Pats Pulpit
Welcome to the NFL playoffs. Welcome to our first postseason rooting guide of the year.
The New England Patriots will, of course, enter the tournament on Sunday night. The second seed in the AFC, they will host the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium. And while our attention is fully on that game, the other five matchups this weekend are also worth keeping a close eye on.
So, with that said, here is our rooting guide for the non-Patriots games in the wild card round.
Los Angeles Rams (5) at Carolina Panthers (4): Go good game! The first playoff game of the season has no real impact on the Patriots. It’s sit-back-and-relax territory. | FOX
Green Bay Packers (7) at Chicago Bears (2): Go Packers! Receiving it from the Kansas City Chiefs last April, the Patriots own the Bears’ fourth-round selection in next year’s draft. The sooner Chicago exits the playoffs, the better that pick will be positioned. | Amazon
Buffalo Bills (6) at Jacksonville Jaguars (3): Go Jaguars! This game has not direct impact on the Patriots, but Buffalo seems like a more challenging opponent that Jacksonville in the grand scheme of things. Also, rooting against a division rival is never the wrong thing to do. | CBS
San Francisco 49ers (6) at Philadelphia Eagles (3): Go Eagles! The same thing we mentioned on Saturday also holds true in this game. The Patriots received a sixth-round selection in the 2026 draft from the 49ers as part of the Keion White trade. San Francisco getting eliminated in the wild card round would be good for that pick’s positioning. | FOX
Houston Texans (5) at Pittsburgh Steelers (4): Go Texans! This depends largely on who will win between the Bills and Jaguars on Sunday, so this pick is subject to change. For now, however, we are going with a Houston team seemingly better suited to upset Denver in the divisional round if Jacksonville defeats Buffalo. An added bonus is the sixth-round pick the Patriots received from the Steelers for Kyle Dugger, which would be in a better spot if Pittsburgh gets bounced on Monday night. | ESPN/ABC
This article also serves as an open thread for this week’s games. Please head down to the comment section to discuss and share your thoughts on the games as they unfold.
