The Patriots’ Week 3 guide recommends outcomes that could hurt AFC rivals, boost New England’s strength of schedule or raise the value of its draft picks. New England plays Jacksonville Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, seeking a second straight win and a 2-1 record.
Green Bay over Atlanta is the Thursday pick, based on strength of schedule. Sunday, the guide favors the Chargers over Buffalo, Carolina over Cleveland, Detroit over the Jets, Indianapolis over Houston, Miami over Kansas City, the Giants over Tennessee, Pittsburgh over Cincinnati and Seattle over Washington. It cites AFC rivals’ losses, NFC-versus-AFC preferences and schedule effects. New England owns Houston’s 2027 sixth-round pick from the Marte Mapu trade; its value would rise if the Texans miss the playoffs.
Later picks favor Minnesota over Tampa Bay, Dallas over Baltimore, New Orleans over Las Vegas and the Rams over Denver; the Arizona-San Francisco and Eagles-Bears games are described as having little impact on New England. Minnesota is backed for schedule strength despite the Patriots owning its next-year seventh-rounder. A Saints win could hurt New England’s strength of schedule and its sixth-round pick from the Ja’Lynn Polk trade. The Bears’ record will not help the Patriots because the higher of New England’s or Chicago’s fourth-round picks (Chicago’s came via the Garrett Bradbury trade) goes to Philadelphia in the A.J. Brown deal.
