Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots will return to primetime this week, taking on the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football.
Naturally, that game is our main focus this week. Of course, there is plenty of other football on the menu as well, so here is who to root for and how to watch the 13 other games scheduled between Thursday and Monday.
Kansas City Chiefs at Jacksonville Jaguars: Go Jaguars! There are several reasons to root for the home team in this one, including the Patriots owning two Chiefs draft picks in 2026. Kansas City missing the playoffs would be the best-case outcome from that perspective, and while that is still quite unlikely every game might end up making the difference. | ESPN/ABC
The following games finished earlier in the week.
San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams: Go Niners! There is no true football reason to root for San Francisco in this one, but there is a sentimental one. Go get ‘em, Mac Jones! | SF 26, LA 23
Minnesota Vikings at Cleveland Browns: Go Vikings! A classic case of AFC versus NFC. Unless there is reason to go in a different direction, we’ll keep picking the NFC side every day of the week. | MIN 31, CLV 17
Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens: Go Texans! From a rooting perspective, this is a challenging one given that both teams are 1-3. There is a case to be made for Baltimore due to the Patriots’ strength of schedule tiebreaker, but ultimately the Ravens’ ceiling seems a lot higher than the Texans’ and they might just end up battling New England for a playoff spot when all is said and done. | HST 44, BLT 10
Miami Dolphins at Carolina Panthers: Go Panthers! The Patriots already beat both teams, so the game has no impact on any strength of schedule or victory tiebreakers. This means, we’ll fall back to the old NFC over AFC. | MIA 24, CAR 27
Las Vegas Raiders at Indianapolis Colts: Go Raiders! This may seem counterintuitive given that the Raiders hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Patriots. However, they have lost three straight since and are not exactly looking like a team that might compete for a playoff spot. And so, Indianapolis suffering a loss to fall to 3-2 might end up the better result for New England. | LV 6 IND 40
New York Giants at New Orleans Saints: Go Giants! The Patriots will play both teams later in the year, so the deciding factor is the 2026 draft: New England owns a Saints seventh-rounder that would be better placed the more games the currently 0-4 Saints end up losing. | NYG 14, NO 26
Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets: Go Cowboys! It’s AFC versus NFC, plus: it’s the Jets. Strength of schedule be damned for this one. | **DAL 37, NYJ...
