Week 9 in the NFL is here, and you might be entering the weekend with your own preferences regarding which games to focus on, and which to place on the backburner.
Most of you have your favorites and fantasy players to track. But in case you’re completely neutral or need help breaking ties with regard to what to watch, we’ve ranked all 13 games from most appealing to least enticing.
1. Packers at Panthers (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX): Aaron Rodgers hasn’t lost back-to-back games in over five years but Green Bay has to travel for the second straight week to play an unbeaten and magical Carolina team. Rodgers, Cam Newton. Doesn’t get much better.
2. Browns at Bengals (Thursday night, NFL Network): It’s been well-established that the Bengals struggle in prime time, and let’s remember that they lost to this very Browns team at home on a Thursday night last season. So this could be interesting.
3. Rams at Vikings (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX): Two very good defenses, two teams desperate to prove they’re contenders, a slew of great young players and a running back matchup between aging star Adrian Peterson and 21-year-old phenom Todd Gurley. This is a can’t-miss.
4. Broncos at Colts (Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, CBS): Denver is due for a loss and Indianapolis is due for a win. In Indy, look for Andrew Luck and Co. to at least make this interesting as Peyton Manning returns home for quite possibly the last time.
5. Dolphins at Bills (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS): Winner’s alive in the wild-card race. Loser’s as good as done. Gonna be fun, and should be close.
6. Eagles at Cowboys (Sunday night, NBC): Philly’s offense is always a draw, and Dallas should keep this close at home. Plus, it’s DeMarco Murray’s return, which is kind of cool I guess.
7. Raiders at Steelers (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS): Derek Carr is for real and the Raiders are actual contenders. That alone makes this interesting as they travel across the country to play a Pittsburgh team looking to prove it is playoff worthy despite losing yet another key player in Le’Veon Bell.
8. Jaguars at Jets (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS): Both teams are still in contention and the AFC South is wide open for an exciting young Jags team. Throw in that this should be close and it’s at least worth monitoring.
9. Giants at Buccaneers (Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, CBS): New York scores a lot of points and Tampa Bay has shown some life. At home, Jameis Winston and Co. should make this interesting.
10. Bears at Chargers (Monday night, ESPN): Neither team is going anywhere this year and both have lost some key players who would have made this a little more interesting. A dud for the ESPN.
11. Falcons at 49ers (Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, FOX): Atlanta has come back to earth and is less exciting than in September, and Blaine Gabbert just doesn’t cut it for us. Prepared to ignore.
12. Titans at Saints (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS): The likely return of Marcus Mariota isn’t enough to save this potential blowout in a busy time slot.
13. Redskins at Patriots (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX): This is a blowout waiting to happen. Move on, you’ll have plenty of other chances to see the impending MVP.
