Over the last few years, the Patriots' defense has been the best part of the roster and expected to be the main reason they remain in games on a weekly basis. That is expected to remain during the 2025 season, and that was proven without a shadow of a doubt in their season opener against the Raiders on Sunday.
After a rough start, the defense came into their own, with safety Jaylinn Hawkins hauling in an interception and an impressive sack to force a fourth down, while players like Harold Landry III and K'Lavon Chaisson were bringing the pressure to the Raiders' QB Geno Smith.
That was a crucial part of the defensive effort throughout the afternoon, which seemed to fall off as the game continued after halftime. But the brightest part of the group continued to be Landry, who many analysts and fans questioned when he was initially signed in free agency.
The doubters believed he was a courtesy signing by his former head coach from his days with the Titans, and he wouldn't move the needle in a very needy pass rush. We didn't get to see him disprove that narrative much during the preseason, but his performance against the Raiders sure did.
Harold Landry quickly shut down all doubts about his fit as the Patriots' leading pass rusher
Once the defense settled in, Landry became an immediate game wrecker, making Smith's job significantly more difficult throughout the day. It was an unexpected development considering all the pessimism surrounding him since he signed with the team, but his production clearly showed he is the pass rusher the Patriots have needed since Matthew Judon was traded last year.
By the end of the game, he totaled five combined tackles, three for a loss, four quarterback hits, and a team-high 2.5 sacks.
HAROLD LANDRY MONSTER.
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 7, 2025
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/J4C44FFx5n
Because the pass rush appeared to be among the team's biggest weaknesses, the Patriots were heavily favored to land superstar Micah Parsons in a trade over the last few weeks, and they reportedly even made the call to Dallas about a deal.
Obviously, Parsons is now with the Packers instead, but there was a reason the Patriots were interested, yet now, they might not be as concerned with the group after Landry's performance on Sunday.
It was the second-most sacks in a single game for Landry, who recorded three sacks against the Dolphins during the 2023 season. Making his performance even better is seeing that the Patriots had three players who ended the 2024 season with 2.5+ sacks, and Landry is already on his way to surpassing that.
The #Patriots only had three players with 2.5+ sacks throughout all of 2024. Keion White and Deatrich Wise led the team with 5, while Anfernee Jennings had 2.5.
— Zac Ventola (@NEPatriotsToday) September 7, 2025
Harold Landry has eclipsed that mark through less than 3 quarters of this game.
With the Dolphins on the calendar for next week, and Landry's prior success against them, there's hope he can build upon what he did against the Raiders and repeat that performance, if not even more, and help the Patriots get their first win of the season.
To make that even better would be the rise of others around him, like Chaisson, Milton Williams, and Keion White. Time will tell, but at least Landry looks good early on.