The Las Vegas Raiders are generating elite pressure without blitzing, and Maxx Crosby is at the center of a defensive formula that could change everything.
Klint Kubiak pointed straight to Crosby when asked what’s fueling the Raiders’ pass rush through two weeks. “Maxx demands a lot of attention, the way that he plays and the production that he has,” Kubiak said Monday, also crediting defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, defensive line coach Travis Smith and the rest of the defensive staff for putting players in position to succeed.
The numbers back him up. Las Vegas is tied for the most sacks in the NFL with eight. The Raiders also rank second in the league in pressure rate at 47.1 percent. And they’re doing it while blitzing at just a 20.6 percent clip, the eighth-lowest rate in football.
The numbers don’t lie…
In Week 2 alone against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Raiders generated a 45.2 percent pressure rate. Some tracking has their two-week pressure rate as high as 51.5 percent, which would rank among the best two-game stretches the league has seen in years.
This matters for Las Vegas well beyond one hot start. Generating elite pressure without blitzing means Kubiak and Leonard can drop extra defenders into coverage. That is exactly what a defense wants behind a secondary still working young pieces like Jermod McCoy into the rotation.
It also validates the front office’s decision to keep Crosby after the offseason trade to Baltimore fell through over a failed physical. A dominant, healthy Crosby anchoring the line raises the value of everyone around him. That includes fellow linemen up front, as well as the linebackers and defensive backs who benefit from quarterbacks getting rushed into bad decisions.
For a team still finding its long-term identity under a first-year head coach, a top-tier pass rush is the fastest way to hide other roster questions. It gives the offense and Fernando Mendoza’s situation time to sort themselves out.
Related: Jermod McCoy could soon make the CB position interesting
Kubiak’s own caution, “It’s two games with 15 regular season games left to go,” suggests a more likely path forward. The Raiders could gradually regress toward the middle of the pack as opponents adjust protections and blitz rates stay low, rather than maintaining this dominant pace for a full season.
Can the Raiders sustain a top two pressure rate without blitzing once teams start game planning specifically for Crosby?
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images