The Patriots don’t play until later today, but here is the slate of early games.
1:00 PM EST
49ers at Dolphins (-7.5): The Dolphins are making a serious push for the playoffs and they sit one game behind the Broncos and Chiefs. This also means that they’re breathing down the Patriots neck. The division comes first, so the Patriots will ignore the possibility of the Broncos or Chiefs falling out of the playoffs and will want the 49ers to pull off the upset.
Jaguars at Bills (-7.5): The Bills are 5-5 and are outside of the playoff picture; the Patriots will want the Jaguars to win to push the Bills further down in the division.
Bengals at Ravens (-4): The Ravens are a half game behind the Steelers in the AFC North and the Patriots would rather see the Ravens in the playoffs than the Steelers.
Chargers (-3) at Texans: Somehow the AFC South division leader is a home underdog against the worst team in the AFC West. Brutal. The Patriots will want the Chargers to win to improve their chances of winning a first round bye.
Titans (-6.5) at Bears: The Titans are the only team in the AFC South with a positive point differential and a win puts them into the playoff picture. Could Tennessee steal a wild card spot away from an AFC West team? The Patriots would love for that to happen.
Cardinals at Falcons (-4.5): The Patriots will be rooting for the Cardinals to win in order to improve their strength of victory.
Giants (-7.5) at Browns: The Patriots would love the Browns to pull of the upset for two reasons; 1) it would improve the Patriots strength of victory; 2) it would give the Giants a much steeper climb to the playoffs.
Rams at Saints (-8): The Patriots play the Rams next week and the Patriots would like the Rams to win for the sake of strength of schedule- although they’d love for the Saints to poke a lot of holes in the Rams defense.
Use this as the open thread for discussion.