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.
Seahawks (-6) over CHARGERS: The NFL did the Chargers no favors with the Seahawks off a Thursday night win while they themselves are off a Monday night road game. San Diego allowed a 91-yard, 11-play drive and a touchdown with under three minutes left in their one point loss. The reality is the Chargers were outgained 403-290 and two of their three scoring drives totaled a combined 28 yards. Philip Rivers now faces the NFL’s best pass defense as well as the best overall defense. Seattle last year allowed an average QB rating of 63.4 and Rivers and the Chargers are now 0-10 in games they have a team QB rating of under 72.0. Defense wins again.
Patriots (-3) over VIKINGS: While this is the Vikings’ home opener it will take place at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium while they build a new stadium the next two years. Prior to last week’s results, the Patriots would have been a favorite of over a touchdown, so what happened? Minnesota beat St. Louis, 34-6, while New England lost to Miami, 33-20. That is the reason we are getting great value as the Vikings finished with only a 28-yard edge and faced a third-string quarterback in the second half. The Patriots let a 20-10 halftime lead slip away and were shut out in the second half and that makes them dangerous, as they are 21-3 off a straight-up loss.
LAST WEEK: 0-2
SEASON: 0-2