal line. A Raiders last-gasp drive ended with rookie quarterback Derek Carr throwing an interception deep in Chargers territory.

Oakland interim coach Tony Sparano credited the Chargers offense with making plays when it needed to. He also conceded that, “There were some plays down at the end there that we didn’t make” on defense.

At the same time, Sparano said he is heartened by the fact that his defense made some plays at crucial times, too, and the Raiders were in a position to win for the first time in 11 games.

“That was a one-score game,” Sparano said. “Those are the ones that hurt. And they should hurt for a while.”

But, it’s about playing in enough of those kinds of games. Sooner or later, lessons will be learned, nerves will be steeled and victories counted.

“That’s how you turn this thing around,” Sparano said.

Rookie cornerback TJ Carrie said this loss felt different.

“We all feel like we’ve done something,” Carrie said.

For it to mean even more, Tuck said, the Raiders need to back up the solid effort with another one against the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday.

“That’s what we have to build on because last time we had a close game, we came into the next week and didn’t play anywhere close to what we’re capable of playing,” Tuck said of the Raiders following a last-second loss to the Patriots with a lopsided loss against the Dolphins. “This one will hurt for (Sunday) night and probably (Monday) a little bit.”

The Chargers carved up the Raiders defense for 423 yards, five scores and a 57 percent success rate on third-down plays.

Yet, Moore said the Raiders are a lot closer to turning the corner than some might believe.

“There’s enough to build off of but there’s more that we got to do,” Moore said. “We just got to find that place to play the correct type of situational football to come out with a win.

“We’re not supposed to be in this locker room like this right now at all, by any standard. If anybody watched that game, you know we had that game won and sealed. We got to finish that. They’re not better than us, period.”