The Las Vegas Raiders defense was one of the standouts in their Week 1 win over the Miami Dolphins. Against Miami, the Silver and Black’s defense only allowed 13 points and even kept Miami off the scoreboard for two of four quarters.
Leading the way for the Raiders’ defense was Maxx Crosby, who played 45 total snaps, with 12 on run-defense situations and 33 on pass-rush situations.
Despite the Raiders putting Crosby on a slight load management, the veteran edge rusher was still impactful, earning a 90.5 PFF grade in the win against Miami. Moreover, he recorded eight pressures, two sacks, one QB hit, and five hurries.
Ahead of the Week 2 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel spoke about facing Crosby and the respect he has for the player.
“You talk about one of the guys in my career, one of the guys I respect the absolute most,” McDaniel told reporters on Sept. 17. “He is upper echelon just because of the relentless drive and competitiveness: Play in, play out. It’s almost unmatched. So you play really good players every single week, and every single week they have pass rushers. NFL teams have pass rushers, and they’re generally pretty talented, but every so often there’s a guy that is a professional game wrecker.
“So you have to present to the players, and we obviously all of our guys know who Maxx Crosby is and have gone against him numerous times. But when you present it like, ‘Hey, this is how this defense plays when he’s able to be left to his own devices,’ you show the entire offense because it takes a group of people to stop a player of his caliber.”
Chargers’ Mike McDaniel Has Strong Words for Maxx Crosby
Moreover, McDaniel didn’t stop with his praise of the Raiders star, as he knows Crosby can game-wreck his offensive game plan and get the Chargers back in the win column after losing in Week 1 to the Arizona Cardinals.
“[Crosby is] one of the rare ones where you’re talking in front of your group, the entire offense, and there’s a lot of people that are involved in various ways to make sure that he doesn’t wreck your game,” McDaniel added. “Because typically, players like that that are that good week in and week out, man, the rest of the team feed off of the plays he makes. He’s a player that stands out in a league of a ton of really good players.
“He’s one of the few guys that I kind of know I have in my periphery, what he’s doing and how we’re approaching it the entire game. So that’s to his credit. Remarkable player that I think plays the game the way it should be, which is all-in, relentless. And he is, yeah, I enjoy the challenge. But I’d be cool if he was tired and wanted to take a nap and didn’t play as well. But we do embrace the challenge. Excited to go compete against him.”
Raiders Insider on Maxx Crosby’s Load Management
Meanwhile, with the Silver and Black looking to protect and keep Crosby fresh, ESPN Raiders writer Ryan McFadden said he wasn’t caught off guard that the team took this load management approach with the 29-year-old.
“It looks like a sign of load management, and this is something that’s not surprising,” McFadden said on the Sept. 15 edition of “Raiders Collective.” “You’re talking about your top defensive player. He’s 29 years old, coming off an offseason knee procedure. He’s had multiple surgeries in the past, and to me, this is about preserving his career and making sure you’re able to get him playing at a high level for the duration of his contract.
“So that’s why I’m not shocked about Klint Kubiak’s call to rest him for that extended period of time. When you go back to the league meetings, general manager John Spytek said they were going to have conversations with Crosby about potentially managing his snap count because of that. Because you kind of want to let him have longevity.”
Chargers’ Mike McDaniel Gets Blunt on Facing Raiders’ Maxx Crosby