Tag: Maxx Crosby

5 storylines to follow when Chargers face Raiders in Week 4

There are a few narratives ahead of Monday’s game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders.

Following a statement win on the road against the Chiefs, the Chargers will look to carry that momentum back at home in primetime, as they take on the undefeated Raiders on Monday.

With that being said, here are five things to watch for in Los Angeles’ Week 4 bout with Las Vegas:

How will Gus Bradley fare against Justin Herbert

After practicing against him all of last season, Bradley is now faced with going up against Herbert as rival opponents. However, the signal-caller may have a slight advantage heading into the matchup, given the fact that the Chargers offense is an entirely new system.

Averaging 307 passing yards per game, Herbert has been money against zone coverage (third in completion percentage and eighth in yards per attempt), which is what Bradley primarily plays in. Meanwhile, he is 14th in completion percentage and 16th in yards per attempt against man coverage.

While offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi could see Bradley mixing up his coverage looks to keep Herbert guessing, he still expects him to stick to his guns for the most part. “They’re not trying to out-trick you. They’re trying to out-execute you,” Lombardi said.

Can Maxx be minimized?

If there’s one way of slowing down Herbert, it’s by getting pressure on him in a hurry. Even for an offensive line that has only allowed pressures on just 20 percent of their dropbacks (tied for sixth) and a sack rate of 3.8 percent (fifth) this season, the group could have their hands full.

The Raiders have seven sacks (tied for 12th), 57 hurries (tied for first), 22 quarterback hits (tied for seventh), and 40 pressures (tied for eighth). This has all come primarily when rushing four, with Maxx Crosby leading the charge. Yannick Ngakoue has been a solid asset, as well.

Rashawn Slater has been playing like a veteran, while Storm Norton has been up and down. The offense should cook if Norton plays like he did against Washington’s Chase Young and Montez Sweat. However, if he plays as he did against Cowboys’ Micah Parsons, there might be some bumps.

Can the defense neutralize Derek Carr?

The Chargers faced and fared well against two of the league’s best passing offenses, the Cowboys and Chiefs. Now, Los Angeles is tasked with Carr, who is playing some of the best football in his career.

Carr is leading the NFL in passing yards (1203) and passing yards per game (401). Four of his pass-catchers have already surpassed 200 receiving yards: Darren Waller, Henry Ruggs, Bryan Edwards, and Hunter Renfrow.

As for L.A., the defensive unit ranks seventh in passing yards allowed (201.7), fourth in interceptions (3), seventh in points allowed (20.0).

Combined with a strong secondary and pass rush and Staley’s philosophy to limit big gains in the passing game, the Chargers will look to make Carr, who is atop the leaderboard in explosive plays, a non-factor.

Can the run defense get on the right track?

While strong against the pass, the Chargers are dreadful against the run. The team has allowed 5.8 yards per rush (last) and 170 rushing yards per game (last). However, the Raiders aren’t particularly a threat on the ground, but if there’s one game to get going in that department, it’s this one.

Joshua Jacobs, the team’s primary back, is a game-time decision. Having him back would be huge for Las Vegas. If he can’t play, Peyton Barber and Kenyan Drake will man the backfield. While not imposing, they could be in for monstrous performances, given how weak Los Angeles is at stopping the run. 

I mentioned that having defensive tackle Justin Jones would aid in that area, but he was ruled out for the third consecutive week with a calf injury. Breiden Fehoko or Forrest Merrill could get promoted from the practice squad, which would be beneficial. Even then, players at the second and third levels need to keep everything in front.

Former teammates, now opponents

When making the move to Las Vegas, Bradley brought some of his former players, five of which suited up for the Chargers, with the most notable being starting cornerback Casey Hayward and linebacker Denzel Perryman.

Following an up and down season, Hayward is playing some great football. His 82.8 Pro Football Focus overall grade ranks second among corners, and he is third with an 85.0 coverage grade. In addition, he has a passer rating of 42.4 this season, third-best at the position.

Can his excellent play continue against the dynamic duo of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams?

Starting at middle linebacker, Perryman has looked like his old self, playing a physical brand of football and head-hunting. He produced double-digit tackles every game for a total of 36 so far. In addition, he appears to be improved in pass coverage.

