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.
PATRIOTS (-9) over Ravens: This is the first conference finals rematch since 1992-93. Superstars face off with Tom Brady’s offense versus Ray Lewis’ defense.
The media and public have clearly jumped on the Lewis retirement bandwagon, which almost puts New England in an underdog frame of mind. I’ll back the better quarterback, with the better head coach, playing their second game at home in a three-week span versus the Ravens playing for the 12th straight week. Dallas beat San Francisco in back-to- back seasons 19 years ago and New England will do the same to Baltimore this year.
LAST WEEK (NFL): 0-2. SEASON: 23-13-2.