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.
TITANS (-4) over Jaguars: Five games ago, Tennessee was a 3 1/2 -point favorite at Jacksonville and outgained the Jaguars, 360-321, in a 24-19 loss. Here, the Titans are at home playing with revenge and are laying only four points? It is a typical overreaction to last week as the Jaguars played well in a 23-16 loss to the Patriots and the Titans were destroyed 55-7 by the Packers. If this game were played last week, Tennessee would be off a 14-10 win vs. the Jets and Jacksonville would be off a 24-3 loss at Miami and the line would have been 7-10 points. Grab the true value.
Bears/LIONS Over 44 1/2: The Bears limp in having lost five of their last seven games, averaging just 11 points per game in those five losses. But, four of those five foes had defenses that rank in the Top 10. The Bears now take on a Lions defense ranked 29th in scoring, including allowing 32 ppg their last seven. Detroit, meanwhile, has averaged 500 yards per game its last three at home and will be looking to throw the ball to help Calvin Johnson reach 2,000 yards receiving.
LAST WEEK (NFL): 0-2. SEASON: 19-11-2.