While it may only be the opening weekend in the NFL, there are a handful of stats worth monitoring on Sunday. As it turns out, quite a few players on the Las Vegas Raiders could end up surpassing several benchmarks.
Maxx Crosby might end up joining elite company after facing the Broncos
The Raiders’ defense leader and MVP will be looking to get on a tear out of the gate. Facing a Mike McGlinchey that won’t be 100 percent might spell doom for Sean Payton’s offense. In particular, it could be a long day for quarterback Russell Wilson.
Now, let’s say Crosby tallies two tackles for a loss; that would put him in a tie with the much-heralded T.J. Watt for most games with multiple tackles for a loss. In case you’re keeping tabs, the magic number is 18, as in how many Watt has to his name. Crosby would also become one of nine players since the 1999 season to do so within their first 70 games. That’s some next-level production at such a young age. The Raiders truly do have something special in No. 98.
Dan Marino, Ben Roethlisberger… and Jimmy Garoppolo?
Replacing Derek Carr was never going to be an easy task considering how beloved he was—well, for the most part, at least. Jimmy Garoppolo, love him or hate him, knows how to do one thing that’ll ease the quarterback transition: he wins.
If the Raiders win in Week 1, Garoppolo will have amassed 41 wins on his record—that’s out of 58 career games thus far in his career. That’s ninth-most among NFL signal-callers with 58 games under their belt; Jimmy G would join Dan Marino, Ben Roethlisberger, and his adversary on Sunday, Russell Wilson.
The Raiders need to get the ball to Davante Adams early and often…
Getting the ball to DA17 is plain common sense at this point; still, there’s something to look out for. In terms of accolades, Adams just needs 100 receiving yards to amass 40 career games where he meets that quota. That puts him as the second-most in the league since he came in back in 2014.
More importantly, Adams would be accomplishing what only 10 players in league history have done. Which is to have 40 or more games crossing the century mark within their first 134 career games (h/t Raiders PR).
At the end of the day, all that matters is a win; any Raiders player will tell you that. However, it’s impressive when you look at the premier talent the Raiders boast at their skill positions.
*Top Photo: Getty Images