The Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs are reigniting their rivalry in Week 7. While the Chiefs have dominated the rivalry, the personal rivalry between defensive end Maxx Crosby and quarterback Patrick Mahomes has gotten intense at times.
While the two are friendly away from the field, they have been known to get very competitive with each other. Mahomes has spoken very highly of Crosby in the past and had more praise for the star pass rusher ahead of the Week 7 matchup.
“A ton of respect,” Mahomes said of Crosby, via Raiders.com. “When I talk to him outside of football, it’s like we’re friends. You wouldn’t even see what happens on the football field. But he’s the type of competitor like me. When you get on that football field, it’s whatever it takes to win and you’re going to leave everything on the football field. I have a ton of respect for that.”
Chiefs Coaching Staff Talks Crosby
The Raiders aren’t as talented a team as the Chiefs, but they’ve played them competitively the last couple of years. Crosby is the type of player who can take over a game on the defensive side of the ball. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is prepared for Crosby.
“Maxx is a heck of a competitor, and he’s 100 miles an hour every play. I’m sure he’s that way in practice. He just goes and goes,” Reid said.
Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy also praised Crosby.
“He goes 100 percent of the time all the time and its relentless,” Nagy said. “He’s a game changer. He can affect the game. Just a ton of respect and you’ve got to know where he’s at on every play.”
Mahomes Discusses Raiders Rivalry
The Chiefs-Raiders rivalry is one of the most historic in the NFL. The two franchises have hated each other for decades.
The Chiefs have dominated the rivalry for a long time, but they know that the Raiders won’t go down without a fight.
“I always say it doesn’t matter if you’re doing good, they’re doing good, both doing good, both doing bad, this game – it means more to everybody,” Mahomes said. “Everybody that’s playing in the game, both sides of the football. You have to have that mentality. It’s a true rivalry game. You don’t have a lot of those in the NFL and I’m blessed to be a part of it because it really does bring out the best in both teams.”
Cornerback Trent McDuffie knows the Raiders are going to give it their all.
“No matter who’s playing on that field, they’re gonna play four quarters,” McDuffie said. “I have a [great] deal of respect for them and how they’re coached and how they play this game. I mean, we’ve seen around the league, you can’t really sleep on anybody.”
The Raiders need a win in this spot ahead of their bye week, so they’re going to have a lot of motivation to pull off the upset. If they can, they’ll be right back in the mix in the AFC West.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes Drops Eye-Opening Maxx Crosby Statement appeared first on Heavy Sports.