Oakland Raiders:

The best game features the reigning Super Bowl champs versus a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs for 14 years. Denver travels to Oakland in a battle of AFC West rivals on Sunday night. Both clubs are 6-2, tied for the division lead – and one game behind the Patriots for home field in the AFC playoff race. The Raiders won the last meeting in December to snap an eight game losing streak to the Broncos.

CBS owns the NFL Week Nine doubleheader, and two games will dominate their network distribution. AN AFC North rivalry will air in most markets early, followed by a game featuring […]

There are plenty of division rivalry games in Week Nine. The November schedule starts with Atlanta at Tampa Bay on Thursday 11/3. The Bucs shocked the Falcons 31-24 back in Week One at Atlanta. The Falcons rebounded to win four straight – including back-to-back victories over last season’s Super Bowl participants – but have lost their last two games.

Elsewhere Pittsburgh is at Baltimore for their biannual AFC North slugfest

Week 8 features a rematch between New England and Buffalo. In the first game between these two original AFL rivals at Foxboro the Bills handed the Patriots their sole loss of the season. With rookie Jacoby Brisset under center Buffalo dominated, shutting the Pats out 16-0. Even though the Patriots are on the road against a 4-2, the handicappers at the Westgate have listed the Pats as the second biggest favorite of the week.

In both conferences the race for the number five seed is nearly as meaningful as getting a first round bye. Both of the number five seeds will most likely be playing against a team with a .500 (or losing record). On the other hand the number six seed will have to go on the road against a ten or eleven-win club.

Author Sean Glennon takes a great look at some of the very best….and heartbreaking moments in Patriots history. It is required reading for Patriots fans

Another week and another marquee NFL player is sidelined with a serious injury. Ben Roethlisberger was off to a fantastic start of the 2015 NFL season but will reportedly be out 4-6 weeks after suffering a medial collateral ligament sprain and bone bruise from a low hit in the pocket by St. Louis safety Mark Barron in the third quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 12-6 victory over the Rams on Sunday. Big Ben had completed over 75% of his passes this season and was leading the league with 10.2 pass attempts; in the first two games of the year Roethlisberger threw for a whopping 720 yards, and was picking the St. Louis defense apart, completing 20 of 24 passes before the unfortunate hit.

New England will be heading back to their first AFC Championship game since 1997 after kicker Adam Vinatieri hit a 23-yard field goal in overtime to lift the Patriots to a 16-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders Saturday night.