Las Vegas Raiders: 3 defensive takeaways from 2021 Week 10
Maxx Crosby ‘held’ without a sack
Defensive Line
You would probably assume every line of defense played poorly given the score, however, that isn’t always the case. For the defensive line on Sunday night, it was and wasn’t. From a rush defense perspective, the Las Vegas Raiders defense allowed 95 yards, holding Chiefs running-backs Darrel Williams and Derrick Gore to under 3.0 yards per carry. That isn’t bad.
On the other hand, Mahomes carved up the Raiders’ defense through the air, and part of that is due to the defensive line not getting enough pressure, or if they did, not finishing the job and getting the sack.
Maxx Crosby as an individual had another impressive showing in this regard unsurprisingly, however. Crosby failed to record a sack but pressured Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes 13 times resulting in 11 hurries and 2 quarterback hits.
Looking at the game, it was clear that the Chiefs’ goal was to hold Crosby and hope it did not get called, something that has become a weekly occurrence during his short NFL career. Crosby is one of the best in the business, and we saw on Sunday that if he can’t get this pass rush going, the Raiders are going to struggle.