Football expert Phil Steele is the owner and publisher of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, regarded as the college football bible. Get in-depth coverage of college and pro football 24/7/365 at PhilSteele.com.
TEXANS (-4 1/2) over Bengals: The Bengals’ 7-1 finish includes six wins against non-playoff teams plus a season ending win vs. Baltimore, which was resting starters. The Texans’ three losses in the last month came against three playoff-bound teams, with two of those games on the road. Against common foes, Houston was 5-0 with an average score of 35-18 while Cincinnati was 2-3, getting outscored 24-20. I’ve gone 6-0-1 when using the Texans here on these pages this season.
RAVENS (-6 1/2) over Colts: The Colts went from 2-14 to 11-5. However, only five teams have improved by more than five wins and made the playoffs in the last 10 years. And the four that played in the wild-card round went 0-4, losing by 18 points per game. The Colts have been fortunate as they were outscored by 30 points on the season which places them No. 21 in point differential. And Andrew Luck has struggled on the road, completing 53 percent with an 11 TD/13 INT ratio.
LAST WEEK (NFL): 2-0. SEASON: 22-11-2.