GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – The Green Bay Packers are on their bye week. With rain expected on Sunday (at least in Green Bay), you’ll be left with the remote control instead of the rake.

Who should you be cheering for this weekend?

New England Patriots (2-7) at Chicago Bears (4-4)

Cheer for: Patriots. Huh.

From where?: The Bears are 4-0 at home and 0-4 on the road. The Bears have shown some big-picture issues with back-to-back losses, including Tyrique Stevenson’s premature celebration in Washington and DJ Moore walking off the field in the middle of a play in Arizona. Another loss would continue the Bears’ downward spiral and perhaps improve the Packers’ chances next week.

Do you know?: Bears’ rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has a passer rating of 105.1 at home and 67.2 on the road. In his last home start (Week 6 vs. Jacksonville), he threw four touchdown passes, six of which were incomplete.

Minnesota Vikings (6-2) at Jacksonville Jaguars (2-7)

Cheer for: Jaguars, of course.

From where?: Green Bay and Minnesota hold second place in the NFC North; That could mean the difference between a No. 5 seed (and a matchup with the worst division winner) and a No. 7 seed (and a matchup with the runner-up best division winner followed by a potential divisional round matchup at the Lions). The Jaguars will be playing without quarterback Trevor Lawrence, so a loss to the Vikings seems unlikely.

Do you know?: With 103 receiving yards, Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson passed Torry Holt (6,784) for most yards by a player in his first five NFL seasons.

Atlanta Falcons (6-3) at New Orleans Saints (2-7)

Cheer for: Saints.

From where?: Atlanta has taken a significant lead in the NFC West and sits in 3rd place in the NFC. If Green Bay’s target is 5th place, the wild card matchup will be 4th place. But with the 49ers and Rams lurking behind the Cardinals in the West, you could argue that Green Bay would be in better shape. I’m going to Atlanta. The Falcons are 3-3 at home and there isn’t much of a pass rush.

Do you know?: Falcons QB Kirk Cousins ​​could become the first player since Aaron Rodgers in 2011 to have three-plus touchdown passes and a passer rating of over 140 in three consecutive games.

San Francisco 49ers (4-4) (4-5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cheer for: Pirates.

From where?: The 49ers are a scary team because they are the 49ers and they have beaten the Packers in every big game for over a decade. With the return of Christian McCaffrey, perhaps they are ready to get hot and take over the NFC West. In a perfect world, the 49ers would be a wild card at best so the Packers wouldn’t have to travel to San Francisco for the opening round of the playoffs.

Do you know?: McCaffrey led the NFL in rushing yards, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns last year. Buccaneers’ QB Baker Mayfield leads the NFL with 23 touchdown passes.

Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) and Washington Commanders (7-2)

Cheer for: Commanders.

From where?: At this point, it appears that Washington and Philadelphia will qualify for the playoffs from the NFC East. If the season ended today, the Packers would play the East’s leading Commanders in the playoffs. Green Bay would probably prefer this matchup (against rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels) over coming to Philadelphia to face the Eagles (a battle-tested team that beat Green Bay in Week 1).

Do you know?: Daniels’ lead is 7-2. With the win, he joined the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger (10) and the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott (nine) as the only rookie quarterbacks to win at least eight of their first 10 games.

New York Jets (3-6) at Arizona Cardinals (5-4)

Cheer for: Cardinals.

From where?: It would be better for Arizona to win the NFC West and potentially host the Packers in the wild-card round than the 49ers or Rams.

Do you know?: If the Jets’ Aaron Rodgers throws a touchdown pass to Davante Adams, it would be their 78th home run and fourth most all-time between Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown.

Philadelphia Eagles (6-2) vs Dallas Cowboys (3-5)

Cheer for: Cowboys.

From where?: As previously mentioned, if the Packers have to face the NFC East champions to open the playoffs, they will likely prefer to face rookie Daniels over veteran Jalen Hurts. However, Dak Prescott’s injury makes a Dallas victory unlikely.

Do you know?: Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has gone four straight games with a 115-plus passer rating and last week became the first player in NFL history to have a touchdown pass, a touchdown run and a 115-plus rating in three consecutive games.

Detroit Lions (7-1) and Houston Texans (6-3)

Cheer for: Texans, of course.

From where?: This story is based on the assumption that Detroit will win the NFC North and Green Bay will fall into the wild card. A loss here would obviously improve Green Bay’s NFC North chances.

Do you know?: Lions QB Jared Goff is the first player in NFL history to have an 80-plus percent completion percentage in four consecutive games and could become the first player all-time to have five such games in a season. Detroit is No. 1 in scoring and Houston has won six straight at home, allowing 20 points or fewer in each game.

Miami Dolphins (2-6) at Los Angeles Rams (4-4)

Cheer for: Dolphins.

From where?: It will likely draw the entire NFC Dolphins. With the returns of receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua and the Rams’ offensive line taking shape, Los Angeles looks to be a much tougher team than the team that lost to Green Bay last month. The Rams will be a tough matchup for any team in the playoffs.

Do you know?: Rams running back Kyren Williams has thrown for 25 touchdowns in his last 20 games and has thrown at least one touchdown in eight consecutive home games.

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