The New England Patriots will try to get back to .500 today against the Los Angeles Chargers, but they will also keep an indirect eye on the other games taking place. With the playoff picture shaping up, New England’s rooting interests become more important every week. With that being said...
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1:00 pm ET
Indianapolis Colts (7-4) at Houston Texans (4-7): CBS
Go Texans! With the Colts in direct competition with the Patriots for one of the AFC’s three wild card playoff spots, a Texans win would be the preferred outcome — one that could possibly bring New England within one game of Indianapolis
Detroit Lions (4-7) at Chicago Bears (5-6): FOX
Go good game! The game itself has little actual impact on the AFC’s playoff picture, so Patriots fans can just root for an entertaining contest.
Cincinnati Bengals (2-8-1) at Miami Dolphins (7-4): CBS
Go Bengals! The Dolphins are in direct competition with the Patriots for the second spot in the AFC East and one of the wild card spots. Needless to say that an unlikely Cincinnati win is what New England will be rooting for.
Las Vegas Raiders (6-5) at New York Jets (0-11): CBS
Go Jets! They probably won’t be able to pull it off given that they are still winless, but a Jets victory would be the best-case scenario from the Patriots’ perspective: the Raiders are in direct competition with New England for a wild card berth, and the Patriots are holding the tiebreaker due to their Week 3 win.
Jacksonville Jaguars (1-10) at Minnesota Vikings (5-6): CBS
Go Vikings! The rooting interest in this game is tied solely to the 2021 draft: a Jaguars loss in combination with a Jets win would make things plenty interesting in the race for the number one overall draft pick next spring — possibly keeping New York from getting it.
New Orleans Saints (9-2) at Atlanta Falcons (4-7): FOX
Go Falcons! With the Raiders having beaten the Saints but not the Falcons earlier this year, an Atlanta win is the preferred outcome from New England’s perspective: Las Vegas’ strength of victory tiebreaker would take a hit with a Falcons win.
Cleveland Browns (8-3) at Tennessee Titans (8-3): CBS
Go Titans! While the Titans appear to be on their way to winning the AFC South, the Browns are fighting for a wild card spot. They are in a comfortable position, but a loss today would still make things interesting — possibly also for the Patriots.
4:05 pm ET
Los Angeles Rams (7-4) at Arizona Cardinals (6-5): FOX
Go Cardinals! New England’s strength of victory tiebreaker would benefit from an Arizona victory: the Patriots have already beaten the Cardinals, while the game against the Rams is still TBD.
New York Giants (4-7) at Seattle Seahawks (8-3): FOX
Go Seahawks! A Seahawks win would not help the Patriots’ strength of victory tiebreaker, but their strength of schedule. So, rooting for the home team is the way to go.
4:25 pm ET
Philadelphia Eagles (3-7-1) at Green Bay Packers (8-3): CBS
Go Eagles! The Packers lost against the Colts, the Eagles lost against the Browns and the Baltimore Ravens. Strength of victory tiebreakers will be impacted either way, with no winner necessarily a better one from New England’s point of view. However, the Patriots do hold head-to-head over Baltimore and with Cleveland possibly too far ahead already an Eagles win appears to be the preferable outcome — one that would in a vacuum improve New England’s playoff odds by one percent from 13 to 14.
8:20 pm ET
Denver Broncos (4-7) at Kansas City Chiefs (10-1): NBC
Go Chiefs! One of New England’s competitors for the wild card playoffs, the Raiders, already beat the Broncos earlier this year and went 1-1 against the Chiefs. A Kansas City victory would therefore be better for the Patriots — no matter how weird rooting for the team might feel.