Sports

Don’t pass up Falcons bargain

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.

Falcons (-3) over REDSKINS: Why are the Falcons only a 3-point favorite? Atlanta’s 4-0 playing my No. 13 toughest schedule, with road wins at Kansas City and San Diego by a combined 40 points. Washington is 2-2, beating teams that are a combined 1-7, and has a strength of schedule that ranks dead last. The injury-depleted ’Skins defense has allowed 468 yards per game (ypg) in its last three. The Falcons will have no issues slowing down RG3 as they’ve just held Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers and Cam Newton to 196 ypg passing.

CHIEFS (+6) over Ravens: The 1-3 Chiefs host the 3-1 Ravens so they should be an underdog, correct? Not so fast! Kansas City is +86 ypg vs. my No. 15 schedule while Baltimore is +35 ypg vs. the No. 14 schedule. The Ravens struggle on the road vs. non-division foes as last year they were expected to win all five but were upset in four of those games. It’s an Arrowhead upset!

LAST WEEK (NFL): 1-1. SEASON: 4-4.