One of the most surreal moments, not just for the Las Vegas Raiders but the entire NFL season, was the Raiders’ walk-off win over the New England Patriots. The Patriots inexplicably tried to lateral the ball multiple times with time running out in regulation while the game was tied, leading to Chandler Jones intercepting it and returning it for the game-winning touchdown.
It was truly an unbelievable turn of events, and even those who were on the field for it still can’t really believe how everything went down. That includes Raiders star pass-rusher, Maxx Crosby.
The Raiders’ defensive leader recently appeared on The Voncast with Von Miller and revealed that he, like everyone else, couldn’t believe that happened as he expected New England to run out the clock, via Eduardo Razo of Raider Ramble:
“I honestly, I couldn’t believe that actually happened,” Crosby told Miller. “And I knew it was the last play of the game … I’m expecting them to run the ball. Let’s go to OT; that’s where my mind was at.
“So when I [saw] Rhamondre [Stevenson], he threw it back to Jakobi [Meyers], and I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ And so I just literally ran at Jakobi and cracked him a little bit late, but I thought I was kind of scared, low-key.”
“Because I thought it was going to be a flag. See, in [that] moment, I was like, ‘I can’t be the one that messed that up’ because it was insane. The place was so loud. I’ll never forget it.”
The idea of that play being ruined because of a late hit by Crosby is an awful one as it truly was one of the most memorable moments of the entire 2023 NFL season. The Raiders had a lot of bad breaks and close losses last season, but this was one time things went in their favor.
Coincidentally, the player Crosby hit, receiver Jakobi Meyers, is now a teammate as he signed with the Raiders this offseason, and there is no doubt that he has heard about that play from his new teammates already.
Now with mini camps underway, Crosby will be looking to lead an improved performance from the Raiders defense where they can create more turnovers than the ones that fall into their laps, as was the case with the Patriots play. Crosby has cemented himself as one of the NFL’s best pass rushers and will look to set the tone for the rest of the team.
