Previewing the opposition: Oakland Raiders

The Raiders were one of the top teams in the AFC last year, with Derek Carr's late season injury dooming their postseason chances. They are heavily favored against the Jets having won their first game of the season by 10 points over Tennessee.

Quarterbacks

Carr is now one of the highest paid players in the NFL and he got off to a decent start on Sunday by throwing for 262 yards and two touchdowns in Tennessee. Surprisingly, he only surpassed that yardage total twice in the second half of last season, but he was efficient all season with 28 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

Veteran back-up EJ Manuel would be a big downgrade if called upon. The Jets beat Manuel's Bills by 20 back in January.

Offensive Line

The Raiders had one of the best offensive lines in the league last year, with the only change at right tackle. Menelik Watson and Austin Howard, who shared the workload there last year, are both gone. In comes former Packers and Giants veteran Marshall Newhouse, who immediately becomes the weak link. Youngster Vadal Alexander is getting some chances to rotate in, as he did in his rookie year last season, but he struggled in the first half on Sunday and did not re-enter after half time.

The rest of the line - center Rodney Hudson, left tackle Donald Penn and guards Kelechi Osmele and Gabe Jackson - all graded out well in the running game and gave up just one sack between them all season. However, they also combined for 32 penalties - including 10 each for Hudson and Penn.

A couple of fourth round picks - Jon Feliciano and rookie David Sharpe - round out the bench. Feliciano made three starts at guard at the end of his rookie year in 2015, but none last year.

Running Backs

Last week, the Jets' poor play against the run made LeSean McCoy look like he'd discovered the fountain of youth and they face a similar opponent this week in Marshawn Lynch. On Sunday, in Lynch's first game after coming out of retirement, he rushed for 76 yards and caught a 16-yard pass. Run defense is sure to have been a priority for the Jets this week, so it will be interesting to see if they show any improvements on last week's poor display.

The Raiders let Latavius Murray walk in the offseason so Lynch's back-ups are two players who made contributions as rookies last year; DeAndré Washington and Jalen Richard. Each averaged over five yards per carry and they combined for 46 catches, with 29 by Richard.

Fullback Jamize Olawale is an all-round fullback in the same vein as former Raider Marcel Reece rather than just a blocking back. He averaged 19 yards per catch last season but did not play in week one and is listed as questionable.

Receivers

Carr makes excellent use of two great receivers in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. Each had over 80 catches and 1,000 yards last year and they combined for 13 touchdowns.

In week one, Cooper had four dropped passes. A return to his rookie form, which saw him lead the league in drops, perhaps? He looked to have overcome those issues last year, with just five all season.

The other receivers are led by Seth Roberts, who has some nice size and caught 38 passes, including five touchdowns, last year. The Raiders also brought in former Vikings first-rounder Cordarrelle Patterson. Youngster Johnny Holton, who had a minor impact last year, rounds out the rotation.

At tight end, the talented Jared Cook got off to a nice start with five catches for 56 yards in week one. Could this be where he finally lives up to his largely unmet potential? Clive Walford is also a pretty good receiving threat and Lee Smith is the blocking specialist.

Defensive Line

The Raiders are led defensively by the irrepressible Khalil Mack, who had 26 sacks over the past two seasons. Carr actually predicted he'd have 30 sacks this season, but he was held to just three tackles and no sacks in week one. This week, he'll be looking to get back on track.

The rest of the line is low on star power, but will benefit from the extra attention Mack brings. Justin Ellis is a run-plugging nose tackle that will come out of the game in passing situations. Rookie third-rounder Eddie Vanderoes starts alongside him on the inside and generated some good pressure in week one. The other starting end is Mario Edwards, who played quite a lot as a rookie in 2015, but not much last year.

With the loss of the solid Stacy McGee to Washington, Denico Autry is their most experienced reserve, but he struggled against the run last year. Three more youngsters - rookie Treyvon Hester and second-year men Darius Latham and Jihad Ward - round out the bench. Ward started for most of last year but mostly struggled and has fallen down the depth chart.

Linebackers

The Raiders linebacking corps is led by Bruce Irvin, although he and Mack will often operate as the two edge rushers in 4-3 or 3-4 sets. Irvin had seven sacks last year.

Based on week one, Cory James, Marquel Lee and Tyrell Adams should all get reps. James appears to be the every down middle linebacker at the moment, a big step-up in role for him after he was a sixth round selection last year. Lee is a rookie and Adams has mostly been a special teamer.

Perry Riley played well last year and many fans are wondering why he hasn't been re-signed.

Defensive Backs

Most of last year's secondary is intact with the addition of rookie Gareon Conley to replace disappointing former first round pick DJ Hayden. Conley is off the injury report and should make his NFL debut in today's game.

David Amerson, Sean Smith and TJ Carrie all saw significant playing time at cornerback in week one and the safeties provide a nice mix of youth (last year's first round pick, Karl Joseph) and experience (veteran Reggie Nelson). Amerson had 16 passes defensed last year and Nelson led the team with five interceptions. Smith is questionable with a neck injury, but did practice full on Friday.

Most of the rest of the defensive backs are mainly special teamers but Keith McGill II did start the first two games last season.

Special Teams

The Raiders have had one of the league's best kicking games for years and that doesn't seem to be changing, despite the fact that Sebastian Janikowski is on injured reserve. His replacement Giorgio Tavecchio had a debut performance for the ages, nailing all six of his kicks including two 52-yarders and a late 43-yarder to ice the win. Punter Marquette King has established himself as one of the league's best in recent years too.

In the return game, Richard is pretty effective on punt returns, while Patterson had a 41-yard kick-off return in his first game as a Raider last week.

Finally, in coverage, the Raiders lost their most productive tackler in Brynden Trawick. Holton is the leading returning tackler from last year's team.