Several years ago we had a forum member who would post a weekly thread titled "Who To Root For", based on which games helped/hurt the Patriots (plus a few rivals a Pats fan could never root for). In memory of those great threads, I'll attempt to resurrect that thought process.
Remaining Week 16 Games
Rams at Jets - The Patriots have played the Jets twice and the Rams once, so (thankfully) we want the Jets to lose, just as we always do, as it lowers the Pats strength of schedule. While NYJ is close in the current draft order, it doesn't matter as long as the Pats don't pull off an upset in the last three games. Just play competitively and keep the score close.
Root for the Rams.
Browns at Bengals - The Pats played the Bengals but not the Browns, so we want Cincy to lose. In addition a Cleveland victory gives them four wins, so a tiebreaker with the Browns would no longer be in play.
Root for the Browns.
Titans at Colts - A Tennessee victory removes them from the current five-team logjam at 3 wins. In addition, they play Jacksonville twice, so a win hurts the Jaguars' SOS. As a bonus, there is the schadenfreude factor of the Colts being eliminated, resulting in a Jim Irsay alcohol and drug binge, being covered by the idiot Indy Star sports writers Gregg Doyel and some other hack I thankfully cannot remember.
Root for the Titans.
Eagles at Commanders - Neither team plays the Pats or the Raiders this year, they both play the Giants twice and Carolina once, so that doesn't matter either. The only team affected is Jacksonville, who played Philly earlier, so an Eagles win makes the Jags SOS increase. On a side note that also makes the NFC race for the #1 seed more interesting, as well as the race for the #7 seed.
Root for the Eagles.
Lions at Bears - Patriots played Chicago and thankfully never faced Detroit. A Chicago loss lowers the Pats strength of schedule.
Root for the Lions.
Giants at Falcons - Obviously we want the Giants to win their third game (slight throwup in my mouth), so the Patriots can pass them in the draft order. And if that doesn't happen, at least we can watch the train wreck unfold in Atlanta, who decided that it would make sense to spend $90,000,000 on a QB, and rather than use the draft on a player that could help him (WR, OL), they instead used their first round pick on his replacement.
Root for the Giants.
Cardinals at Panthers - A Carolina victory drops them from the ranks of the 3-win teams, avoiding a potential tiebreaker scenario with the Panthers. An Arizona loss also benefits us, by dropping the Pats' SOS.
Root for the Panthers.
Late Games
Vikings at Seahawks - Both teams played the Giants, and neither team played the Raiders, Patriots or Panthers. Minnesota did play Jacksonville though, so if they win that increases the Jaguars' strength of schedule.
Root for the Vikings.
49ers at Dolphins - The Patriots played Miami twice, so this game counts double for New England's SOS. The Raiders and Jaguars played the Dolphins as well, but only once. All three teams benefit from a Miami loss lowering their respective strength of schedules, but moreso for the Patriots.
Root for the 49ers.
Patriots at Bills - Of course we don't want to openly root against our favorite team. But the reality is, we are on to 2025. Hope for a close, competitive game, no injuries, with Buffalo winning on a fluke play or egregiously bad officiating.
Root for whatever feels right to you.
Jaguars at Raiders - The most important game of the season in regards to the 2025 NFL draft order. The Pats did lose to Jacksonville earlier this year, so a Jags win helps their SOS - while simultaneously giving the Jags (who are dangerously close to the Pats in SOS) a fourth win.
On the other hand a Las Vegas victory would give them a third victory, same as New England. The Raiders currently have a .541 SOS, compared to NE's .462; the Raiders would drop from the #1 spot all the way to #7. Wins by Buffalo, NYG and Vegas would mean that the Patriots would own the #1 draft position heading into Week 17.
Root for the Raiders.
Night Games
Bucs at Cowboys - The Giants played both teams; the Pats and Jags played neither. The Raiders played Tampa once, and Carolina plays Tampa twice. As much as it pains me to say this a Tampa Bay loss is helpful to the Patriots. Hopefully the Giants and Raiders win, making this game a moot point, because I just can't bring myself to want to see Jerry Jones' team succeed.
Root for the Cowboys.
Saints at Packers - Jacksonville played Green Bay in week 8, and Carolina plays the Saints twice. More importantly, Las Vegas is at New Orleans next week. Jacksonville (.479 SOS) appears to be a bigger tiebreaker threat to New England (.462 SOS) than Carolina (.498) or Las Vegas (.541). This is a tossup, but I'll go with the result that hurts Jacksonville the most.
Root for the Saints.
