LA Chargers: 3 matchups that will determine Week 4 outcome vs. Las Vegas Raiders
By Jason Reed
2. Maxx Crosby vs. Storm Norton
One of the biggest improvements that the Las Vegas Raiders have made is generating pass rush. That has been the Achilles' Heel of the defense and through three games, the Raiders have been able to generate pressure off the edge with Maxx Crosby and Yannick Ngakoue.
There is a good chance that the Raiders switch sides of the two edge rushers at any point in the game depending on the formation that the Chargers line up in but as the traditional left end, we will consider Maxx Crosby as the main player that Storm Norton will be matched up with.
Norton has been Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the LA Chargers. There are times when he plays really strongly, such as the second half of Week 1 and in Week 3, and there are times where he really struggles, such as Week 2. Micah Parsons ate Norton's cereal in Week 2 and was a converted inside linebacker that was playing defensive end.
Rashawn Slater has already earned our trust and should hold up just fine on the left side of the line so it is critical that Norton can do the same. While the overall offensive line is much better in 2021, all it takes is one busted position for Justin Herbert to have a long night full of pressure.
We know that Herbert is still great under pressure and there will be moments where pressure gets to him. It is limiting those moments and making sure Herbert can have as clean of a pocket as possible to avoid being rushed, causing turnovers.