Can he minimize the production of running back Austin Ekeler and tight ends Jared Cook and Donald Parham?

DE Maxx Crosby still leads NFL in QB pressures and hits and yet doesn’t lead Raiders in sacks

DE Maxx Crosby still leads the entire NFL in QB pressures and hits and yet doesn’t lead his own team in sacks

Another week in the books. And still, Maxx Crosby sits atop the NFL world in both pressures and QB hits. He had led the NFL in both categories after two weeks and that continues to be the case three weeks in.

Crosby’s totals after two weeks were 16 pressures and 10 QB hits. He added five pressures and two QB hits in week three against the Dolphins to maintain his league lead in both categories.

Last week his two sacks led the Raiders. But as of this week, the Raiders’ new sack leader is Solomon Thomas who put up a half-sack vs the Dolphins to bring his season total to 2.5 sacks.

Crosby not having the sack numbers to match his pressures and QB hits totals is not a knock on him in any way. In many cases, Thomas and other interior rushers like Quinton Jefferson being able to get their sacks had a lot to do with Crosby’s pressure from the outside.

Not to mention, the Raiders have played three slippery quarterbacks in Lamar Jackson, Ben Roethlisberger, and Jacoby Brissett. All three are very good at escaping pressure to either scramble or get a pass away and thus avoiding taking a loss on the play.

The Raiders will play the Chargers this week and QB Justin Herbert who has been sacked just five times this season.

 

How the Dolphins can use Jacoby Brissett’s legs to stop the Raiders

If the Dolphins want to beat the Raiders without Tua Tagovailoa, they should use Jacoby Brissett as a read-option option.

It was Week 3 of the 2016 season, and Bill Belichick had a problem. Tom Brady, his starting quarterback, was serving the third of his four-game suspension for his involvement in the DeflateGate scandal. Jimmy Garoppolo, his backup quarterback, was out with a shoulder injury he’d suffered in Week 2 against the Dolphins. Jacoby Brissett, Belichick’s third quarterback, was a third-round rookie out of North Carolina State, who had completed six of nine passes for 92 yards in relief of Garoppolo. It was now on Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to get Brissett ready to start against the Houston Texans — on a short week, as the Patriots-Texans game was on the following Thursday night.

The plan Belichick and McDaniels put together was a bit of genius. Instead of having Brissett rely on his arm from the pocket (something he wasn’t ready to do at that point), the Patriots had Brissett run zone-read stuff that the Texans were not at all ready to defend. In a 27-0 beatdown of the Texans, Brissett ran the ball eight times for 48 yards and a touchdown, which negated to a point his passing performance (11 of 19 for 103 yards). The Patriots also had running back LeGarrette Blount, who bullied Houston’s defense on 24 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, and it was the conflict between Brissett and Blount that drove the Texans’ defense into a ditch.

Sep 22, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) is congratulated by defensive end Jabaal Sheard (93) after scoring a touchdown against the Houston Texans as head coach Bill Belichick takes the ball from him to save it during the first half at Gillette Stadium. (Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Fast-forward to now, where Brissett is Tua Tagovailoa’s backup with the Dolphins. Brissett will start at least the next three games, as the team placed Tagovailoa on injured reserve with fractured ribs suffered early in Miami’s Week 2 loss to the Bills. Brissett completed 24 of 40 passes for 169 yards and an interception in a 35-0 loss. Now, Brissett has to face a Raiders defense that has shown improvement in 2021, and the Dolphins have to deal with the Raiders’ explosive passing game, which could have the Dolphins playing catch-up. If head coach Brian Flores and offensive coordinators Eric Studesville and George Godsey want to avoid a 1-2 start to the season, they might have to think outside the box as the Patriots did back then.

If I were in charge of Miami’s offense, I would point an option run game directly at Maxx Crosby, the Raiders’ outstanding edge defender. Through the first two games of the 2021 season, no defensive player in the league had more total pressures than Crosby’s 19, but Crosby’s Tasmanian Devil play style does leave him open to misdirection in the run game. We saw this when the Raiders had to deal with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in Week 1. On this play, Crosby was so bent on getting to the pocket, he got lost when Jackson decided to run.

