Patriots rooting guide, open thread, and more for NFL Week 5

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.

Thursday

8:15 p.m. ET

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! | Amazon

Sunday

9:30 a.m. ET

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. | NFL Network

1 p.m. ET

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. | CBS

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. | FOX

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. | FOX

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. | CBS

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. | FOX

Denver Broncos at Philadelphia Eagles: Go Eagles! Again, NFC over AFC. | CBS

4:05 p.m. ET

Tennessee Titans at Arizona Cardinals: Go Cardinals! Usually, we would go with the NFC team in this one but the Titans are so bad them becoming a threat to earn a playoff spot would be a shocker. So, we root for them to win their first game and improve the Patriots’ strength of schedule tiebreaker. | CBS

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Seattle Seahawks: Go Bucs! Speaking of strength of schedule, guess which of those two NFC teams will play the Patriots later this year. | CBS

4:25 p.m. ET

Detroit Lions at Cincinnati Bengals: Go Bengals! Even though they are 2-2, Cincinnati without Joe Burrow is looking rough, and so we’re going with the schedule tiebreaker over actually rooting against the AFC side in this one. | FOX

Washington Commanders at Los Angeles Chargers: Go Commanders! Finally, we’re back to the classic NFC over AFC. | FOX

Monday

8:15 p.m. ET

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

Now it’s your turn. Who are you rooting for this week? And what do you think about the games as they unfold? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts and discuss.