NFL

Texans are still elite

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 and follow him on Twitter @philsteele042.

TEXANS (+2½) over Seahawks: Seattle is on fire with a 3-0 record while Houston lost last week by 21 points at Baltimore and got “lucky” to beat San Diego and Tennessee. That is why Las Vegas made Seattle a 2½-point favorite. On defense, these teams rank 1st and 2nd while on offense they rank 7th and 8th. The Seahawks are +138 yards per game versus the No. 31 schedule while the Texans are a yard better at +139 yards per game BUT they have faced the No. 12 schedule. With these teams almost identical you would figure Houston to be favored by 3 or 4 for the home-field edge but they are getting 2½?

Colts (-8) over JAGUARS: There are times when you just keep picking against a team until it finally wins. The Jaguars are 1-15 their last 16 games with eight straight losses by a touchdown or more. while last week they became only the second team to win at San Francisco in 15 Niner home games.

LAST WEEK (NFL): 1-1. SEASON: 2-4.