Back in 2016, Brissett found it easy to game the Texans’ aggressive edge-rushers with even the most rudimentary quarterback run concepts.

Based on Flores’ comments on Friday, the head coach — who, by the way, was the Patriots’ linebackers coach in 2016 — may be ready to unleash some different stuff.

“Yeah, we want to move the ball effectively. We want to have balance – run, pass, screens, RPOs – however best way to move it. We’ve got to obviously be more efficient offensively. You always want balance. I think it helps in both the run and the pass game when you have that kind of balance and the defense doesn’t know what it’s going to be, but I think you need to have variety in your schemes, your concepts, run, pass, play-action, drop back, whatever the case may be. But at the end of the day, it’s about the execution and getting 11 guys on the same page and that’s what we’re working towards in practice and our preparation this week. It’s a very good opponent we’re facing. They play fast, they play physical, they’ve got a good rush, they’re well-coached, they tackle well. So we have our hands full for sure.”

Focus on the idea that the Dolphins want to set things up where they don’t want the defense knowing what’s coming, and a possible Brissett option package plays in pretty well.

“They’re good players,” Flores said, when talking about Crosby and fellow edge-rusher Yannick Ngakoue. “Good in the run game, good in the pass game. There’s a myriad of ways you try to limit their productivity, but they do a nice job. I think both guys have played in this league. They’ve seen a lot of different ways that they’ve been attacked, but it’s about execution at the end of the day. It’s about execution. It’s about getting in and out of the huddle, getting 11 guys on the same page and executing a specific play – run, pass, screen, draw – and at the end of the day, it’s about execution.”

One thing’s for sure — if the Dolphins want Brissett to win from the pocket, there are going to be problems. Miami’s offensive line has not played well this season, and against the Bills last week, Brissett — whose processing speed could charitably be described as “deliberate” — was pressured on 28 of his 47 dropbacks, completing 13 of 22 passes for 106 yards and an interception. So, why not deploy a multiple run game with option aspects to try and throw the Raiders off base.

It may be the Dolphins’ only chance of winning.

Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks stumble upon ‘secret sauce’ to Raiders newfound pass rush

Daniel Jeremiah digs up stat that suggests Raiders newfound pass rush is no fluke

Over the first couple weeks of this season, some interesting stats show the Raiders are getting some extraordinary pressure. If you’d like to pump the brakes, it’s easy enough to say that it’s been just two games. Or you could listen to Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks whose recent show seems to have stumbled upon a formula that the Raiders have which suggests these first two weeks are no fluke.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CULZWPOBkQE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The thrust of the show was analyzing ‘get-off’ as it relates to great pass rushers. Which is how much time from the ball coming off the ground on the snap to when the defender’s shoulders come across the line of scrimmage. And it appears as if there is a near perfect correlation between the two.

Jeremiah lists off names of the players in the top ten in get-off time last season and this season. And there are some elite pass rushers at the top of it. For instance, he mentions the top five last year being TJ Watt, Bud Dupree, Carl Lawson, Yannick Ngakoue, and Myles Garrett.

That’s a hell of a list. One of whom — Ngakoue — joined the Raiders this offseason, and instantly we see an improved pass rush.

“We’ve talked about maybe the most improved defense in the NFL through two weeks, the Raiders,” Jeremiah said. “You’ve got Ngakoue, who for the second year in a row — obviously last year he wasn’t with the Raiders — he’s in the top five. So, he’s proven what he does getting off the rock. So, Ngakoue’s up there, he’s number three. Maxx Crosby’s number seven. So, you’ve got two rockets coming off the edges there for the Raiders.”

The play of Crosby and Ngakoue has a trickle down effect. A high tide raises all boats, if you will. Carl Nassib has been adding pass rush as well and the interior guys have been given some chances too due to the outside pressure. For instance, last week Solomon Thomas had his first ever two-sack game.

Bucky Brooks takes it a step further, mentioning that having an outstanding defensive line coach is also crucial to helping these players find their game.

