Not ‘a Picasso’: Raiders relishing chance to win ugly behind improved defense

By Case Keefer (contact)

Monday, Oct. 16, 2023 | 2 a.m.

Maxx Crosby smirked as he came face to face with Patriots quarterback Mac Jones on the far west end of the Allegiant Stadium field moments after the sound of a referee’s whistle rang in his ears.

The Raiders' defense had dialed up a perfect pass-rush stunt, and a delay of game penalty was the only thing that saved Jones from taking a punishing hit and game-clinching safety via the Raiders' star edge rusher. Crosby could have been frustrated that the flag prevented him from the “out-of-body experience” of making a game-winning play, but he instead was hopeful he could do it again seconds later.

“I came in clean, and they blew the whistle,” Crosby said afterward. “I was like, ‘All right, I’ve got to get this (expletive). I’ve got to get home.'”

Crosby did.

Jones dropped back into the end zone again with 1:52 remaining on 3^rd-and-15 from New England’s 4-yard line, and the sight of Crosby coming off the edge froze him. That allowed defensive tackle Bilal Nichols to wrap Jones up low and Crosby to finish the job with a tackle around the quarterback’s shoulders for his first-ever safety.

Raiders 21, Patriots 17.

“That’s what we train for all year,” Nichols said. “That’s what you put in the offseason for, for those moments right there.”

The Raiders have increasingly needed to rely on their defense in those moments this season, and recently, the unit has been up to the task. Las Vegas’ defense has sealed victories in back-to-back weeks — with the Crosby/Nichols split sack following Amik Robertson’s end zone interception against the Packers — to even the team’s record at 3-3.

The pair of low-scoring, grinding wins in the span of six days hasn’t exactly been pretty, but coach Josh McDaniels told his team, “Don’t you dare apologies for victories in this league,” in his postgame speech.

“You keep battling, scratching, fighting and finding ways to win when you don’t play perfect. I have to look at that as a positive,” McDaniels later said in his postgame news conference. “It wasn’t a Picasso, but you do the things necessary to win.”

Unlike their first two victories, against the Packers and Broncos, the Raiders never trailed against the Patriots. That still didn’t make the win anything close to a masterpiece — especially on offense.

In defense of the Raiders, they didn’t have the opportunity to work with their full offensive palette for much of the game.

Star receiver Davante Adams took a big hit on the Raiders’ second drive and went down to spur an injury timeout on the field. He returned but didn’t look like himself, with only two catches for 29 yards the rest of the way as he managed another injury in addition to an already-sore shoulder.

Then, in the second quarter, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo took a hit and hobbled his way through the final offensive drive of the half. He saw Daniel Carlson’s second of four field goals on the day go through the uprights to put the Raiders up 13-3 but then headed to the locker room and didn’t return.

McDaniels confirmed Garoppolo was transported to the hospital with an undisclosed injury and had no immediate update on his status ahead of next week’s game at Detroit.

Veteran Brian Hoyer entered the game in relief of Garoppolo and threw for 102 yards on 6-for-10 passing, leading another couple of field goal drives in the second half.

“Just complete the balls that you see out there, because the defense is doing such a great job,” Hoyer said in describing his approach. “They gave me the confidence to go out there and not try to force anything, not try to do anything outside my abilities.”

One of the defensive plays that caught Hoyer’s attention before he was thrust into duty happened right before Garoppolo got hurt. The Patriots drove into Raiders territory before the home team managed an interception for the third straight game.

Safety Tre’von Moehrig claimed his second takeaway of the season by capitalizing on an errant Jones throw intended for tight end Mike Gesicki.

“I was just playing the middle of the field, reading the quarterback and saw him coming through the middle,” Moehrig said. “Luckily he overthrew it, and I was right there to take it.”

But the Raiders couldn’t thwart New England every time. The much-maligned Patriots broke a 12-quarter streak without a touchdown to start the third quarter when running back Ezekiel Elliott punched in a score to complete a 10-play, 70-yard drive and cut the score to 13-10.

Patriots running back and local native Rhamondre Stevenson was injured on the drive but later returned. The Centennial High graduate had 10 carries for 46 yards and scored the Patriots’ final touchdown when he dove in from the 1-yard line with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Raiders appeared to stop the Patriots on third-and-goal the play before, but it was wiped out by a roughing the passer call on Crosby. The edge rusher tried to bite his tongue on his feelings about the flag but called it “soft.”

“I felt like I let my team down, even though I thought whatever I felt about my call,” Crosby said. “I literally told the guys, every single one of them, ‘I got y’all. Watch this.’ It was as simple as that.”

Crosby may not have anticipated having a chance to atone for his penalty so quickly. The Raiders got only one first down on their ensuing drive before calling on Pro-Bowl punter A.J. Cole to pin the Patriots deep in their own territory with about 2:30 to play and the team clinging to a 19-17 lead.

Cole succeeded, forcing a fair catch at the 9-yard line, to turn over the team’s fate to the defense. Crosby and his cohorts then came alive, as the Patriots actually lost yards (mostly due to a pair of penalties) before the decisive safety. 

A week after winning the AFC Defensive Player of the Week award, Crosby was just as impactful against the Patriots with seven tackles, a quarterback hit and one defensed pass.

“Every time I go out on the field, I want to be at the best I can possibly be,” Crosby said. “I was battling some things and banged up, but it doesn’t matter. My guys stuck next to me. We fought through it; we found a way.”

Crosby said he didn’t even realize Garoppolo was injured because he was dealing with his own “leg” issue at halftime. Despite some splash plays, including a season-long 48-yard gain on a deep pass to rookie Tre Tucker, Hoyer didn’t lead the Raiders to any touchdowns.

The only time the Raiders found the end zone was in the first quarter when a pair of former Patriots connected with Garoppolo finding Jakobi Meyers wide open in the middle along the back sideline.

“I think they might have busted (a coverage) on that one,” Meyers said. “A lot of the guys in this room…we feel like we gave a lot to that team. To get a ‘W,’ it felt good to a lot of guys.”

Meyers said he wished the offense could have stayed productive and finished off the victory late, but he was confident the defense was up to the task of preventing the Patriots from driving for a game-winning field goal.  

Crosby might have been quietly grinning after just missing on the safety sack the first time around, but he was much louder when he converted on his second chance. He looked into the crowd and yelled, "This is our house."

The Raiders’ defense dominated the team’s two-week home stretch, and now it’s got the team back on track as the midseason looms.

“There’s no better feeling than closing the game out,” Crosby said. “We talked about it last week as well. Our defense keeps improving. We’re seeing that every single a week.”  

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