On the surface, the Las Vegas Raiders don't exactly have the profile of a team that's primed to put up much of a fight against a Houston Texans squad that is hungry, rolling, motivated and clearly more talented up and down the roster. There is, however, one notable exception.
Rampaging off the edge of the Raiders defensive line is four-time Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby, a tattooed game-wrecker whose motor rivals that of the Energizer Bunny. No matter what tackle you line up across from him or what scheme you deploy to slow him down, Mad Maxx is hell-bent on getting after the opposing quarterback, and he's done just that 69.5 times in his seven NFL seasons.
In Maxx Crosby, the Texans know they have a worthy foe on Sunday afternoon even if many of the other Raiders who take the field don't fit that description. The two-time All-Pro edge rusher is someone who can truly test a Houston offensive line that has looked so much better throughout the 2025 season than it did in 2024.
“Maxx is a dog,” Stroud said of Crosby, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 Houston. “He can wreck a whole game and he’s done it year in and year out. I think he’s a heck of a player. Has a motor, doesn’t stop, doesn’t quit. So, we got to make sure we take care of that and try our best to slow him down. So, it’ll be a fist fight up there every play. I know he’s ready and we’ll try to be ready as well.”
What makes Crosby such a challenge is not only the aforementioned motor or the large arsenal of pass rush moves he uses, but also that he's moved around the defensive formation in a way that not all edge rushers are. On any given down, you can't be sure who exactly Crosby will be lining up across from, meaning every single Texans offensive lineman is going to have to be ready.
“When it comes to the Raiders defense, Maxx Crosby definitely sticks out. He’s a very disruptive player, run game and pass game,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said of Crosby, who has the 9th-most tackles for loss since 2000. “He aligns at both sides at any given time. We have to know where he is, and we have to make sure we’re outworking him. We got to get hands on him, and we got to finish him. He’s a good player. We got good players. We just got to outwork him.”
Outworking Mad Maxx is a task that's much easier said than done.