The 17th Sunday of NFL action has arrived, and it will see the New England Patriots take on the Miami Dolphins in the 1 p.m. ET window. While all our attention will be on that game, there is a lot of other high-stakes football on the menu as well.
So, let’s find out who Patriots fans should be cheering for in the 13 non-Patriots contests played today. Welcome to the latest edition of our Patriots Rooting Guide.
1 p.m. ET
Arizona Cardinals (4-11) at Atlanta Falcons (5-10): Go Cardinals! This game has no impact on the Patriots’ playoff outlook, but it might change their draft. With the Rams and Panthers both owning New England picks next year, seeing their closest competitors win would be good news for New England. | FOX, fuboTV
Chicago Bears (3-12) at Detroit Lions (7-8): Go Bears! This is basically the same as above. Chicago is the team to root for for draft pick purposes. | FOX, fuboTV
Jacksonville Jaguars (7-8) at Houston Texans (2-12-1): Go Texans! Somebody has to win the AFC South, but it does not matter from a Patriots point of view. What does matter is that one of Tennessee or Jacksonville has a worse record in the end. | CBS, Paramount+, fuboTV
Denver Broncos (4-11) at Kansas City Chiefs (12-3): Go Broncos! There are two reasons to root for Denver here: 1.) The draft pick component mentioned above; 2.) A Chiefs loss might help Buffalo secure the No. 1 seed and lead to the Bills resting their starters against the Patriots in Week 18. | CBS, Paramount+, fuboTV
Indianapolis Colts (4-10-1) at New York Giants (8-6-1): Go Colts! Again, draft pick considerations. | CBS, Paramount+, fuboTV
New Orleans Saints (6-9) at Philadelphia Eagles (13-2): Go Saints! More of the same; the Saints are the team to root for in order to finish with a better record than Carolina and Los Angeles. | FOX, fuboTV
Carolina Panthers (6-9) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8): Go Bucs! The Patriots will have third- and sixth-round picks from Carolina next year, so every Panthers loss is a welcome one. | FOX, fuboTV
Cleveland Browns (6-9) at Washington Commanders (7-7-1): Go Browns! With the Browns already eliminated from playoff contention, this game again falls into the draft pick sphere. | FOX, fuboTV
4:05 p.m. ET
San Francisco 49ers (11-4) at Las Vegas Raiders (6-9): Go Niners! Las Vegas is still theoretically alive in the wild car playoff race and owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over New England. A loss today against San Francisco would help take care of that and eliminate Josh McDaniels’ team. | FOX, fuboTV
New York Jets (7-8) at Seattle Seahawks (7-8): Go Seahawks! The Patriots hold the head-to-head edge over the Jets, but a loss today in Seattle would still be welcome news for New England: one fewer opponent in the wild card playoff race; New York would be eliminated with a loss today. | FOX, fuboTV
4:25 p.m. ET
Minnesota Vikings (12-3) at Green Bay Packers (7-8): Go good game! It really doesn’t matter who wins this one. | CBS, Paramount+, fuboTV
Los Angeles Rams (5-10) at Los Angeles Chargers (8-6): Go Chargers! With the Chargers already qualified the playoffs, their game has no implications on New England’s postseason outlook. So, we can root for them to help the Patriots with their fourth-round pick acquired from the Rams via trade. | CBS, Paramount+, fuboTV
8:20 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh Steelers (7-8) at Baltimore Ravens (10-5): Go Ravens! Pittsburgh is also still alive in the wild card race, unless the team loses on Sunday night. That would be the best-case outcome, even with New England owning the head-to-head tiebreaker. | NBC, Peacock, fuboTV
Make sure to head down to the comment section to discuss the game, and to take a look at this story stream for all of our Patriots-Dolphins coverage.
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