Michael Crabtree is the Raiders’ heart and soul

OAKLAND — It was 24-9 and the Oakland Raiders looked soft. The Buffalo Bills were mauling them late into the third quarter on Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum. The Raiders looked like a team that had met its physical match, like one facing an identity crisis.

Like one requiring a jolt, a surge. Something new.

No player among the Raiders is more fitting for that task than receiver Michael Crabtree. He rolled out of Texas Tech in 2009 as the 10th pick of the draft, played six curvy seasons in San Francisco where he reached a Super Bowl and lost it before finding his way across the Bay, to the Raiders last season. He has often been in the middle of mayhem and sprinted out of it intact, grittier than before. He plays with fury. He speaks with fervor.

Crabtree adds another spice of color and charm to the Bay Area’s 49ers/Raiders players that includes vintage names like Rod Woodson and Ronnie Lott and Jim Plunkett and Jerry Rice and even current Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie. Playing for both NFL teams at different times in your career here is not different, Crabtree said, as long as you win with both. Winning manifests a bond with fans and a spirit among the organizations, he said, that is exactly similar in appreciation and value.

That’s the way he’s lived it.

So, the Raiders, down 24-9, getting pounded and looking confused, faced a third-and-goal at the Bills 3-yard line late in the third quarter. The Raiders called Crabtree’s number. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr looked Crabtree’s way.

Crabtree lined up wide right, took a few steps, planted his right foot, broke inside toward the back of the end zone and left the Buffalo secondary in shambles. Carr zipped it to him. Crabtree caught it. Touchdown.

Oakland was on its way to scoring 29 unanswered points. It rolled to 38-24 victory and sure looked scary by game’s end. Oakland had risen to a 10-2 record. It plays on Thursday night at the Kansas City Chiefs (9-3).

All AFC West teams, including the Chiefs, are chasing the Raiders.

Nearly the entire AFC is, too, including Buffalo, which fell to 6-6.

Crabtree shook his team up, woke them up.

“A great competitor, a great teammate, loves the game, loves competition and just tough as nails,” Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio said as he left the Coliseum about Crabtree, who finished with seven catches for 74 yards. “Just a fantastic player to have on your team. Did I mention he is tough as nails?”

As tough as nails and yet, he is as tender an NFL player as you will find.

Here is what he said about his scoring catch that galvanized the Raiders:

“I was hungry,” he said. “I had dropped a pass that could have been a touchdown catch earlier. I knew I needed to correct that. I knew I needed to make something happen. We’ve got the type of team that just has to respond. That’s how you win these kinds of games. Respond. Do something. By any means, do something to win the game. That’s how I feel about it. That’s what was on my mind.”

Once Crabtree took the lid off, the rest of the Raiders broke loose. Carr threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Latavius Murray rushed for 82 yards and two scores; Murray displayed dazzling toughness and complementary open-field maneuvers. Linebacker Khalil Mack made seven tackles, one sack, forced a fumble, recovered it, and tipped a pass that led to safety Nate Allen’s interception.

The Bills did nothing to thwart the momentum Crabtree started.

The Bills could only explain it as playing on their heels too frequently and failing to remain composed.

The Raiders left talking up Mack as an MVP candidate. And Carr as one, too.

And Crabtree as a special force. Allen said he says it every day in practice.

”He works. Sometimes, guys drafted at the top like that are guys who think they should be given status,” Allen said. “But here he is in Year 8 of his career always out there trying to prove it. That’s how it should be. That’s how you stay in this league a long time.

“He is one of hardest workers you are going to find. There is nothing complacent about him. It shows in his play. He gives you the persona that you can lean on him. He knows how to get comfortable even when things are uncomfortable.”

That didn’t come easily for Crabtree.

He was good in San Francisco, but never Odell Beckham, Jr., or Julio Jones good. He has been a successful NFL receiver but not a national sensation.

But he has always made a mark. He has always found a way to be tough as nails. Be the spark.

And be tender, too.

Because last March, his agent and close friend, Eugene Parker, died. That did something to Crabtree that resonates throughout this season.

“He was like a dad to me from college to the pros,” Crabtree said of Parker. “At his funeral, I couldn’t even speak. I just cried my eyes out. Sometimes, I still do. I have dedicated this year to him. This whole year. Everything I do this year I will do for him. He showed me how to do this.”

To become a player the Raiders can lean on.