Raiders star Maxx Crosby dishes out game plan to stop Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert: "Can't let him breathe"
Maxx Crosby is undoubtedly one of the best defensive ends in the NFL today.
A fourth-round draft steal out of Eastern Michigan in 2019, he has been one of the faces of the Las Vegas Raiders since then, mastering the art of the tackle for loss. But despite his pass-rushing and sacking potential, the team has not seen much success, with a Wild Card Round exit in 2021 representing their only playoff appearance so far.
Still, that has not detered Crosby. Speaking Tuesday with former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman on the "Games with Names" podcast, he shared his strategy to stop franchise quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert (skip to 16:00 for the quote):
"When you’re playing a guy like Mahomes, you can't let him breathe, you know what I mean? You have to be on his a** the whole time, Herbert’s the same way; if you give Herbert a little bit of breathing room, he’s going to come back and make a play."
Maxx Crosby discusses crazy ending to Raiders-Chargers 2021 season finale
On the subject of Maxx Crosby's only playoff appearance so far, it would not have happened without one of the craziest endings to a game in recent NFL memory.
It was the final week of the 2021 season. The Los Angeles Chargers were visiting the Las Vegas Raiders with a playoff berth at stake. A win would send either team to the playoffs, but there was another catch.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were also in contention after winning at the Baltimore Ravens earlier in the day to go 9-7-1, but a tie in the all-AFC West game would eliminate them via head-to-head record. And it looked likely to happen, as both teams were even at 32-all with overtime nearing its end, with regulation having ended in a 29-point deadlock.
Then, with 38 seconds remaining, Chargers head coach Brandon Staley called a timeout, claiming that he had to change defensive personnel. In response, the Raiders had running back Josh Jacobs burn the clock to set up Daniel Carlson for the game-winning field goal that sent them and the Steelers to the playoffs. Crosby recalled in the same episode (starts at 6:58):
"I remember [then-speial teams coordinator and interim head coach] Rich [Bisaccia] on the sideline, and he was going back and forth, 'What do we do here?' And he's just like, 'F*** it. Just run this.'
"Honestly, it was a f*** you to the Chargers because they called a timeout. And we were thinking about doing the tie, taking a knee... [The timeout] made no sense."
Both the Raiders and Steelers would go on to lose in the following week's Wild Card Round at the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs, respectively.