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.
RAIDERS (-5¹/₂) over Falcons: Raiders coach Jack Del Rio made arguably the biggest call of Week 1 by going for and succeeding on the two-point conversion to finish with the 35-34 victory in New Orleans. They return home with a huge boost of confidence to take on a Falcons team that’s failed to cover in 11 of their last 13 contests. This is the Raiders’ only home game in the first four weeks of the season. Atlanta has a Monday Night visit to the rival Saints on deck, and we expect them to pack it in early, allowing the Raiders to start the year off at 2-0.
Colts (+6¹/₂) over BRONCOS: While the defending champs overcame the Panthers last week in the Super Bowl rematch, they now play host to a team that has had their number of late. The Colts not only won as four-point underdogs last year in Indy, they also knocked the Broncos out of the playoffs in 2014 with an upset in Denver. With the Colts coming off of a crushing home loss to the Lions, you can be assured they’ll keep this contest close with a now-healthy Andrew Luck back under center.
Last week (NFL): 1-1. Season: 1-1.