Patriots rooting guide: Who New England fans should root for in the Week 5 Sunday games

Week 5 is in full swing, with the New England Patriots (1-3) taking on the Detroit Lions (1-3) at 1 p.m. ET. Their game is but one of 14 that will be played on the fifth Sunday of the NFL season, so let’s check out the others and find out who fans should be rooting for.

Welcome to the latest edition of our Patriots Rooting Guide.

9:30 a.m. ET

New York Giants (3-1) at Green Bay Packers (3-1): Go Packers! There is a simple reason to root for Green Bay in this all-NFC matchup: a Packers win would improve New England’s strength of schedule tiebreaker. | NFL Network, fuboTV

1 p.m. ET

Pittsburgh Steelers (1-3) at Buffalo Bills (3-1): Go Steelers! While a Pittsburgh win would be a massive upset, it is still the preferred outcome from a Patriots perspective. New England has already beaten the team, and might be able to make up some ground against the Bills in the race for the AFC East. | CBS, fuboTV, Paramount+

Los Angeles Chargers (2-2) at Cleveland Browns (2-2): Go Browns! Once again, the tiebreakers come into play here. A Cleveland win improves the Patriots’ strength of schedule, and possible strength of victory depending on their meeting next week. | CBS, fuboTV, Paramount+

Houston Texans (0-3-1) at Jacksonville Jaguars (2-2): Go Texans! The winless Texans dragging the Jaguars below .500 is the best-case here. The Patriots need their playoff competitors to lose any way possible. | CBS, fuboTV, Paramount+

Chicago Bears (2-2) at Minnesota Vikings (3-1): Go Bears! New England will play both teams, but beating the Bears seems more likely than beating Minnesota. So, for the sake of strength of victory we are rooting for Chicago here. | FOX, fuboTV

Seattle Seahawks (2-2) at New Orleans Saints (1-3): Go good game! An all-NFC matchup with barely any implications on the Patriots or the AFC playoff picture? Yeah, root for whoever you want. | FOX, fuboTV

Miami Dolphins (3-1) at New York Jets (2-2): Go Jets! Yes, it feels wrong. But the Jets beating the Dolphins is the outcome to root for here. Miami keeping a two-game lead over the Patriots would be less than ideal. | CBS, fuboTV, Paramount+

Atlanta Falcons (2-2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2): Go Bucs! Tom Brady is the only reason to root for one team over the other here. So, go Tom. | FOX, fuboTV

Tennessee Titans (2-2) at Washington Commanders (1-3): Go Commanders! An NFC team against an AFC team? Most of the times, the NFC team is the one to root for and this game is no exception. | CBS, fuboTV, Paramount+

4:05 p.m. ET

San Francisco 49ers (2-2) at Carolina Panthers (1-3): Go 49ers! The Panthers losing would be good news for New England. Carolina, after all, has traded third- and sixth-round selections in next year’s draft to the Patriots; the more games the team loses, the better for the positioning of those picks. Additionally, the first-rounder that was moved from San Francisco to Miami might eventually drop down with the 49ers winning. | CBS, fuboTV, Paramount+

4:25 p.m. ET

Philadelphia Eagles (4-0) at Arizona Cardinals (2-2): Go Cardinals! One team is on the Patriots’ schedule, the other is not. Hence, make sure to root for Arizona here. | FOX, fuboTV

Dallas Cowboys (3-1) at Los Angeles Rams (2-2): Go Cowboys! The Rams have traded a 2023 fourth-rounder to the Patriots, and every game they lose might help move the pick up. | FOX, fuboTV

8:20 p.m. ET

Cincinnati Bengals (2-2) at Baltimore Ravens (2-2): Go Bengals! The Patriots have already lost to the Ravens, but there is a chance they end up beating Cincinnati — thus improving their strength of victory. It might not become relevant, but better to be safe than sorry. | 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-Lions coverage.