New England Patriots edge-rusher Harold Landry's status for Super Bowl 60 is up in the air just over 48 hours until kickoff.
On Thursday, the seven-year NFL veteran who missed all of the 2022 season with a torn ACL was listed as a non-participant during practice, raising concerns about his status for this Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
His knee issue is nothing new. Landry sat out the final two weeks of the regular season and was limited to just 11 snaps against Houston in the divisional round before being ruled out for the AFC title game against the Denver Broncos.
Landry has appeared in 17 games (15 starts) for the Patriots this season, including playoffs, and led the team in sacks (8.5) during the regular season. His Super Bowl availability will be key to knocking a dynamic Seahawks offense off rhythm.
Patriots Need Harold Landry Healthy to Pull off Super Bowl 60 Upset
Seattle opened as a 3.5-point favorite, and the spread has grown to 4.5 as of Friday morning, per FanDuel Sportsbook.
The Seahawks, who ranked No. 3 in scoring (28.4 points per game) during the regular season, have been even more efficient during the playoffs, averaging 36 points per game in wins over the division rival San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. Quarterback Sam Darnold is playing some of, if not the best, football of his career, completing 69.8 percent of his pass attempts for 470 yards (8.9 yards per attempt) and four touchdowns without an interception.
Defensively, Seattle has allowed 16.5 points per game during the postseason while forcing four turnovers to enter Super Bowl Sunday firing on all cylinders.
To have a chance of pulling off the upset and winning the franchise's record seventh Lombardi Trophy, the Patriots must control the line of scrimmage. But that will be much more difficult without their full complement of pass rushers should Landry be forced to watch. He has a potentially favorable individual matchup if active, with NFL Pro insights noting Landry often lined up at left edge, setting him up to face Seahawks left tackle Charles Cross, who gave up a team-high five sacks during the regular season.
As well as Darnold has played these playoffs, he was one of the league's worst quarterbacks when pressured during the regular season. According to NFL Pro data, he lost 0.58 expected points per dropback when pressured, the sixth-worst mark among 33 qualifying quarterbacks.
Only 49ers backup Mac Jones, rookie Cam Ward, and immobile veterans Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers, and Geno Smith produced worse EPA under duress.
If Landry sits, the Patriots will need big games from edges K'Lavon Chaisson and Anfernee Jennings, both members of the 2020 NFL draft class, and rookie undrafted free agent Elijah Ponder out of FCS Cal Poly. Chaisson and Jennings have combined for five sacks and 27 total pressures during the playoffs, per Pro Football Focus data, while Ponder has added eight pressures of his own in 59 pass-rush snaps.
Defensive tackles Milton Williams and Christian Barmore are having excellent seasons and can be relied on to collapse the pocket. It will be up to the edge-defenders to take advantage of the attention their teammates in the interior receive.
New England signed Landry during the offseason to help improve a defense that ranked No. 22 in total and scoring defense in 2024, giving him a three-year, $45.3 million contract as part of an aggressive free-agency push. He's been an instrumental piece to the Patriots' remarkable 10-win improvement and push back to national relevancy. It would be a shame for Landry's knee to keep him from playing in his first Super Bowl.
But two days before kickoff, New England must prepare for his absence and plan accordingly.
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