The Raiders got buried by an undermanned Rams team in Week 7, and Maxx Crosby’s quiet afternoon was a big part of the problem. Las Vegas was already spiraling in a game where little went right on either side of the ball, but Crosby’s recent slide only deepened the damage.
That’s been the frustrating part for the Raiders: Crosby started the season looking like himself, maybe even better, and the new setup after his offseason departure and eventual return seemed to be working. With the understanding that he would be eased in because of an injury, the arrangement made sense. For a while, it looked like the team had found the right balance.
Now the momentum has flipped hard.
Across the first four weeks, Crosby produced 2.0 sacks, 25 pressures and nine quarterback hits. Over the last three games, he has only 12 pressures, four hits and no sacks, while also missing three tackles in that span.
Against the Rams, he barely registered. That kind of disappearance stands out because Crosby usually lives in the backfield, even when the stat sheet doesn’t fully capture it.
He tends to get close enough to change plays, whether that means brushing past a ball carrier or arriving just late on a sack chance.
This time, that impact just wasn’t there.
The numbers back up what the tape showed. His win rate against Los Angeles dropped to a season-low 6.7%, and his production has been uneven in a way that doesn’t look like Crosby.
He is still third on the team in sacks, tied with Quay Walker, and sits 62nd in the league. He’s tied with Jalen Ramsey and Nick Emmanwori.
For a player who so often drives the defense, that’s not where the Raiders want him to be.
There was at least a stretch earlier in the season when Crosby was coming through in the biggest moments. He had clutch sacks against the Miami Dolphins and a strip sack against the New Orleans Saints in the fourth quarter. But that version of him hasn’t shown up lately, and the Raiders have not been getting enough from him to offset the team’s broader issues.
One possible factor is workload. Las Vegas was careful with his snap count early on, and it seemed to help.
Through the first three games, he never topped 86% of the snaps. In the last four weeks, though, he has played 90% or more three times.
That might sound like a small shift, but it changes how fresh he is late in games and over the course of a season.
The Raiders have moved away from that approach, and with Crosby struggling to finish plays, it may be time to bring it back.
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One name now surfacing in the rumor mill is Brian Thomas Jr., the Jaguars wideout who has seen his numbers dip from the big rookie year he put together in 2023. For the Raiders, the appeal is obvious enough, but so is the risk: a team trying to stay in the hunt has to decide how much it wants to pay for help at a position that could use a lift, especially when the fit and the cost are still very much up in the air. [Read more 🡒]