Getty Maxx Crosby with Rich Bisaccia.
Rich Bisaccia played his first game against the Las Vegas Raiders since he led the team to the playoffs as the interim head coach during the 2021 season. He’s now the special teams coach for the Green Bay Packers but his new team couldn’t pull off the win as the Raiders won 17-13.
After the game, star defensive end Maxx Crosby was giving an interview to ESPN’s Lisa Salters when Bisaccia decided to pull him away and give him a hug. Crosby couldn’t refuse to give his old coach a minute of his time.
Crosby was a vocal supporter of Bisaccia during the Raiders’ head coaching search last year.
“Everybody knows my vote,” Crosby said during a January 2022 interview on the “Rich Eisen Show.” “I made that very clear. I love Rich. I think he’s the best man for the job.”
The Raiders decided to hire Josh McDaniels and have gone 8-14 since.
Maxx Crosby Talks Win Over Green Bay Packers
Maxx Crosby had himself a night against the Packers. He finished with a sack, four tackles for loss and was all over the field. The Raiders haven’t had a defense that has won them many games over the past two decades but the unit put up a strong effort during Monday Night Football.
The defense held Green Bay to 13 points and forced three turnovers, including the interception by Amik Robertson late in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Though the Raiders have struggled on defense for years, it’s not a group that lacks confidence, according to Crosby.
“We are super confident and we expected to go back on the field to close it out,” Crosby said during his October 9 postgame media availability, per Vic Tafur of The Athletic. “That’s what we want. We’ve been talking about it all week … we’ve been talking about it since the offseason. We want to be the reason we win.
“A lot of people have been talking about our defense and what we don’t have, and we know what we got.”
The Raiders defense is allowing 326.6 yards per game, which is the 14th-lowest in the NFL. The defense is on pace to have its best finish in years.
Maxx Crosby Is a Man ‘Possessed’
For years, Maxx Crosby has been a premier defensive player in the NFL. However, he hasn’t gotten much help. Against the Packers, he finally got some help from his teammates, including linebacker Robert Spillane, who had two interceptions.
Despite his big game, Spillane couldn’t help but praise Crosby.
“That dude is possessed,” Spillane said during his October 9 postgame media availability. “Everything he does is full speed — practice, walk-through, game — and I just admire his work ethic and how he shows up every time the lights go on. Teams double and triple him and he still finds ways to get pressure on the quarterback.”
For his part, Crosby is happy that the defense won the Raiders a game and thinks it’s a great building block for them.
“It’s a step in the right direction. … We got three turnovers and I am super excited about it,” Crosby said. “The guys are working their ass off and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”