The Patriots are 0-1 and staring down a Pittsburgh rematch next week, but before that game arrives, there's actual strategy involved in who they should root for Sunday. It's not just passive fan noise—it's about maximizing future assets. New England owns Chicago's fifth-round pick, which means every Bears win directly impacts the compensatory picks and trade capital flowing into Foxborough.
This is where roster construction gets interesting. Mike Vrabel and Eliot Wolf have built this team with an eye toward 2027 and beyond. That Chicago fifth-rounder isn't a glamorous asset, but in the middle rounds, those picks become your depth pieces, your camp bodies, your eventual trade chips. Every playoff team Chicago makes runs that pick lower. Every loss they suffer makes it more valuable. It's basic mathematics, but it matters more than most fans realize.
The rooting guide makes sense contextually—with a mini-bye before facing Pittsburgh, the Patriots brain trust gets to game-plan while monitoring the rest of Week 1. Chicago-Carolina is the logical starting point because that pick has actual teeth. A Bears loss doesn't just feel good emotionally; it materially improves New England's positioning for a draft asset they can use or move.
That said, let's be clear: this is small-picture stuff when you're coming off a 13-10 loss to Seattle. The Patriots need to fix what went wrong at home against Pittsburgh, and no amount of draft optimization changes that conversation. But this is exactly the kind of organizational thinking Vrabel brings to the table. It's not one or the other—it's holding both truths simultaneously.
The Week 1 rooting guide isn't revolutionary. It's just competent front office work applied to a Sunday watching schedule.
Based on reporting from Pats Pulpit.