“I think you have to pay a premium for the positions that we say are vital when it comes to coaching. Not only paying for pass rushers and offensive linemen, but if i’m a head coach in the National Football League, the first couple areas that I’m taking care of are the offensive and defensive line. . . I am investing in those guys, because I think there’s the secret sauce to being able to be a great defensive line coach.”

Brooks could be onto something, and Jon Gruden would seem to agree. We already know that when Gruden came back to coaching in 2018, he made Tom Cable a top priority to coach the Oline. And last year, he was able to get longtime well-respected Dline coach, Rod Marinelli onboard as well.

Maxx Crosby is entering his second season under Marinelli, who Gruden held onto even with the change at defensive coordinator and overhauling most of the rest of the defensive staff. And clearly we’re seeing the benefits of that time they’ve had together.

It’s weird and foreign to be talking about the Raiders as having a good all-around pass rush. They’ve had the league’s worst pass rush over the last few years since trading away Khalil Mack. And seemingly overnight, they are discussed among the best in the league. Now we know why.

It could be another big day for Raiders pass rush vs Dolphins

Signs points to another big day for Raiders pass rushers vs Dolphins

Few teams have dialed up the pressure over the first two games of this season better than the Raiders. In the opener, they were in the Ravens’ backfield seemingly all day. Their highest pressure rate in any game in five years according to Next Gen Stats.

Those pressure numbers yielded three sacks and numerous QB hits. The sack leader in the opener was Crosby with two. Carl Nassib had the other while Yannick Ngakoue made a significant impact in the pass rush as well.

Crosby and company didn’t slow down last week against the Steelers either. Crosby added five more QB hits while defensive tackle Solomon Thomas got into the act with his first-ever two-sack performance.

This week the Raiders face the Dolphins and based on what we’ve seen from them the first two games, the Raiders pass rushers have got to be smelling blood in the water.

No team over the first two weeks of this season has allowed more pressure than the Dolphins, according to Pro Football Focus. At 55%, that’s even higher than the Raiders had in the opener when they looked like they were living in the Ravens’ backfield.

The Dolphins have had two different quarterbacks and the result is the same. Last week Tua Tagovailoa played just nine snaps and was sacked twice. Backup QB Jacoby Brissett played the rest of the way and he was sacked four times. With the two times Tua was sacked in the opener against the Patriots, that makes eight sacks on Dolphins’ QB’s already.

All this could make for a big day for Raiders pass rushers.

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Raiders DE Maxx Crosby leads NFL in pressures, QB hits after two games

Raiders DE Maxx Crosby leads NFL in pressures, QB hits after two games

Week 1 saw Maxx Crosby living in the Ravens’ backfield and putting up what looked to be three sacks, though he was only credited with two.

His performance earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Well, he kept it going Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers with numerous pressures along with 5 QB hits.

If you’re wondering how his number compares to the rest of the league, it’s simple — he’s number one in both pressures (16) and QB hits (10).

Crosby had no sacks in week two, but had he been credited with three sacks in the opener, he would be tied for third in the league behind Chandler Jones (5) and Danielle Hunter (4).

Crosby’s two sacks are tied for ninth. But neither Jones nor Hunter are in the top three in pressures and Jones has two fewer QB hits (8) than Crosby.

Against Pittsburgh, it was Solomon Thomas who put up a couple sacks, in large part because of the pressure Crosby and company were putting on the outside.

There is plenty of season ahead for Crosby to catch up in terms of sacks. He’s made it clear that he’s a force to be reckoned with on the edge, so the sacks should keep coming.

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Raiders use ‘collective effort’ to make up for O-line woes in big win over Steelers

Raiders use ‘collective effort’ to make up for Oline woes in big win over Steelers

Right now the Raiders are celebrating another big win. They leave Pittsburgh with an impressive 26-17 victory over the Steelers. The most impressive thing about this Raiders win was that they weren’t firing on all cylinders.

Just like in the season opener against the Ravens, things started off slowly. But the Raiders hung around all game long and pulled away late.

It was like the Raiders were playing with house money much of the game. Two of their first three scoring drives ended terribly.

