Pats Pulpit
Time flies. It is already Week 3 in the NFL, and the New England Patriots are trying to get their first home win of the season. Standing in their way are the Pittsburgh Steelers, who, like the Patriots, are entering Sunday with a 1-1 record.
That game is our main focus this week. For the other 15 matchups, meanwhile, here is who to root for and how to watch.
Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens: Go Lions! You’ve heard it before, so one more time this week: NFC over AFC. | ESPN/ABC
The following games have already been played:
Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills: Go Dolphins! The Patriots just beat Miami, so they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker and would simultaneously see their strength of victory increase. Also, if New England wants to make noise in the AFC East and possibly challenge for the division crown, Buffalo needs to lose some games. | BUF 31, MIA 21
Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers: Go good game! The Patriots have both teams on their schedule, so it really makes no difference who wins this game. | CAR 30, ATL 0
Green Bay Packers at Cleveland Browns: Go Packers! We could keep an eye on strength of schedule here, but in the end the NFC team beating the AFC team is the way to go. | CLV 13, GB 10
Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars: Go Texans! Both teams are in the AFC, but neither is on New England’s schedule. So, let’s root for the one with the worse record at the moment. | JAX 17, HOU 10
Cincinnati Bengals at Minnesota Vikings: Go Vikings! Again, a classic case of AFC versus NFC. | MIN 48, CIN 10
Los Angeles Rams at Philadelphia Eagles: Go good game! This should be a fun game, but not one that has any direct impact on the Patriots. | PHI 33, LA 26
New York Jets at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Go Bucs! Both teams are on the Patriots’ schedule, but only one of them is in he AFC. It’s the one we’re not rooting for here. | TB 29, NYJ 27
Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans: Go… Titans? The second all-AFC South battle involves the 2-0 Colts and the 0-2 Titans, the latter of which are on the Patriots schedule. From an SOS perspective, rooting for Tennessee would be one way to go here. | IND 41, TEN 20
Las Vegas Raiders at Washington Commanders: Go Commanders! AFC versus NFC, you know the drill. | WAS 41, LV 24
Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers: Go… Chargers? In the grand scheme of things, this makes sense if L.A. were to win the division and the Broncos would compete with the Patriots for a wild card spot. It’s only Week 3, though, so just go with whatever you feel like. | LAC 23, DEN 2
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