49ers must be wary of these sneaky concerns vs. Raiders in Week 17
By Peter Panacy
No. 2 concern 49ers have with Raiders: Maxx Crosby’s pass rush
The 49ers have the best sack specialist in football right now, Pro Bowl EDGE Nick Bosa, whose 17.5 sacks lead the NFL.
A year ago, though, Raiders EDGE Maxx Crosby somehow beat Bosa out for an All-Pro selection.
Maybe Bosa took that personally, and he’ll use that as motivation for Sunday’s contest.
That said, Crosby is still the most feared player Las Vegas has on its defense, and his own Pro Bowler efforts have resulted in 11.5 sacks on the season. Tack on 33 quarterback hits, and there’s always going to be a risk of someone like Crosby impacting the game too much away from the Niners’ vantage point.
Fortunately, San Francisco has done a relatively good job in protecting Brock Purdy, who has taken seven sacks on the year.
“Overall, Maxx Crosby is really good on the edge,” Purdy said earlier this week, via 49ers Webzone. “So whenever [another team has] a player like that, that you have to focus on, who can do a lot of other different things, that you can sometimes slip up and not be ready for in terms of what they do with their secondary and whatnot.”
With Crosby looking to impress just as much as Bosa, there’s always the chance that turns into problems for Purdy and the 49ers.