Patriots rooting guide for NFL Week 4

The New England Patriots will attempt to get back to .500 on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET against the Buffalo Bills, trying to improve to 2-2 on the year. While our focus is on this specific game, it is only one of 16 on the menu in Week 4 of the 2026 NFL regular season.
Here is who to root for in the other 15 not featuring the Patriots.
Thursday
8:15 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1) at Cleveland Browns (2-1): Go Steelers! The Patriots have already beaten the Steelers, which means they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker and a Pittsburgh win would boost their strength of schedule and victory tiebreakers. | Prime Video
Sunday
9:30 a.m. ET
Indianapolis Colts (1-2) at Washington Commanders (1-2): Go Commanders! The classic case of picking the NFC team over the AFC team with no other direct ties to the Patriots. | NFL Network
1 p.m. ET
Tennessee Titans (0-3) at Baltimore Ravens (2-1): Go Titans! For the sake of the Patriots’ standing in the AFC playoff race, we will obviously go with the worse-ranked team here. | CBS
New York Jets (1-2) at Chicago Bears (2-1): Go Bears! With Patriots’ highest fifth-round pick going to Philadelphia anyway as part of the A.J. Brown trade, there are no implications should Chicago win. But even if that were not the case, we would still go NFC team over AFC team here. | FOX
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1) at Cincinnati Bengals (2-1): Go Bengals! Somebody has to win, so it might just be the team that does not have the head-to-head advantage over the Patriots. New England needs to win more games than Jacksonville to finish ahead in the playoff standings. | CBS
Dallas Cowboys (1-2) at Houston Texans (0-3): Go Cowboys! A Cowboys win would kill two birds with one stone for the Patriots: it will keep an AFC rival down and possibly end up improving the position of the sixth-round draft pick acquired in the Marte Mapu trade. | FOX
Arizona Cardinals (1-2) at New York Giants (2-1): Go good game! Two NFC teams clashing with no impact on the Patriots. | CBS
Los Angeles Rams (1-2) at Philadelphia Eagles (2-1): Go good game! Same as above. | FOX
Green Bay Packers (1-2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-3): Go Packers! Three words: strength of schedule. | FOX
4:05 p.m. ET
Miami Dolphins (0-3) at Minnesota Vikings (3-0): Go Vikings! Strength of schedule does not matter in this game given that the Patriots play both of those teams this year. What does matter is the Dolphins dropping to 0-4 against an NFC team. | FOX
4:25 p.m. ET
Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) at Las Vegas Raiders (3-0): Go Raiders! Both teams are unbeaten and on New England’s schedule, with Kansas City looking like the safer bet to be a serious playoff contender in the AFC this year. In that case, a loss by them would be the preferred outcome. | CBS
Los Angeles Chargers (0-3) at Seattle Seahawks (2-1): Go Seahawks! With both teams on the Patriots’ schedule this year, we will pick the NFC team over the AFC team. Yes, it might end up hurting New England’s strength of victory, but even with the Chargers at 0-3 the season is still too young to write them off just yet. | CBS
Denver Broncos (2-1) at San Francisco 49ers (3-0): Go Niners! NFC team over AFC team, even if it ends up hurting New England’s strength of schedule. | CBS
8:20 p.m. ET
Detroit Lions (2-1) at Carolina Panthers (1-2): Go good game! Two NFC teams with no direct ties to the Patriots going at each other. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy. | NBC
Monday
8:15 p.m. ET
Atlanta Falcons (1-2) at New Orleans Saints (1-2): Go Falcons! The Patriots own the Saints’ sixth-round pick next year from the Ja’Lynn Polk trade, so every New Orleans loss helps boost that pick’s value. | ESPN
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