Patriots
“We all know on the defensive side of the ball, the sky’s the limit for us.”
The Patriots have plenty of work to do after a 20-13 setback against the Raiders on Sunday afternoon.
But, speaking after the loss, Patriots captain Harold Landry III offered up plenty of optimism about New England’s ceiling on the defensive side of the ball.
“I feel like we came out with good energy. … I felt like you could see the glimpse of dominance that our defense has,” Landry said.
Landry — who signed a three-year, $43.5 contract with New England in free agency — was one of the bright spots on an otherwise dreary afternoon for the Patriots against Las Vegas.
Landry was a force in New England’s pass-rushing efforts against Raiders QB Geno Smith, closing out the game with 2.5 sacks, four quarterback hits, and three tackles for a loss.
“We all know on the defensive side of the ball, the sky’s the limit for us,” Landry said. “I think for us it’s just that consistency snapping in and snapping out and not having any lapses. You can easily tell that we have so much potential on that side of the ball.
New England invested heavily on defense as part of a free-agency spending spree — with Landry part of the wave of offseason signings that also included DT Milton Williams, LB Robert Spillane, CB Carlton Davis, EDGE K’Lavon Chaisson, and others.
The Patriots were able to both generate pressure against Smith and largely contain rookie running back Ashton Jeanty on Sunday, with the Raiders finishing with just 56 total yards on the ground.
Landry was far from the only Patriots free-agent pickup to show out on Sunday, as Williams — who inked a four-year, $104 million contract with New England — recorded two QB hits and seven total pressures.
According to Next Gen Stats, both Landry and Williams led the Patriots with seven pressures apiece against the Raiders. During a 2024 season where New England recorded a league-worst 28 sacks, there was only one game where a Patriots player generated seven-plus pressures (Keion White against the 49ers on Sept. 29, 2024).
Even with the upside found in New England’s pass rush and offseason pickups like Landry, it was far from a perfect showing from the Patriots’ defensive unit.
Las Vegasmanaged to generate plenty of explosive plays down the field, with Smith closing out the win with 362 passing yards. The Raiders generated nine players that resulted in 20 or more yards.
The eventual return of Christian Gonzalez at some point from a nagging hamstring injury should help New England snuff out some of those chunk-yardage plays.
But, Landry believes the onus falls on the players on the field Sunday to ensure that a repeat performance doesn’t play out on Week 2 against the Dolphins.
“It’s going to be to come in, be ready to work, make the corrections. You have to be hungry to improve,” Landry said. “It’s Week 1. Nobody’s going to be talking about this week in a couple weeks, you got to be ready to make the corrections, be critical of yourself, and find ways to improve.
“Find a way to be more consistent, [Mike Vrabel] isn’t going to change, he knows what it takes to win in this league, and he knows that the guys just got to come in here ready to work.”
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