3 days Ago
BALTIMORE — A shirtless Maxx Crosby emerged from the guest locker room at M&T Bank Stadium and immediately pulled Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis into an embrace. As the defensive end began to make his way toward an interview following the Raiders’ 26-23 upset win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, he started talking to himself. “Let ’em talk that s—,” Crosby said.
“We gon’ back it up. Let’s f—ing go!” GO DEEPER 5 takeaways from Raiders-Ravens: Minshew gets hot, Ravens fall to 0-2 Coming off a disheartening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, there was no shortage of negative discourse about the Raiders. While many athletes spout cliches about blocking out the noise, Crosby admitted that he took it all in.
Rather than shaking his confidence, he was able to transform the doubt into fuel against the Ravens. “Last week, we heard a lot of noise,” Crosby said. “I took a lot of things personally.
And I love that. ..
. I feel like I had a lot of doubters, and I feel like this whole team was being disrespected, so you’ve got to respond.” El Capitan 🦅 @CrosbyMaxx | #LVvsBAL pic.
twitter.com/dIzqU7wwps — Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 15, 2024 Early in the fourth quarter, it looked like the pessimism about the Raiders was justified. After a Baltimore 76-yard scoring drive was capped off by a Derrick Henry touchdown run, Las Vegas trailed 23-13 and appeared to be on its way to an 0-2 start.
Against the Chargers, the Raiders fell behind by two scores early in the fourth quarter and proceeded to crumble. This time, they were determined to avoid a repeat. Advertisement “When it counted the most, we had an opportunity to do it last week and we didn’t do it,” cornerback Jack Jones said.
“We had another opportunity to do it (on Sunday), and we had to step up and be better.” The Raiders offense put together a quick field goal drive to cut the Ravens’ lead to 7 points, but the pressure remained on the defense to step up. As Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson dropped back to pass on a third-and-5, linebacker Robert Spillane thought back to earlier in the game.
He’d seen two of Jackson’s passes go over his head for completions because he’d let his eyes drift away from the quarterback. He learned from his mistake, stayed focused on Jackson and deflected the pass to force a punt. “I knew I was in the passing lane,” Spillane said.
“I was like, ‘Let me get my eyes to the quarterback and see if I get a deflection.'” Behind some magic between quarterback Gardner Minshew and receiver Davante Adams , the Raiders offense had sprung to life and answered with a 70-yard touchdown drive to tie the game. Still, that left the Ravens with an opportunity to win it.
That’s when Crosby shifted into a different gear. On the first play of the possession, Crosby practically went untouched on a stunt up the middle and plowed Jackson into the ground for a sack and a 9-yard loss. 🤫Momma, there goes that MAN 🦅 #LVvsBAL | 📺 @ParamountPlus pic.
twitter.com/zmFYWeJ8Im — Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 15, 2024 Crosby was a terror all game. He finished with six tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks and one pass breakup.
When the game was on the line, he rose to the occasion. That late sack crushed the Ravens’ hopes for a go-ahead drive and forced a punt, which Jordan Stout shanked to give the Raiders offense a short field. They took advantage, setting up kicker Daniel Carlson ’s 38-yard field goal with 27 seconds remaining.
Advertisement Although the lead was in hand, the game wasn’t done. With just seven seconds left, Baltimore tight end Isaiah Likely got open in Las Vegas territory, and a completion would’ve put the Ravens within range to tie the score. Jones managed to knock the pass out of Likely’s hands for an incompletion.
A failed lateral on the next play made the Raiders’ win official, but it was Jones’ play that sealed it. It’s only one game, but the Raiders’ comeback may have dramatically altered the trajectory of their season. They’re 1-1 and host the lowly Carolina Panthers (0-2) in Week 3 before the beatable Cleveland Browns (1-1) come to Sin City in Week 4.
“It’s just one game,” Jones said, “but I feel like it’s a statement game for us to show the people and to show ourselves that we actually have a chance to do something.” The resiliency the Raiders displayed against the Ravens isn’t new. They won back-to-back games when Antonio Pierce took over as interim coach last year, but they followed that up with three straight losses to fall to 5-8.
That could’ve sent them into a tailspin, but they rebounded with a historic 42-point thumping of the Chargers and then upset the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium on Christmas Day. That stretch earned Pierce the permanent job. And, more importantly, it was the beginning of the resolve they showed against the Ravens.
“A lot of teams would’ve given up,” cornerback Nate Hobbs said. “I just think it’s a testament to the people we’ve got in our locker room. That mentality might have started as a group last year, but that’s just who we are as individuals.
I feel like we have a resilient mentality as a whole, but each individual knows they’re going to do their job, and they’re not going to quit.” GO DEEPER Raiders and Gardner Minshew learn good things happen when Davante Adams gets the ball Naturally, the Raiders don’t want it to always be this difficult. “We’ve got to get better,” Pierce said afterward.
“We’ve got to stop making it so hard on ourselves, fellas.” Nonetheless, what the Raiders accomplished was worth celebrating. When Crosby made it back to the locker room, he retrieved a cigar from his locker and asked for a teammate to toss him a lighter.
While Crosby lit his victory stogie, defensive tackle Christian Wilkins asked for one of his own and joined in on a tradition that started last season . Advertisement Crosby eventually had to go shower so he could change before the team flight back to Las Vegas, but he never lost track of his cigar. He was smoking and getting dressed at his locker as Adams spoke to reporters about the significance of the offense stepping up to provide some help late in the game.
Crosby turned to Adams with his cigar in his mouth, locked eyes with him, nodded and said, “Hell yeah.” The Raiders’ two best players are confident this is not a one-off occurrence but the start of something bigger. For that to come to fruition, the complementary football they played late against the Ravens has to come more consistently.
“It was just about not riding the roller coaster,” Crosby said. “We had to make a decision. A lot of guys stepped up.
That’s what it’s all about. There’s going to be ups and downs in a game, but you’ve just got to keep showing up.” Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
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