Their first scoring drive featured two straight fumbles; one on a strip-sack by TJ Watt which John Simpson recovered and the next a fumbled snap. Their third scoring drive went all the way to the two-yard line only to have three offensive line penalties back them up to the 22.

Even with Darren Waller held to one catch for eight yards, the offense stalling and bumbling and stumbling they still headed into the half with a 9-7 lead because the defense was holding up.

The second half saw more find play from the defense, but it was joined by the passing attack taking things up a notch.

They broke through on their second drive with Carr finding Bryan Edwards, Hunter Renfrow, and Henry Ruggs all for sizable gains. The drive finished off with a touchdown pass to Foster Moreau.

Despite not scoring a touchdown until late in the third quarter, the Raiders headed into the fourth quarter with a 16-7 lead.

The run game going nowhere. Josh Jacobs was out with injuries to his toe and ankle, so the starting running back was a recent addition, Peyton Barber. Heading into the fourth quarter Barber was averaging less than a yard per carry.

“You’re missing a superstar in Jacobs, the whole Oline is banged up, all these kind of things,” Derek Carr said after the game. “The AFC North, they want to stop the run, so we knew we were going to have to throw it to have a chance to win.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Steelers got back in it. A 52-yard bomb from Ben Roethlisberger to Chase Claypool set up a 25-yard touchdown pass to RB Najee Harris. But the Raiders saw the deep completion to Claypool and raised them with Derek Carr launching a 61-yard touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs III to bring it back to a two-score lead at 23-14.

A deep ball catch like that, in which Ruggs shows off his breakaway speed, is just what they need from him. Carr had been looking for it all game long and he finally found his moment.

“They gave us a good look,” Carr said. “But Henry’s so fast, and speed kills, and the advantages of his speed showing up that he can get open so fast.”

“When I saw that [play] one it was just run,” Ruggs said. “He threw it up and it was just go get it. And that’s all I could think of. Go get it and don’t drop it.”

A field goal would bring it back to a one-score game, but with 3:37 remaining the Raiders run game showed up just enough to bleed the clock down and allow Daniel Carlson to came out and put the game away with a 45-yard field goal with 20 seconds remaining.

“When we had to run it, it was a beautiful thing, we were able to do it,” Carr said of that final drive. “I’m sure we can look at the film and see we could do this or this better, but that’s every game, win or lose. But very proud of our guys, coach Cable… he’s unbelievable. What he can do with, not just the first string guys, but with anybody. They come in and they play and they’re ready to fight. They did at the end. We were able to run the ball and kill some time.”

Derek Carr’s big-time second half had him finish the game with 382 yards and two touchdowns.

“I just let his performance speak for itself,” head coach Jon Gruden said of his QB. “I’ve been clamoring for Derek Carr since I’ve been here, so hopefully he gets some recognition for doing what he did today. He had some long drives, he was big again at the end of the game against a great defense two weeks in a row and it’s a big reason why we’ve been able to win.”

Leading the way again for the defense was the pass rush. Solomon Thomas put up two sacks while Maxx Crosby had five QB hits.

The secondary was flying around as well, with Casey Hayward and Trayvon Mullen each putting up two pass breakups.

“If George [Atkinson] and Jack [Tatum] were around, they’d be proud of some of the hits, legal hits,” Gruden said of the pass defense. “They were flying around, they had some good vision on the quarterback, they had some good breaks, and made some tremendous plays. Had to have those plays. Thought the rush was pretty good, they threw it quick, stopped the run for the most part, and got off the field on third down in some key moments.”

The Raiders’ leading scorer was Daniel Carlson with 14 points on four field goals and two extra points. He remains perfect on the season and hasn’t missed a field goal try since week seven of last season.

“Just a collective effort. By all three phases,” Gruden said of his team’s performance. “That’s what you have to do to win in this league, on the road against a good team.”

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Reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week Maxx Crosby already ‘flushed the game’ and moved on

Reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week Maxx Crosby already ‘flushed the game’ and moved on

The fans are probably not ready to stop celebrating the Raiders’ big win over the Ravens in the opener. It hasn’t even been 48 hours since the insane overtime thriller.

