Patriots rooting guide: Who New England fans should root for in the Week 8 Sunday games

Week 8 is in full swing, with the New England Patriots (3-4) set to take on the New York Jets (5-2) at 1 p.m. ET. All our eyes will be on that game, naturally, but there is a lot of other football that will be played.

With a total of 12 other contests on the menu, let’s find out who Patriots fans should be cheering for. Welcome to the latest edition of our Patriots Rooting Guide.

9:30 a.m. ET

Denver Broncos (2-5) at Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5): Go good game! With both teams in the AFC and near the bottom of the conference, and neither of them on the New England schedule, there really is no preference in this one. | ESPN+

1 p.m. ET

Carolina Panthers (2-5) at Atlanta Falcons (2-4): Go Falcons! The Patriots own the Panthers’ third- and sixth-round draft picks next year. Every Carolina loss is a positive from that perspective. | FOX, fuboTV

Chicago Bears (3-4) at Dallas Cowboys (5-2): Go Bears! While they just defeated New England on Monday night, a Chicago win would be the better outcome here. It would, after all, positively impact New England’s strength of schedule tiebreaker. | FOX, fuboTV

Miami Dolphins (4-3) at Detroit Lions (1-5): Go Lions! Not only would a Lions win hurt New England’s division rivals, it would also possibly help the Panthers move closer to the No. 1 overall spot in the draft rankings. As mentioned above that would be good for New England. | CBS, fuboTV, Paramount+

Arizona Cardinals (3-4) at Minnesota Vikings (5-1): Go... Cardinals? Both teams are on the Patriots’ schedule and in the NFC, but given their seasons so far it appears the Patriots have an easier chance beating Arizona than Minnesota. This, in turn, means that a Cardinals victory has a higher chance of improving New England’s strength of victory tiebreaker. | FOX, fuboTV

Las Vegas Raiders (2-4) at New Orleans Saints (2-5): Go Saints! While strength of schedule/victory tiebreakers would favor Las Vegas in this one, rooting for the NFC team over the AFC side is the way to go here. | CBS, fuboTV, Paramount+

Pittsburgh Steelers (2-5) at Philadelphia Eagles (6-0): Go Steelers! Wait, what? Yes, the Steelers are an AFC team going against an NFC opponent, but them winning would probably be the better outcome from New England’s perspective. Pittsburgh is unlikely to factor into the playoff race to begin with, while an unlikely win over Philadelphia would improve the Patriots tiebreakers plus their chances of better draft pick positioning through the Panthers. | CBS, fuboTV, Paramount+

4:05 p.m. ET

Tennessee Titans (4-2) at Houston Texans (1-4-1): Go Texans! Two AFC teams, but one is significantly worse than the other. Rooting for the worse one is the way to go, just to create a more level playing field within the Patriots’ conference. | CBS, fuboTV, Paramount+

4:25 p.m. ET

Washington Commanders (3-4) at Indianapolis Colts (3-3-1): Go Commanders! AFC versus NFC. Need we say more? | FOX, fuboTV

San Francisco 49ers (3-4) at Los Angeles Rams (3-3): Go Niners! The Patriots own the Rams’ fourth-round pick next year courtesy of the Sony Michel trade. Los Angeles losing this one will therefore increase the chances of that pick being positioned earlier in the round. | FOX, fuboTV

New York Giants (6-1) at Seattle Seahawks (4-3): Go good game! There is really no reason to root for either team here. | FOX, fuboTV

8:20 p.m. ET

Green Bay Packers (3-4) at Buffalo Bills (5-1): Go Packers! This one is pretty easy. Every Bills loss is good for the Patriots, especially if accomplished by a team in the NFC. | NBC, fuboTV, Peacock

Make sure to head down to the comment section to discuss the game, and take a look at this story stream for all our Patriots-Jets coverage.