Maxx Crosby, Tyler Linderbaum among Raiders that must step up in Week 7

A get-right game for the Las Vegas Raiders?

These types don’t come often for the Silver & Black but that’s what the Week 7 home date with the Los Angeles Rams is shaping up to be.

Pegged as a “super team”, the visiting Rams have been anything but that. Sean McVay’s squad is 2-4 overall and riding a two-game losing skid which began with a Week 5 37-34 overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills. That was followed by an 18-16 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday.

And now the offensive genius that McVay is contends with a roster decimated by injuries.

L.A. will be limping into this matchup having lost key contributors in Week 6 to injury, such as wide receiver Davante Adams (hamstring), defensive tackles Kobie Turner (groin) and Poona Ford (ruptured triceps), and kicker Blake Grupe (torn ACL).

In addition to that, the Rams will be without standout linebacker Nate Landman (concussion) in their outing in Las Vegas.

It’s a perfect storm of a get-right opportunity for the 3-3 Raiders to get back in the win column as their galivanting on a three-game losing streak. And in order to rid themselves of consecutive losses and take advantage of a silver nugget in front of them, Klint Kubiak’s desert marauders need elevated play from certain players: Such as edge rusher Maxx Crosby and center Tyler Linderbaum.

Football often begins and ends in the trenches and both represent elite talent at their respective positions on Las Vegas defensive and offensive lines.

It’s almost blasphemy to say Crosby needs to step up considering his uncanny stamina and will but not even that non-stop motor or sheer determination is lighting up the stat sheet like it used to. The 29-year-old 6-foot-5 and 255-pound edge rusher is off to the slowest start of his career when it comes to finishing plays behind the line of scrimmage.

Crosby remains a harrier for quarterbacks and is among league leaders in pressures through the first six games, however, he only has two sacks on the year and also only two tackles for loss. At this current rate, the Raiders elite pass rusher is on pace to rack up just five sacks (his career low was seven in his second season in the NFL in 2020) and five to seven tackles for loss (career low was 13 in 2021). These are two categories where Crosby tends to go ham in the box score.

Not only pressuring but hitting or taking down Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is a must-do this Sunday for the Raiders and it’s Crosby who leads that charge. According to Pro Football Reference, Crosby is charted with 24 pressures, 11 hurries, and 10 hits on the quarterback. Those pressure numbers are impressive considering PFR charted Crosby with 29 total pressures last season — one in which he had 10 sacks.

Crosby hasn’t received much help from his fellow defensive linemen in the sack department, however. And elevated play from defensive tackles Adam Butler, Folorunso Fatukasi, and the returning Tonka Hemingway (concussion) will be tremendous for getting interior pressure on Stafford — whose arm powers the Rams top-ranked and second-ranked passing game in terms of attempts and yards gained.

Flip the trenches to the offensive side of the ball, Las Vegas needs improved play at the pivot from Linderbaum. The high-priced free agent acquisition was rag dolled by Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Deone Walker in last week’s matchup and the Raiders can ill-afford to have that happen anymore. Getting manhandled at the point of attack hurt Las Vegas run game and offensive line as a whole, but Linderbaum appears ready to showcase Week 6’s performance was the outlier.

And this brings us to the ground game — the aspect of the Raiders offense that continues to struggle despite the concentrated effort the team has done to improve upon it.

“Yeah, I think the common theme is myself. We got to be better as coaches at getting our guys in the best situation, and just keep improving. And that starts on the practice field,” Kubiak said during his media session on Friday. “So, this time of year, when guys start getting a little bit dinged up, some of the reps go down a little bit, so just being really intentional about what reps you give them versus what fronts, so we can give them a good picture of what to expect in the game.”

Improved execution by the front five on the offensive line and quick decision-making by running backs Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. is integral if Las Vegas intends to topple Los Angeles. While the Raiders run game may boast the third-worst group in the NFL (475 yards rushing), the Rams run defense allows seventh most rushing yards (762).

Facing a Rams team without two key defensive tackles and the stud linebacker should help the Silver & Black, too.

“Yeah, guys, we just got to go do it. Got to quit talking about it, and we got to go do it,” Kubiak said when asked how close his team is to finding a groove running the ball.

Even with a struggling ground game, Kubiak and veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins lead the NFL’s seventh-most productive aerial attack (1,581 yards) and Las Vegas has the second-most passing touchdowns (14) in the league. Cousins is completing 63.4 percent of his passes with a league-leading 14 touchdowns (and just five interceptions). He’s only been sacked eight times and if the offensive line and ground game are clicking, it should further open up the array of artillery Kubiak dials up.

Heightened effort and execution form tight end Brock Bowers and speedy wide receiver Tre Tucker can make the Raiders top two pass catchers (28 receptions, 382 yards, three touchdowns and 24 receptions, 371 yards, three touchdowns, respectively) even more dangerous in this home clash with the Rams.