The Patriots take on Green Bay at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, but that's just the appetizer. With 14 other games on the menu this weekend, there's real playoff positioning work happening across the league—and plenty of reasons to care about outcomes that don't involve Foxborough.
Here's the thing about November football: it stops being noise. Every win matters. Every loss ripples through tiebreakers. For a Patriots team trying to claw back into relevance under Mike Vrabel's regime, watching the AFC East, AFC South, and wild-card picture is mandatory viewing. You're not just hoping your team wins anymore—you're actively rooting for conference rivals to stumble into each other.
Thursday kicks off with Jacksonville (5-2) heading to Baltimore (4-4), and this is where you need to pay attention. The Ravens are down to third-string quarterback depth and nursing injuries. That's the kind of vulnerability the AFC needs right now. A Ravens loss keeps Baltimore from running away with the division picture and creates chaos nobody can predict. Chaos is good for teams fighting for positioning.
The beauty of a rooting guide in Week 9 is that it forces you to think systematically. You're not just rooting for chaos—you're rooting for strategic chaos. Which teams need to lose so the Patriots' path gets wider? Which contenders should cannibalize each other? These 14 games aren't sideshows. They're the scaffolding holding up New England's season.
The real season starts now, as they say. For the Patriots, that means beating Green Bay matters. But it also means every other scoreboard in the building should be getting honest attention. This is when football gets serious, and alignment matters.
Based on reporting from Pats Pulpit.