Las Vegas Raiders, Maxx Crosby
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(Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)
The Las Vegas Raiders ended their four-game skid with a 20-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans on October 12 at Allegiant Stadium. Furthermore, the Silver and Black’s defensive line made life challenging for rookie quarterback Cam Ward.
Ward was sacked six times in the loss,and Las Vegas also picked him off once in the victory. After losing four straight, the Raiders needed to take advantage of playing a first-year signal caller,but it also made him uncomfortable.
Raiders star Maxx Crosby was one of the players who recorded two sacks against the young quarterback. After the win on October 12, the veteran spoke with the media to discuss the entire defensive line’s performance.
“Yeah, it’s awesome,”Crosby told reporters. “You know the standard we set for ourselves in that room is top tier. Love those guys, man. We have a ton of young guys and guys proving themselves, with a ton of energy. It’s a blessing being able to go to work with them every day.”
The Raiders Badly Needed a Win
Las Vegas needed a bounce-back win and to avoid falling to 1-5, as it would be disastrous and make them sellers heading into the NFL trade deadline. Crosby noted what it meant to get back into the win column and now sit at 2-4 heading into Week 7.
“You know the standard we set for ourselves in that room is, you know, top tier,” Crosby added. “I love those guys, man. We have a ton of young guys and guys, you know, proving themselves and guys with, you know, a ton of energy. So it’s just a blessing, you know, being able to go to work with them every day.”
Michael Mayer Also Had an Impressive Showing
While the defensewas terrorizing Ward, the Raiders’ offensewent back to basics and a more conservative game plan. Rather than having Geno Smith force the ball downfield, it was short passes and running the football. As a result, this play calling benefited the returning Michael Mayer, a big target in the middle of the field for Smith.
“It feels great being back out there with my guys, being back out there with Geno,” Mayer said on“Raiders Postgame Live.“ “The offense feels really, really good.As you can see, we had somereally, really good drives today, and we’re going to build off that. We’re going to do a good job. I’m excited about the win — I really am. I’m excited I could help this team get a W, both on special teams and on offense.”
“We’ve been working on it all week long.Butwhat it’s really aboutis taking the opportunities that I can that arise throughout the game—whether that be first, second quarter, or the second half—and doing what I can with them.
“Geno did a great job today, man. Geno did a great job finding the open receiver [and] finding me when I was open. That fourth down was a really, really good find for me on a side view. So props to Geno for that. [It was a] really good day for him finding the open receiver. And for me, it’s about getting open and then Geno finding me.”