Time to heal: Raiders limp into bye beaten but not broken after loss to Chiefs

By Case Keefer (contact)

Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 | 2 a.m.

Maxx Crosby grimaced and gently rubbed his left knee as he unwound a sleeve to pull over the heavily bandaged area Sunday afternoon in Allegiant Stadium’s home locker room after the Raiders’ 31-17 loss to the Chiefs.

Crosby had just become the first NFL player this season to play in a game despite not practicing all week and carrying a “doubtful” designation. Reporters asked the edge rusher how much pain he felt while playing through an injury he said became infected and hospitalized him days earlier, and he struggled to find the words.

They weren’t necessary anyway. The anguish was evident with the way he moved after playing nearly the entire game.

“I battled a lot of things but I don’t want to miss any games regardless,” Crosby said. “Things happen in life. I’ve been through a lot in general, so some people have their opinions and think I’m crazy but I know I’m crazy. I love it. Everything I do, I do it with a purpose and I did everything in my power all week (to be out there.)”

Crosby’s willpower bolstered the Raiders to start and, for a moment, appeared to give them a chance to knock off their archrivals for the first time in more than three years.

Las Vegas raced out to a 14-0 lead with Crosby’s pressure on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes contributing to a pair of quick punts to end the opponent’s first two drives.

Meanwhile, the Raiders’ offense was racing with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Aidan O’Connell to Jakobi Meyers on its opening possession followed by a 63-yard touchdown rush by running back Josh Jacobs on their third.

But the early, somewhat mystical adrenaline rush then seemed to give way to the sore reality that the Raiders were in no shape to knock off the defending Super Bowl champions. Not only were they outmanned as usual going up against a two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP in Mahomes, but this time around, they were hampered by their injuries.

Playing in a 12^th straight game as a result of landing the NFL’s last-possible bye scheduled for next week took its toll. Crosby’s ailment might have been the most serious, but plenty of essential teammates were also hobbled.

Three other team captains — linebacker Robert Spillane, left tackle Kolton Miller and safety Marcus Epps — were limited in practice all week and listed as questionable coming into the game. They all played but it didn’t look easy on any of them.

Epps fought through a neck injury suffered in last week’s loss to the Dolphins but then seemed to re-aggravate it and exited the game. Miller also came out after playing through a shoulder injury that had sidelined him the last two weeks. Spillane didn’t miss any significant stretch against the Chiefs but sought treatment on an injured ankle right after the game.

The Raiders badly need most of those players, if not all of them, if they want to make one last gasp at a playoff spot after falling to 5-7 on the year with a loss to the Chiefs. They navigated the front-loaded schedule well for much of the first three months by keeping most of their key players on the field, but the attrition finally caught up to them against the Chiefs.

They must now maximize the upcoming bye week ahead of a Dec. 10 return to the field at home against the Minnesota Vikings.

“First and foremost, I told our guys to get healthy, get fresh,” Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce said. “Twelve weeks is a long time to go without a bye week. These guys have really battled through it, fought through it.”

Some of the excitement and goodwill Pierce had garnered by winning the first two games in his new position has since diminished with a two-game losing streak. Injuries were far from the only thing that held the Raiders back against the Chiefs.

For the second straight week, Pierce’s conservative in-game decisions cost Las Vegas.

The Raiders’ second drive went much like their first in that they drove right down the field, reaching the 12-yard line to set up a 4^th-and-1 play. The right decision to maximize win probability would be go for the conversion, especially as a big underdog against a team with as much firepower as the Chiefs.

But Piece called for the field goal unit, and kicker Daniel Carlson pushed a 30-yard attempt wide right.

“You learn each and every week things you could have done different,” Pierce said. “We were moving the ball and we were doing good. The defense had two great stops, (the thought process was), ‘Let’s go ahead and get up 10-0,’ and we missed it.”

On the next drive, Jacobs broke loose with the 63-yard run that totaled more than all the rest of his carries on a day where he had 20 attempts for 110 yards. But, otherwise, the Raiders wouldn’t get as deep down the field as they did on Carlson’s missed chip shot ever again.

The Chiefs, on the other hand, started to operate with lethal efficiency. Mahomes became more mobile and creative in the pocket, repeatedly finding tight end Travis Kelce (eight catches for 107 yards) and wide receiver Rashee Rice (eight catches for 107 yards) for big gains.

Mahomes had 298 yards while completing 27 of 34 attempts with touchdown passes to Justin Watson, to tie the game at 14-14 right before halftime, and Rice, to go up 28-17 early in the fourth quarter.

Running back Isiah Pacheco had Kansas City’s other two touchdowns, zipping in a pair up the middle from the one-yard line.

“You knew, at some point, world champs, Patrick and those guys were going to start making plays,” Pierce said.

The Raiders also stopped making them. Not only was Jacobs held in check aside from his one long run but No. 1 receiver Davante Adams didn’t register another catch after hauling in five receptions for 73 yards in the first 17 minutes.

O’Connell put together a decent statistics line with 248 yards on 23-for-34 passing, with no turnovers for the first time in the rookie’s career, but the bulk of it came in the first half.

“We didn’t play well enough in the second half,” O’Connell said. “We tried to continue with our run game, had success with our run game and then we just had a couple three-and-outs. It’s hard to do that against this team, to not put drives together. We put our defense on the field for too long. We’ve got to do a better job sustaining.”

Just as the Chiefs consistently double-teamed Adams on defense, they handled Crosby a similar way on the other side of the ball.

It didn’t always work.

With the score 21-14 midway through the third quarter, Mahomes scrambled to Crosby’s side of the field on a 3^rd-and-8 play from the Chiefs’ 42-yard line. The edge rusher was able to use a hesitation move to get around a pair of blockers.

Mahomes tried to outrun Crosby, but the defender got his hands around the quarterback’s waist and slung him down for the Raiders’ only sack.

Crosby described the feeling as an, “out-of-body experience,” after all he had gone through to get on the field.

“I think I got freaking triple-teamed on the play,” he said. “Somehow I just kept fighting, finding a way and made a play and helped us get our offense another opportunity in a big moment. It was a big play in the game.”

Crosby forced a punt and the Raiders turned his energy boost into a 34-yard field goal from Carlson. But those three points would be the last time they scored.

Later, it was O’Connell who took a big sack when former Purdue University teammate/close friend George Karlaftis drug him down on a 3^rd-and-8 at the 43-yard line right before the two-minute warning.

That all but killed Las Vegas’ slim comeback chances, if they weren’t already suffocated by a blown block that resulted in a three-yard Jacobs loss on a 4^th-and-1 play deep in Raiders' territory on the previous drive.

“We were a little off in our formation,” O’Connell said. “There’s craziness going all around, you’ve got to be able to corral the guys and make sure you execute. I could do a better job.”

It’s been a crazy season for the Raiders in general with three different starting quarterbacks, two coaches and now a lengthier-than-ever injury report.

Crosby described being, “down for the count for a few days,” before the Chiefs’ game but he said he expected to fully pick himself up with the extra time to recover on the bye week. The Raiders as a whole will need to do the same to salvage their season.

“You saw what Maxx went through this week and the will to want to play,” Pierce said. “These guys are not quitting. There’s no quit in this team.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or