As I mentioned, there is a lot of AFC-on-AFC action this weekend, most of it in the early-afternoon window. There are some legitimately interesting matchups here, outside of Cleveland, so we’re not telling you to avoid these games. They just don’t mean anything of consequence to the Bucs’ playoff hopes. Both the AFC North and AFC South hang in the balance, and Bengals-Bills could be a classic now that Joe Burrow is back. If anything, root against the Dolphins as they will host the Buccaneers in Week 17 in Miami and anything demoralizing that can happen to them is a good thing for Tampa Bay fans.

Washington Commanders (3-9) at Minnesota Vikings (4-8), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET

This one looked a lot more important when the schedule first came out. These two teams were a combined 26-8 last year and Washington made it all the way to the conference championship game. However, quarterback issues/injuries have derailed both of their follow-up seasons and while neither team has been officially eliminated from playoff contention yet, it’s all but over for both. It feels like Washington has a better shot to finish strong with either Jayden Daniels or Marcus Mariota (he was legitimately good last week against Denver!), and they will be playing the Eagles twice in the last three weeks. The Bucs could be chasing Philly for a higher seed, so we could possibly use some Washington wins there.

Denver Broncos (10-2) at Las Vegas Raiders (2-10), Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET

Man, the Raiders need some good vibes. Sean Payton doesn’t. Let’s have mercy on Vegas here.

Los Angeles Rams (9-3) at Arizona Cardinals (3-9), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET

As I noted above, we’re rooting against both the Rams and the Seahawks this weekend, and then going forward we just want to Seattle to win one more game than Los Angeles. And if that means San Francisco slips by them both to take the West, that’s fine too. The Cardinals are dead in the water and officially out of the playoff race, but they haven’t given up, as the Bucs can attest. Arizona has lost seven games this season by four points or fewer. If they can keep another one close – and evidence suggests they can – maybe the football gods will smile on them in the endgame for once.

Chicago Bears (9-3) at Green Bay Packers (8-3-1), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET

This is a tough one, and the truth is there might not be a right answer. The competing interests for the Bucs here are: 1) The quest for a higher seed in the final playoff standings (a Bears loss) vs. 2) The basic idea of pushing down any other NFC contenders who are potential Wild Card foes. Which is more important right now? Which is a more likely goal. The Bears currently own the top seed in the conference and the Bucs are two games behind them, so it’s not unrealistic to consider catching them. On the other hand, there are six NFC teams right now with a better record than the Buccaneers. Catching them all will be difficult – while still a worthy goal we should be rooting for – and oddsmakers currently give Tampa Bay a 1% chance of earning the top seed. The good news here is that the Bears and Packers play each other again two weeks later, so if we get this one wrong we’ll have a chance to make up for it. I won’t blame you for going either way on this one, but I think putting another loss on the Packers’ record is probably the better short-term goal.

Houston Texans (7-5) at Kansas City Chiefs (6-6), Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET

Just like Dallas-Detroit will be a great way to kick off Week 14, this is a pretty exciting end to the Sunday slate, as well. Houston has revived its playoff hopes with four straight wins, including ones over Jacksonville, Buffalo and Indianapolis, and may have the best defense in the league. The AFC South looks like it’s going to be five weeks of chaos en route to a division winner. Meanwhile, the dynastic Chiefs are actually in danger of missing the playoffs this season and can’t afford any more hits right now after dropping three of their last four. This should be a 60-minute knock-down, drag-out affair. If you want a Buccaneers rooting angle, pull for the Texans, since any win by them helps the Bucs’ strength-of-victory and strength-of-schedule numbers for potential tiebreakers. By the way, did you know that the Kansas City Chiefs were initially the Dallas Texans from 1960-62? So you can’t really go wrong by rooting for the Texans in this one.

Verdict: Go Texans (of some variety or another)!

Philadelphia Eagles (8-4) at Los Angeles Chargers (8-4), Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET

We finish with an easy one. The vibes around the Eagles, who have averaged just over 15 points per game during a 2-2 stretch, are not great right now but their remaining schedule is somewhat favorable and the defending champs could get back on track in a hurry. Do we want that? Not really. The Bucs are only one game behind Philly for the third overall seed, but it’s more like two since the Eagles have the head-to-head tiebreaker. Since the Eagles don’t have a single game remaining against an actual NFC contender, there’s no need to root for them here on out. I don’t actually expect an Eagles collapse, but that outcome would serve the Bucs well.