Just this morning Maxx Crosby was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his dominant pass rushing performance Monday Night. That’s great and all, but the Raiders are on a short week to face the Steelers and Crosby has already moved on.

“The rollercoaster ride Derek’s talks about, everybody talks about, not getting too high, not getting too low, so for me I already flushed the game,” Crosby said of Monday night’s win over the Ravens. “I’m already worried, I watched the Steelers first game against Buffalo yesterday, been locked in on that because it’s a week-by-week basis, and a week-by-week league. You never know how things are going to turn out, so you really have to stay locked in. There’s always going to be ups and downs, but you try to stay even keeled and just take it day-by-day and one day at a time. That’s really all you can do.”

Normal weeks in which teams play on Sunday offer the players at least a day to take a breath to think about the previous game and a couple days off before the next practice. Playing Monday Night means one less day, especially when the next week’s game is on the road, which means a travel day must be built in as well.

Crosby had a monster game and the Raiders pulled out a miraculous win in their first Las Vegas home game in front of fans. But the season continues quickly and Pittsburgh awaits. The celebration for Monday night’s win seems to have ended Monday night.

Raiders edge rushers ‘stay ready’ vs Ravens, wreak havoc on Lamar Jackson

Raiders edge rushers come ready vs Ravens, wreak havoc on Lamar Jackson

I saw a stat shortly after the Raiders crazy win over the Ravens Monday night that said Lamar Jackson was pressured on over 50% of his dropbacks. That seems like a lot, and it is, but watching it, if you’d asked me how many times it seemed like Jackson was running for his life, I would have said it was even more often.

It honestly seemed like every time he took the snap, he had one of the Raiders edge rusher bearing down on him before he could even set his feet. It was unreal. Especially when you consider the Raiders have been one of the worst pass rushing teams in the league the past three seasons.

What was most impressive is the pressure never let up. From the first snap to the last, the Raiders were terrorizing Jackson. And they did it with a three-man rotation. Clelin Ferrell and Malcolm Koonce were both healthy scratches for the game, so the Raiders took the field with three active edge defenders. That was it. Just Maxx Crosby on one side, Yannick Ngakoue on the other, and Carl Nassib rotating in. And that trio never let up and never tired.

“For us we stay ready. We push each other every single day, so no matter who’s going to be up, we’re going to be ready,” said Crosby. “It was amazing. I don’t even know how many snaps we played, I really don’t know, but everybody was ready when their name was called. That was super encouraging to see and I think we did a great job today.”

As he has for the past two seasons, Crosby led the way for the Raiders. The third-year edge rusher had three sacks on Jackson, though he was only credited – at least initially – with two. Crosby is known for his energy and he was on another level in this game.

The 24-year-old was named a captain for this game, which he considered a tremendous honor. One Crosby had not had at any level. His head coach has not held back in his praise of Crosby’s work ethic and getting the Captain badge was the result of that.

“Maxx backed it up,” Gruden said after the game. “You do it day after day after day and you get an opportunity in prime time to show where you are, I thought he showed some things tonight.”

The past couple seasons, Crosby has basically gone at it alone. He was able to put up 17 sacks despite a lack of help on the other side and in the middle. He has that help now with Ngakoue, who, not coincidentally, was named a captain as well.

“It’s just a different shift, a different mindset ever since guys like Yannick got here,” tight end Darren Waller said after some impressive defensive play Monday Night. “Just the mindset that he brings every single day, it’s just like we’ll go out there and be a force and guys are starting to buy into that. You can tell they are just playing simple football and flying around. So, I’m very happy for them.”

Late in the game, Maxx would lose his fellow defensive captain to a hamstring injury. Stepping up as Nassib who came in and they didn’t seem to miss a beat. Then the game went to overtime. And wouldn’t you know it, the biggest play of the overtime period was made by Nassib, who got into the backfield and laid a hard sack on Jackson, knocking the ball out and giving it back to the Raiders. Two plays later, Carr found Zay Jones for the game-winning touchdown.

