Let’s see how players performed in the matchup between the Jets and Raiders, which ended in a 19 – 17 win for the Jets. Who did good, and who did bad? Also, we have reserved one spot of shame, The Ugly, for the player who performed the absolute worst:

The Good

DE Muhammad Wilkerson (New York Jets): The Jets have the best run defense in the NFL. Wilkerson is a big part of that run defense, and he pushed around Oakland offensive linemen to help hold the Raiders to just 26 yards rushing (Maurice Jones-Drew had 9 carries for 11 yards, Darren McFadden 4 carries for 15 yards). Wilkerson also batted 3 passes, one of which was caught by another Jet for an interception.

S Charle Woodson (Oakland Raiders): Woodson is back, and even at 37 years old, he’s still got it. The 8-time Pro Bowler spent his first 8 seasons in Oakland, then played 7 seasons for the Green Bay Packer. In his return to Oakland he proved to be effective despite his age, stopping a pair of runs and snagging an interception.

The Bad

QB Geno Smith (New York Jets): It wasn’t all bad for Geno, who finished with 221 passing yards and 1 touchdown to 1 interception, as well as 10 carries for 38 rushing yards. He needs to improve his ball security though: he coughed up 2 fumbles in this game, one of which he recovered himself and one that resulted in a turnover.

OLB Khalil Mack (Oakland Raiders): Mack was only effective when he was completely unblocked or picked up by a running back. The 2014 draft’s 5^th overall selection will have to learn how to beat blocks if he is going to be effective in this league. The jump from the lowly MAC conference to the NFL is a big one though, so it is to be expected that Mack will need some time to adjust.

The Ugly

QB Derek Carr (Oakland Raiders): With 2 touchdowns to 0 interceptions, on the surface it looks like Carr had a solid NFL debut. But his 20 completions for just 151 yards resulted in a mark of 4.7 yards per attempt, second-lowest in the league.  Only 3 of his 20 completions traveled more than 10 yards in the air, and he had 2 particularly bad throws that should have been interceptions. Oakland will hope this performance was just growing pains rather than what to expect from Carr in the long-term.