The Baltimore Ravens have never in the history of their franchise traded a number one pick for a veteran player. The Ravens are looking for new ways to find an old format they used for plenty of years by establishing a solid defense. Just having Lamar Jackson, their best quarterback in franchise history, is not cutting the mustard to win it all. The purple and black old recipe was a psychopath like Ray Lewis storming your front door off the hinges and killing your quarterback while his friends murder your entire family. The Ravens have won Superbowls with middle tier quarterback play with veteran guys like Trent Dilfur and Joe Flacco. Jackson seems to vanish in the 4th quarter as the Ravens in the last 5 seasons have blown 16 leads. The ole purple and black defense can’t even protect two of those games that the Ravens had double digit leads in. Jackson would be too cool for school yucking it up with his posse on the sidelines thinking most of these games were in the bag. The Ravens fired their head coach John Harbaugh who helped win one of the Ravens’ two Superbowls. However he has not won one with Jackson as his quarterback. The Ravens went out & hired another defensive minded coach and added a disruptor to their defense. Another psychopath. A guy that can blow the doors off the opponent’s offensive line and kill the quarterback. The Ravens paid a dear price to acquire Mad Maxx Crosby from the Raiders. It will cost them two first round picks, one this season and the other in 2027. Now the Ravens have found a closer for the 4th quarter.

Maxx Crosby was perfect for the Oakland Raiders who drafted him in the 4th round of the 2019 NFL draft from Eastern Michigan. The name Maxx comes with an intimidating beard along with all the tattoos & wearing silver and black with the Raider logo on the helmet. Playing in front of a fan base that was called the Black Hole. He had to earn the nickname, Mad Maxx, which did not take long as he had 10 sacks in his first season. The Raiders moved to Las Vegas where Maxx has played the last 6 seasons. In 7 seasons Crosby has played in 110 games and has racked up 69.5 total sacks. He has racked up 278 solo tackles and has forced 11 fumbles. He has made 5 Pro-bowls in 7 seasons. Last year he played in 15 games in his last season wearing the silver and black. He had 10 sacks, 45 tackles, and forced 2 fumbles. The Raiders gave their beloved defensive lineman a 3 year extension worth 106.5 million. The Raiders had another clunker of a season and Mad Maxx was not liking his Thunderdome. He has only played in 1 career playoff game with the Raiders which was a loss in 2021. The Raiders management sent Crosby home before the season concluded, claiming he had a knee issue. He missed two games. Some think without Crosby on the field it helped the Raiders tank the rest of the season to land the number1 pick of this April’s draft. The Raiders ownership has done weird things with their star players like Crosby. They had a beef with Derek Carr as he was benched and was sent home instead of working out their issues with their star players. Crosby finishes 3rd all-time on the Raiders sack list.

Greg Townsend is number one tallying up 107.5 sacks. The great Howie Long is number 2 all-time on the silver and black list with 84 total sacks. Then Mad Maxx finished with 69.5. If he stayed with the Raiders you have to believe he would have broken Long’s and Townsend’s record.

Will opposing quarterbacks hear the heartbeat of the telltale heart louder in the 4th quarter with Mad Maxx Crosby on the field? The Ravens did not make post-season and their defense was freaking terrible the last two seasons. The last time the Ravens had a solid defense it was when Mike Macdonald was the team’s defensive coordinator. As you know he has been in Seattle only two seasons and the Seahawks have already won the Superbowl with a defense he established called the Darkside.

It was Seattle’s defense that played a huge part of winning the Superbowl several weeks ago. The Ravens went out and got one of the best defensive coordinators in the league to be the next team’s head coach as they hired Chargers’ Jessee Minter. Now adding Maxx Crosby to the present Ravens defense that includes a stud line backer in Roquan Smith and safety Mike Hamilton, the Ravens got a solid piece up front, in the middle, and back of their defense. Like the Ravens of the old with Ray Lewis in the middle. They had Ed Reed at the back end. Then Terrell Suggs rushing the QB. Those guys had other cast members which the Ravens will have to find. When it comes to finishing games, Maxx Crosby has 22.5 of his sacks in the 4th quarter. He has 17 tackles for a loss of yardage in the final 5 minutes of regulation. Lamar Jackson couldn’t win by himself. So they gave him wide receivers to help the passing game. Same results. They could still not win, so they went out and signed the best running back in the league in Derrick Henry. Same result – they could not win in post-season play. Jackson’s record in post-season is 3-5 which is not very impressive. Can Crosby change that?

The Ravens are paying Maxx Crosby a big amount of money and it’s costing them a lot in draft capital just to get his services.To rubs some salt on wounds from the strenuous salary cap of the Ravens after taking on Crosby’s contract. The Raiders may have added the last laugh after acquiring two first rounders from Baltimore. They signed the Ravens top offensive lineman center free agent, Tyler Linderbaum, to a big contract.

Welcome to salary cap hell as the Ravens will be living the dream. Believe me every team would want to have a Mad Maxx Crosby with a motor that never stops. I think his jersey will sell more than Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. I believe that Baltimore defense will get back to their old recipe with more sauce. I think this franchise needs a change at the quarterback position. Jackson will never win a Superbowl. The Seahawks won the big game with a guy in Sam Darnold that was going down First Round Bust Boulevard for several years. Jackson is a superstar in the NFL. He does not have the mentality to win the entire league. Crosby will not be the guy that gets Jackson to the promised land. It will be another quarterback that Mad Maxx will be riding with down Fury Road.

The Ravens management will see when the telltale heart starts growing louder & louder with Jackson’s failures. Until the mind set starts to explode with all the Jackson noise. In the end the signs were all over the woodwork, which they missed. Find someone that will take on Jackson’s contract. Then invest your money wisely. Find that guy like a Darnold. Improve the cast on that Fury Road defense. Then you will see the Ravens winning the Superbowl with their old format.