With the New England Patriots having improved to 2-1 thanks to a 36-20 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, the team’s fans can enjoy a quiet and stress-free afternoon and evening — one that features six games. With that being said, what are those games? And who should Patriots fans root for? Let’s find out.
4:05 pm ET
New York Jets (0-2) at Indianapolis Colts (1-1): CBS
Go Jets! While rooting against the Jets is one of New England’s favorite pastimes, and the Patriots own their sixth-round draft pick next year, New York is the team to go with today: a) it’s the Colts, and b) a Jets win would boost the Patriots’ strength of schedule and victory — two tiebreakers that could potentially be crucial when it comes to playoff seeding.
Carolina Panthers (0-2) at Los Angeles Chargers (1-1): CBS
Go good game! While rooting for the NFC team over the AFC team might be a good plan, the Panthers and Chargers going up against each other has no direct impact on New England. An entertaining game is what you should root for. Or chaos, whatever you prefer.
4:25 pm ET
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1) at Denver Broncos (0-2): FOX
Go Broncos! Rooting for Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski is never the wrong thing to do, but Patriots fans should rather be pro-Denver in this game: a Broncos win would help New England’s strength of schedule and potentially strength of victory as well.
Detroit Lions (0-2) at Arizona Cardinals (2-0): FOX
Go good game! Matt Patricia’s team is already under considerable pressure after losing its first two contests of the year, so Patriots fans might decide to root for their team’s former defensive coordinator. That said, Detroit’s game against Arizona has virtually no impact on New England.
Dallas Cowboys (1-1) at Seattle Seahawks (2-0): FOX
Go Seahawks! The Patriots lost in Seattle just last week but rooting for the team is still the way to go: a victory would, as some of the other games listed here, improve New England’s strength of schedule. Add the fact that the Patriots are owning Dallas’ sixth-round draft pick next year and this one becomes a no-brainer.
8:20 pm ET
Green Bay Packers (2-0) at New Orleans Saints (1-1): NBC
Go good game! Neither the Packers nor the Saints have much of an impact on the Patriots this season. Today’s prime time contest is a relaxing affair.