“It was big. He made a big play at the end of the game,” Gruden said of Nassib. “Gerald McCoy got hurt, Yannick was out, (we were) playing Lamar Jackson. I mean this guy is a magician back there. He creates so much offense unscripted. Gus Bradley did a great job, he and his staff. And it’s a credit to Rod Marinelli and certainly Carl Nassib, he’s had a great training camp and we’re going to need him obviously going forward.”

We could soon know the exact severity of Ngakoue’s hamstring injury and if it will cost him any time. If he is lost, it would obviously be a big blow, especially considering how good the pass rush looked with him in the game last night. As Gruden noted, it would fall to Nassib to be the guy and continue to play like he did late against the Ravens. And Clelin Ferrell would be the third edge defender rotating in.

Raiders DE Maxx Crosby to take field tonight as a team Captain for first time at any level

‘It’s crazy’: Raiders DE Maxx Crosby to take field tonight as a team Captain for first time at any level

Last week Raiders head coach Jon Gruden named the Raiders team captains this season. And there were a lot of them. Seven in total where there would usually be five. Mainly because, as Gruden said, there was a three-way tie for players on the offense between Darren Waller, Josh Jacobs, and Richie Incognito so all three got the C on their chest along with Derek Carr. Alec Ingold was selected as the captain for the special teams.

The two on defense were the Raiders pass rushing duo of Yannick Ngakoue and Maxx Crosby. For Crosby in particular, this was a momentous occasion. Because despite his success in High School and at Eastern Michigan that made him a round four pick in the NFL, he had never been named a captain at any level.

“It’s crazy,” said Crosby of his being named a Captain. “It’s really my first time ever being a captain in my whole life. And I think that’s just a testament to all the trials and tribulations I’ve gone through in my life. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. But taking care of the off-the-field is just as important as on-the-field or in the locker room or in the weight room. Just coming in every day and being that same guy, putting my head down, and working. Gaining the trust of my teammates and my coaches, that’s all I’ve been trying to do my whole life. Now I’ve really put it into action and I’m still continuing to grow everyday. So, being voted captain by my team and my coaches and everything, it’s nothing but a blessing. I can’t wait to go out there and have a ‘C’ on my chest. It’s kind of crazy. Being 24 with a ‘C’ on your chest for an NFL team is rare. So, I don’t take it for granted and it’s something I take really seriously. I’m looking forward to it.”

Crosby’s story acts as a reminder for those who may be used to being named a Captain by this point. For instance, the quarterback, who is almost always named a captain simply by virtue of the position he plays.

The third year defensive end has led the Raiders in sacks over his two seasons (17). He was so excited by the honor he had to share it with Derek Carr, who has was just named a captain for the eighth time. And Crosby’s excitement served as a reminder of how much of an honor it is to be named a Captain.

“Sometimes you take for granted those little things and that was like a reality check for me,” Carr said of talking with Crosby. “‘Bro, this means so much to me.’ And I told him, I said, ‘Maxx, you proved it on and off the field every day.’ Everyone knows his story off the field and what he’s been able to accomplish personally, and on the field, we’ve been able to see what he’s accomplished this offseason.

“No one has worked harder than that guy. In the weight room, even on days we don’t have lifts, (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach) A.J. [Neibel] has got to tell him like we’re not lifting today, Maxx, like go rest. He has just taken his game and his leadership to such a high level that I’d follow that guy anywhere. And he inspires me, just him having that little conversation with me and saying that it made everything worth so much more because it meant so much to him. Just being around him, his personality is infectious. I’m sure you guys love talking to him. He’s awesome to be around and I don’t know about his car color choice, but besides that he’s earned it for sure.”

The little dig at Crosby’s car color is the running joke about Crosby driving an orange Porsche. But even that fits with who Crosby is as a person and as a player. He said he went into the dealership to pick out his car and was given three choices — white, black, or Lava Orange. He made the unique choice. And he was told that it was the first and only Lava Orange Porsche in the state of Nevada at the time he bought it.

As Gruden has said on more than one occasion, “what makes a man different is what makes him great.” Crosby walks to the beat of his own drum. It’s part of what gives him his drive and his work ethic. It’s why he is accused of living at the facility. It’s what makes him special and has had him reach successes in the NFL no one expected he would reach. That ‘C’ he will wear tonight was well-earned.