From the Vault: Maxx Crosby reflects on rookie breakout game against the Cincinnati Bengals

Maxx Crosby can remember every play of every game he's played, all the way back to middle school.

His memory was put to the test when reflecting on Week 11 of the 2019 season against the Cincinnati Bengals, the game he believes put him on the map.

Bengals starting quarterback Andy Dalton was benched after starting 0-8 on the season, and Ryan Finley was about to make his second career start going into the matchup at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.

The Raiders edge rusher knew Finley well. The two rookies trained together in Arizona leading up to the NFL Draft, with the Silver and Black selecting Crosby two picks after the Bengals selected the quarterback.

By this point in the season, Crosby started to come into his own. Since turning the page to earn a starting role in Week 5, he'd totaled 2.5 sacks, five tackles for loss and six quarterback hits.

Maxx's coming out party in Oakland was a lengthy one, as he got into the backfield four times that Sunday afternoon – starting on the Bengals' first drive.

Quarterback sack No. 1: 10:57 in the first quarter.

"I had a cross chop on John Jerry, got a strip sack," Crosby said. "Mo Hurst picks it up, jumps in the crowd. I mean after that, you start the game quick, get a strip sack and they come in bunches."

Quarterback sack No. 2: 14:23 in the fourth quarter

"I remember getting one a boot. They ran a boot with Finley and I just sniffed it out."

Quarterback sack No. 3: 7:38 in the fourth quarter

"The third one was a speed to power on Jerry again. Got a sack when they were backed up."

Quarterback sack No. 4: 1:54 in the fourth quarter

"The fourth was a game I ran with Dion Jordan. I came underneath and snagged him by the ankle, and he almost fumbled it. So yeah, I remember it very vividly."

Yet, the process it took to get to this moment is more fond of a memory than the game itself for The Condor.

The Eastern Michigan player manifested being drafted for as long as he can remember, watching the annual event on the television and envisioning what it be like to hear his name called.

Once the Raiders selected him with the 106th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the expectations for himself grew.

"I don't think it's a secret, but I've always had an insane belief in what I can do as a player," Crosby said. "I truly have an unbelievable amount of expectations that I put on myself. So, I didn't come in with the mindset, 'I'm just trying to make the team.' I wanted to come in and be that guy. … At that time, I was young, fearless. I just wanted an opportunity to go in there and put on a show."

The opportunity was forged through an impressive rookie minicamp showing that place him on the radar of defensive line coach Brentson Buckner.

Extending into training camp, Buckner knew the Raiders had a sleeper pick in their hands.

"He has supreme confidence and that's what we noticed, is the way that he carries himself," Buckner said of his initial thoughts about Crosby. "He didn't think nobody could block him. And he had this, I don't want to say arrogance, but he had this confidence that, 'Yeah, I was drafted later, but I was better than anybody in this draft.' And that's the way he went, and his motor was just all over the place.

"Most rookie minicamps, guys come in [and] they're wide-eyed, they're nervous. But he fit right in. It was almost scary."

Even with a high level of confidence came growing pains for the rookie. He broke his hand in the preseason which limited him toward the end of training camp. He went into the season as a rotational defensive lineman, averaging nearly 23 snaps a game in his first three outings.

But on the drop of a dime in Week 4, the stage was set for Crosby to earn his keep. Benson Mayowa went down earlier in the week, and the rookie was next man up.

"I had no idea that was going to happen, and Buck came to me right before the game started basically and was like, 'You're up on third [down].' And I'm like, 'What?'" Crosby recalled. "And I tell people this story all the time, but you don't know when is going to be your opportunity. But the one thing is – the things that require no talent are the most important.

"After that Vikings game Week 3, I was at my lowest of low. I probably played the worst football I've played probably my whole life up to that point. I was struggling, bro. And I was really going through it and mentally I was almost defeated. But I didn't give up on myself. I kept showing up and Buck was so hard on me. … I got harder on myself, I went and I was running to the ball, flying even though all that hard stuff was going on. And then ironically a week later, I get an opportunity to go play and haven't looked back sense."

No. 98 would total two pass deflections and a forced fumble in a 31-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts. The following week in his first NFL career start, he picked up his first sack in a victory against the Chicago Bears.

Riding momentum heading into Week 11, he knew there was potential for a breakout performance. Not just because Finley was starting at quarterback, but with veteran John Jerry filling in at left tackle due to the starter going down earlier in the year.

Crosby leaned on game tape from a Cincinnati Bengals game two seasons prior, gaining insight from how four-time Pro Bowler Everson Griffen played against their offensive line.

"He was torching them. Like spin move, everything was just killing these tackles. And I don't think he even had a sack. He might've had one or a half, but he might've had 10-15 pressures. He was killing them. And so, I'm watching the film and I'm like, 'I need to go try and outdo this dude.'"

It was also around this time that Buckner started to get a glimpse of the player Crosby had fully evolved into.

"That practice that whole week – no mistakes, understanding, knowing the plays," Buckner said. "We would always call it playing the game before we play the game, we'd sit in at the end of the week and we'd just go through a game and I'd call a defense out and have some plays up there and he just knew, 'This formation is a run, they're going to double team him, this is a kick set.' And he knew everything about the offensive line that he was going to face."

Buckner had a special feeling about what would transpire as Crosby ran out on the field.

"He had that look in his eyes even in warmups … you could just see he was totally focused. And his energy level was just high the whole game. You know, everybody talks about the sacks, but if you go back and watch the game – the TFLs he had, the pressures on the quarterback, just the total disruption he had in that game. I think that was his coming out party. 'Cause Maxx always in his mind [thought], 'I belong. Y'all made the mistake of drafting me late, but you're lucky you got me.' But that was his coming out party of, 'I'm here, I'm a force to be reckoned with.'"

His four sacks in the 17-10 victory against the Bengals still stand as his career high in a single game. It's also the most in a game by any rookie in franchise history. He earned his first NFL Defensive Player of the Week award and finished his rookie season with 10 sacks, his first of three career seasons with double-digit sack totals.

The breakout game means even more to him considering his struggles with sobriety at the time. Crosby admitted himself into rehab the offseason before his second season.

"I'm not going to lie, that week leading up to it I remember the football aspect of it, but I was really going through a lot at that time," Crosby said. "I was going through a lot off the field, battling my own demons and going through what I was going through. Just to be able to go out there and let it all out and put it all on the line was huge."

While Crosby is now viewed as an elite edge rusher in the league and the anchor of the Raiders defense, he's still chasing greatness with the same tenacity he did as a rookie in Oakland.

"Legacy is everything to me. I want to be immortal when it's all said and done, I want to be the best to do it and that's what's motivates me. In those moments you think, 'Damn, this dope but what am I going to do next week?' That's all people remember so that's what pushes me every day to be better."