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.
SUNDAY
Patriots (+5 ¹/₂ ) over BRONCOS
What more could you ask for? Manning versus Brady, the AFC preseason favorites and the No. 1 versus the No. 2 seed. Both veteran quarterbacks have Super Bowl rings but the difference is Tom Brady has played his entire career with New England under Bill Belichick while Peyton Manning is only his in second season in Denver. The Patriots return to the conference title game after losing last year and the last eight teams that have done so have advanced to the Super Bowl including both San Francisco and Baltimore last year. New England is also the underdog, which is a role the Pats relish. In fact, when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are an underdog of 4¹/₂ or more points they are a perfect 10-0 against the spread. New England advances and I’m sure the Patriots are glad the opponent will not be the Giants.
LAST WEEK: 2-0
PLAYOFFS: 3-1
SEASON: 21-16-1