Getty Maxx Crosby with Patrick Mahomes.
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce faced some backlash for his “Mahomes Rules” comments about Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The implication many read into it was that Pierce wanted his team to play dirty when it came to the three-time Super Bowl champion.
However, defensive end Maxx Crosby has come out and defended his head coach while offering an explanation of what he meant.
“People are sensitive these days, so they take things out of context,” Crosby told Vegas Sports Today in a March 6 interview. “But, yeah, he’s got multiple MVPs and Super Bowls; if we wanna win, we gotta take him down. That goes for everybody. He knows I’m coming for him; I’m on that energy every day. It’s not malicious … we play the game the right way, but we play with ill intent, and we play violent.”
Mahomes and the Chiefs have won the AFC West every year since he’s been in the AFC. It’s no surprise that Pierce and the Raiders are hyper-focused on trying to figure out how to beat him. It doesn’t sound like the team is going to do anything outside of the NFL rules but they are ready to be extra aggressive
“If we wanna win, we gotta take him down. He knows I’m coming for him…it’s not malicious…we play the game the right way but we play with ill intent and we play violent…”
Raiders star Maxx Crosby talks about “The Mahomes Rules.”
🎥: By @Sean_Zittel
Antonio Pierce Wants QB Who Isn’t Afraid of Patrick Mahomes
While the Raiders’ defense showed major signs of improvement last season, the team isn’t going to consistently beat the Chiefs until they can land a quarterback. Antonio Pierce is aware of this and it’s important for him to have a quarterback who isn’t going to back down from the challenge of facing Patrick Mahomes twice a season.
“I just want a leader,” Pierce said during his February 28 media availability at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I want a guy that can lead, that wants to compete. I want a guy that’s not afraid of a challenge because this is a big challenge that we have in front of us. We’ve got the world champs in our division again. You know what you have to deal with each and every year as long as you have Patrick Mahomes in our division.
“I want somebody that says: ‘You know what? I am up for that challenge.’ That’s the same way I look at it going against these three coaches in this division.”
Based on these comments, the Raiders could favor quarterback prospects who played in and won a lot of big games in college.
Solving Patrick Mahomes Isn’t Going to Be Easy
There have been multiple stretches in Patrick Mahomes’ career where defenses thought they figured out how to slow him down. However, he’s been able to adapt every time and is already a three-time Super Bowl champion.
The Raiders were able to beat him once last season but the key is to figure out how to beat him consistently. That’s easier said than done as Mahomes is 10-2 against the Raiders in his career. Even though the defense was able to play well against him last season, there’s no guarantee that it will translate to 2024. The best way to try is to find a star quarterback and stack up on pass rushers. Even then, there’s always the chance he’s still too good to overcome.