Come back at 11:30 am EST for Alec and Rich's live pregame show!
---
1:00PM
Titans at Colts: Josh Freeman is starting for the Colts. I want Tennessee to win by 50.
Jaguars at Texans: Go Texans, lock up that division!
Ravens at Bengals: See the 4:25 PM explanation of the Broncos/Chiefs dynamic for more.
Jets at Bills: Is anyone scared of the Steelers at this point? It'd probably be in the Patriots best interest to flood the playoffs with teams that don't have a defense, right? If you look at the teams that have given the Patriots trouble this year, it's due to an unfortunate mix of injuries and quality defense. Hopefully the Patriots will be healthy by the divisional round, but just in case: go Steelers, go Bills.
Washington at Cowboys: Dallas deserves to be in the dungeon for their approach to this season, so let's all root for the Washington R...oi. No one wins with this game.
Eagles at Giants: Philadelphia fired their coach and New York is likely to let theirs leave after the season. The Giants are out of the playoffs and the prophecy cannot be fulfilled. C'est la vie. Let's see if Chip Kelly joins the Patriots as an "offensive consultant" at some point.
Lions at Bears: This game has literally no impact on the Patriots. So, have a healthy season finale, folks!
Saints at Falcons: A New Orleans victory clinches the AFC South for the Texans, so go New Orleans!
4:25 PM
Raiders at Chiefs
Chargers at Broncos: Who doesn't want to see Kansas City as the division leader? Alternatively, the Bengals are inching closer to an Andy Dalton return, so pushing Cincinnati into the wild card weekend might make the Patriots playoffs a little bit easier. A Chiefs win locks Kansas City into the 5th seed (at a minimum), while a Broncos win would clinch the 2nd seed. On the other hand, a Broncos loss gives the Patriots homefield advantage. So many choices. Ultimately, it makes sense in the grand scheme of rooting to believe that New England can take care of business against the Dolphins and win the 1st seed outright.
I think a Broncos 2nd seed, Bengals 3rd seed, Texans 4th seed, Chiefs 5th seed, and Steelers 6th seed would be the best possible outcome for the Patriots. The Steelers can beat the Bengals, setting up a Patriots-Pittsburgh rematch, while the Chiefs could take care of business against the Texans and then the Broncos. This would be the best possible outcome.
Seahawks at Cardinals: Arizona already has a bye week, but they seem to be the stronger team than Carolina. While momentum counts for little, a Seahawks victory could help offer a blueprint for Super Bowl hopefuls.
8:30 PM
Vikings at Packers: This is a pretty good game with the NFC North on the line. Winner takes the division and the third seed in the NFC, but that comes at a cost. The Seahawks are currently the 6th seed in the NFC. The winner of this game could very well end up hosting Seattle. The loser could could travel to Washington. A bye week is not on the line. Patriots won't really care about the outcome of this game.