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Former Raiders OL Richie Incognito.
The Las Vegas Raiders have had a very hard time building a consistently good defense for over two decades. There have been stretches over the years when the defense has looked very good, but nothing has been sustainable.
Defensive end Maxx Crosby is widely considered one of the best defensive players in the NFL, but he hasn’t been able to elevate the Raiders’ defense on his own. While his individual play remains excellent, some don’t believe he deserves that much credit, considering the defense he plays on isn’t very good.
Former Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib got into a debate with former Raiders offensive lineman Richie Incognito about Micah Parsons’ lack of run defense. This led Talib to call out Crosby’s run defense.
“The Jags had 150 rushing (yards),” Talib said on “The Arena: Gridiron.” “What the (expletive) did Crosby do? Why we pay Crosby if he can’t stop the run?”
“(Expeltive) his stats,” Talib added when asked to check Crosby’s stats. “He ain’t stop the run.”
Incognito pulled up the stats from the Raiders’ Week 9 loss to the Jaguars and took Talib to task.
“Maxx Crosby in a losing effort (against the Jaguars); three solo tackles, one assisted, four total tackles, one sack, three tackles for loss,” Incognito said in response to Talib. “That’s a guy who shows up. What I’m saying is that Micah disappears for stretches, and you have other guys getting paid the same amount of money, and they flash. What’d T.J. Watt do yesterday? What’d Aidan Hutchinson do yesterday? Maxx is on a (expletive) team and Maxx is still making plays. When you don’t show up in the stat sheet, you are not contributing.”
Crosby Is Arguably Best Run Defender in NFL
Arguing against Crosby’s run defense only makes sense if you don’t know anything about his game. In fact, Crosby’s sack numbers are less impressive than his run defense. According to ESPN, the defensive end has a 38% run stop win rate this season, which is No. 1 in the NFL.
Crosby is also third in the league with 13 tackles for loss. While his 5.0 sacks on the season aren’t terribly impressive, there’s no arguing against his ability in the run game.
Crosby Draws Praise From Broncos OC
While the former Bronco Talib doesn’t have much respect for Crosby, his former team certainly isn’t underestimating him ahead of their Week 10 matchup against the Raiders. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi spoke about Crosby’s impact.
“He is a phenom,” Lombardi said of Crosby, via Raiders.com. “Obviously he has a ton of ability. He’s so disruptive, but it’s the motor that really stands out, like you said. Just every single play, it’s all out. You can’t help but just get distracted by him every play. You just watch, and there he is again, causing disruption. Just tough, great stamina, and just a motor that every single play is a hundred percent. There are a lot of guys that are dangerous, and sometimes they might pick and choose their spots, and he picks every single spot. It’s a problem. He eliminates a lot of things you want to do because of how disruptive he is. Not a guy I wish we had to see twice a year for sure.”
Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd
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