Raiders have two defenders in a league of their own
Maxx Crosby and Robert Spillane are the physical, emotional, and spiritual leaders of the Raiders defense.
They also happen to lead the team in a handful of crucial statistical categories.
Crosby has 3.0 sacks through just two games to begin the 2024 season, and after four tackles for loss today, is up to five for the season. He has five QB hits and two pass deflections as well.
The plays he made on Sunday were huge and incredibly timely, and he had possibly the most important moment of the day:
Can’t measure culture 👏
— Nick Walters (@nickwalt) September 15, 2024
The #Raiders offense struggled early. After a Gardner Minshew pick late in Q2, Maxx Crosby picked him up.
That belief helped the offense score on 4 straight second half drives, putting up 13 unanswered points to upset the Ravens. pic.twitter.com/5HuRYm37us
This leadership will always mean more than his production on the field, but we'll take a 2.0-sack, 4-TFL, 1 pass deflection performance any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.
Spillane was also the embodiment of a junkyard dawg middle linebacker against the Ravens. He had another double-digit tackle performance, and in addition to two pass breaks, he had the first takeaway of the season for the Raiders on an interception.
Jakorian Bennett broke the pass up, but Spillane had the presence of mind to snag it out of the air and pick it off.
He was elite on Sunday, and sooner or later he will get the league-wide respect that he deserves. But for right now, if he can just keep helping the Raiders win games, that's fine by me.