A double header concludes Monday night.
Week 15 of the NFL season comes to an end on Monday night with another double header on tap — one game having potential significance when it comes to the New England Patriots’ upcoming draft selection.
Check down below to see Pats Pulpit’s picks tonight and head to the comment section to further discussion Friday night’s action.
Patriots rooting guide
Go Vikings! New England’s strength of schedule will slightly be decreased — helping them in the draft pick tiebreaker — with a Bears loss. | 8:00 p.m. ET, ABC
Go Raiders! With the two-win Raiders sitting in the No. 1 pick slot, a third win would slide them back behind New England. That would be beneficial as Las Vegas projects as a quarterback team in this year’s draft. | 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Patriots picks
Oliver Thomas: Interim head coach Thomas Brown’s Bears had 0.2 yards per play by halftime last Sunday. The 49ers, meanwhile, netted 319 yards of offense over that span. And now it’s on to a Brian Flores defense that ranks atop the league with 20 interceptions and is in earshot with 40 sacks. And it’s also on to Sam Darnold, fresh off a performance that included a 78.6 completion percentage with 347 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. | Vikings 34, Bears 17
Woof. Kirk Cousins has thrown eight interceptions and no touchdowns over his last four starts. Four losses. And if Drake London and Kyle Pitts continue to take a backseat to Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud against the 2-11 Raiders, then Michael Penix Jr.’s eligibility for a redshirt year might be over in December. But Antonio Pierce’s quarterback room is motley crew, too, and one of whom will be handing off to 53-man promotion Sincere McCormick if Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers are covered. That might be enough to keep it close. | Falcons 20, Raiders 16
Brian Hines: It has not been the season the Bears were hoping for behind No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. Interim head coach Thomas Brown made no difference last week and now will get the challenge of Brian Flores’ Vikings defense. On the other side of the ball, Jaylon Johnson against Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison will be an entertaining matchup, but Minnesota has too much additional firepower with Aaron Jones and T.J. Hockenson. | Vikings 27, Bears 13
Desmond Ridder revenge game? The Patriots can only hope, with maybe old friend Jakobi Meyers helping the cause in his WR1 role. Vegas’ offense has not scored 20+ points in over a month while Kirk Cousins has tossed eight interceptions and zero touchdowns over that same span for the Falcons — leading to calls for rookie Michael Penix Jr. | Falcons 22, Raiders 18
If you’re looking to make your own pick on the game, head over to FanDuel.