The Las Vegas Raiders entered Week 6 of the 2025 NFL season with plenty to prove. Not only were they on the heels of a 40-6 beatdown, courtesy of the Indianapolis Colts, but they were hosting the 1-4 Tennessee Titans, who were on the final leg of a three-game road stretch.
Tennessee won in somewhat fluky fashion against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5, and the Raiders needed to prove that this was the case. A loss would have firmly cemented Las Vegas as the worst team in the NFL, but they answered the call, winning in fairly dominant fashion, 20-10.
While Devin White was the star of the show for the Las Vegas defense on Sunday, Maxx Crosby and the pass-rush finally came alive as well. They made life difficult all day for Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward, who finished with just one touchdown and three turnovers.
Maxx Crosby says it all in Raiders' locker room after win vs. Titans
With the season down in the dumps and the fan base still not entirely impressed by a win against a bad Tennessee team, Crosby, the Raiders' emotional leader, captivated the fan base with his inspiring locker room speech after the win.
"We were expecting to win today. We (expletive) came into this week ready to win, period, point blank. We have to have that expectation every week. We gotta be our best and we got a (expletive) chance," Crosby said. "But come in this week (expletive) focused, man. We have a bye week the week after, do everything we can do to be ready and be at our (expletive) best. I (expletive) love y'all, man. Let's keep working."
Next week's matchup will be an emotional one, as the Raiders head back on the road to face off against the Kansas City Chiefs. Third place in the AFC West will be on the line, as a Las Vegas win would put them at 3-4, and the Chiefs would be at either 3-4 or 2-5, without the tiebreaker.
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Crosby has been dominating all season long for the Raiders, but his sack numbers have not quite matched this impact. On Sunday, things finally evened out, as Crosby got home on Ward twice during the contest. He now sits at 4.0 sacks in 2025.
Las Vegas' defensive line brought it all day, as the defense was the main catalyst in the team's win, which snapped a four-game losing streak. Geno Smith and the offense did just enough to pull out a low-scoring victory.
Now, the Raiders will look to start a winning streak that they can carry into their Week 8 bye. As Crosby said in the locker room, as long as this team believes in itself and prepares the right way, they can beat anyone in the NFL. The fan base surely hopes that this is true.