The Las Vegas Raiders have informed star pass rusher Maxx Crosby that he won’t be playing this Sunday against the New York Giants.
While Crosby has been playing through an injury, he still has 10.0 sacks on the season to go with 20 QB hits and a career-high 28 tackles for a loss.
For their part, the Giants will be without left tackle Andrew Thoma, who suffered a hamstring injury last week against the Minnesota Vikings.
Crosby is, pretty easily, the Raiders’ best defensive players and one of their best players at any position. The decision to bench him comes hot on the heels of the decision to shut star TE Brock Bowers down for the year.
While we won’t say that the Raiders are intentionally tanking with the first overall pick on the line, they’re not beating the allegations. The decision to shut down their best players certainly makes their path to the No.1 pick much more clear.
Maybe the Giants should counter by starting Mike Kafka at quarterback.
