Silver Minings: Maxx Crosby had a special season

Raiders defensive end led the NFL in pressures

Game in and game out, defensive end Maxx Crosby was the Las Vegas Raiders’ best, most consistent player.

So, it was no surprise, in the Raiders’ biggest game in years, Crosby gave maximum effort and was a reason why the Raiders won and qualified for the playoffs Sunday night against the Chargers. According to the Associated Press, Crosby was on the field in the Raiders’ overtime win over the Chargers the second-most of any defensive lineman in the NFL in 15 years.

No wonder Crosby joked after the game that he was so tired he couldn’t talk. Of course, the Pro Bowl pass-rusher had a big game. According to Pro Football Focus, Crosby led the NFL with 100 quarterbacks pressures in the regular season, which was one of the highest rates since the site started charting pressures.

By the way, both JJ Watt and Aaron Donald won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards in the seasons when they had 100-plus pressures.

The Raiders have a chance to win their first playoff game in 20 seasons on Saturday afternoon at the Cincinnati Bengals — and the presence of Crosby is a big reason why.

In other Raiders’ links:

• Having faith: One bettor has a lot riding on the Raiders winning the Super Bowl.
• Facyson love: The Raiders’ website has a feature on cornerback Brandon Facyson.
• More Hobbs love: PFF loved Raiders’ rookie cornerback Nate Hobbs all season.
• Most-watched game: The Raiders win at Dallas on Thanksgiving Day was the most watched game of the entire NFL regular season.
• High Grades: Allegiant Stadium’s game-day operations gave been lauded from teams around the league.