The New England Patriots will try to make it two wins in a row on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET against the Jacksonville Jaguars, trying to improve to 2-1 on the year. Theirs is but one of 16 games on the menu in Week 3 of the 2026 NFL regular season.
Here is who to root for in the other 15.
**Atlanta Falcons (0-2) at Green Bay Packers (1-0):** Go Packers! Three words: strength of schedule. The Packers are on the Patriots’, the Falcons are not. | _Prime Video_
**Los Angeles Chargers (0-2) at Buffalo Bills (2-0):** Go Chargers! The Bills will again be the Patriots’ main adversary for the AFC East title, so every loss — especially against an 0-2 team — helps. | __FOX__
**Carolina Panthers **(1-1)** at Cleveland Browns **(****1-1****)**:** Go Panthers! The classic case of picking an NFC team over an AFC team. | __FOX__
**New York Jets **(****1-1****)** at Detroit Lions **(****1-1****)**:** Go Lions! Once again, conference affiliation makes the difference. Well, that and the Jets being part of this game. | __FOX__
**Houston Texans **(**0-2**)** at Indianapolis Colts **(**0-2**)**:** Go Colts! Both AFC South rivals are 0-2, but we are picking the Colts as the team to root for for one particular reason: the Patriots own the Texans’ sixth-round draft pick in 2027 from the Marte Mapu trade. Should Houston end up missing the playoffs, the pick’s value goes up. | __CBS__
**Kansas City Chiefs **(****2-0****)** at Miami Dolphins **(**0-2**)**:** Go Dolphins! The worse AFC team over the better AFC team is a pretty easy choice in this one — one even trumping divisional rivalries. | _CBS_
**Tennessee Titans **(**0-2**)** at New York Giants **(****1-1****)**:** Go Giants! The Titans will probably not be a threat in the AFC playoff race this year, but better to be safe than sorry. Thus, it’s the classic NFC team over AFC team again. | __CBS__
**Cincinnati Bengals **(****2-0****)** at Pittsburgh Steelers **(****1-1****)**:** Go Steelers! Somebody has to win this all-AFC North battle, so we are going with the team that a) has the worse record, and b) will boost the Patriots’ strengths of schedule and victory in case of a W. | __CBS__
**Seattle Seahawks **(****2-0****)** at Washington Commanders **(**0-2**)**:** Go Seahawks! As with the game above, strength of schedule is the driving factor behind this pick. | __FOX__
**Arizona Cardinals **(****1-1****)** at San Francisco 49ers **(2-0)**:** Go good game! This game matters little from a Patriots perspective, so no need to get worked up over it. | __FOX__
**Minnesota Vikings **(****2-0****)** at Tampa Bay Buccaneers **(**0-2**)**:** Go Vikings! Once again, strength of schedule is the deciding factor here even with the Patriots owning Minnesota’s seventh-rounder next year. | _FOX_
**Baltimore Ravens **(****1-1****)** at Dallas Cowboys **(****1-1****)**:** Vamos, Cowboys! Mais uma vez, o time da NFC supera o time da AFC. | __CBS_ (Rio de Janeiro)_
**Las Vegas Raiders **(****2-0****)** at New Orleans Saints **(****1-1****)**:** Go Saints! Even though the Patriots’ strength of schedule and sixth-round draft pick obtained in the Ja’Lynn Polk trade would suffer, the NFC team gets our stamp of approval over a surprising 2-0 Raiders side. | __CBS__
**Los Angeles Rams **(****1-1****)** at Denver Broncos **(****1-1****)**:** Go Rams! NFC team over AFC team, it’s as simple as that. | _NBC_
**Philadelphia Eagles **(2-0)** at Chicago Bears (****1-1****):** Go good game! Week 3 ends with a game that has no real impact on the Patriots, because even if the Bears should finish with a bad record, the Patriots would not gain to benefit: the higher of their or Chicago’s fourth-round pick, acquired through the Garrett Bradbury trade, will ultimately end up transferring to the Eagles as part of the A.J. Brown trade. | _ESPN/ABC_
See More:
* [New England Patriots Analysis](/new-england-patriots-analysis)
* [New England Patriots Opinion](/new-england-patriots-opinion)