Mike McGlinchey's Game vs. Raiders Reveals How to Stop DE Maxx Crosby

Much like the Las Vegas Raiders' biggest offensive threat to the Denver Broncos — Josh Jacobs — Maxx Crosby was drafted in 2019. He's played eight games against the Broncos, with a 7-1 record.

In each game, Crosby has brought chaos to the Broncos' offense, both as a pass rusher and as a run defender. In his eight games against the Broncos, he has picked up at least one sack in seven of them.

The lone exception was his first game against the Broncos as a rookie, which also happened to be his first career game. Crosby has two sacks over the last two games and averages 1.4 per game, with 11.5 total sacks against the Broncos.

In six of those eight games, Crosby has helped hold the Broncos to under 100 rushing yards, including in three of the last four games. He has also helped keep Denver under 75 yards rushing three times in his career. Only once has a single Bronco broken 75 yards rushing.

Crosby has quickly become one of the best run defenders from the edge in the NFL, and he is a high-quality pass rusher, making him a tough player to face.

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Enter Mike McGlinchey

However, the Broncos upgraded their offensive line, and their significant addition to help handle Crosby was McGlinchey. These two have faced off against each other once, near the end of the 2022 season. McGlinchey won his matchup, and his team walked out with a victory.

While Crosby picked up five total pressures, he had no sacks against San Francisco. He also picked up only two of those pressures when facing off against McGlinchey. They lined up opposite each other on 56 of 65 total snaps.

What helps Crosby be such a threat is how he got the other three pressures in that game. He does an excellent job working twists and stunts, and against interior offensive linemen, he's an even bigger threat.

Regarding his run defense, McGlinchey helped the San Francisco 49ers rush for 170 yards, with Christian McCaffrey breaking the 100-yard mark. McGlinchey's run blocking helped make him such a priority for the run-oriented Broncos. McCaffrey had two runs directly behind the right tackle and picked up 42 yards, with the Niners totaling 50 yards on four attempts.

In total, when rushing off the right side or running at Crosby, the Niners picked up 89 yards on nine attempts. San Fran figured out how to limit Crosby as a run defender to average nearly 10 yards per rush. Hopefully, McGlinchey can bring that knowledge to the Broncos to help his new team.

Crosby can be such a destructive force, so the Broncos can't let him take over the game.

Bottom Line

The best way to limit Crosby is to put points on the board and sustain a strong run game. The Broncos can't get behind and allow Crosby to tee off against the pass.

If Denver fails to do that, it will be a long day for Russell Wilson and company.

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