Colin Cowherd’s NFL Week 12 Predictions: Steelers-Bears, Colts-Chiefs | THE HERD Blazin’ 5

Colin Cowherd’s NFL Week 12 Predictions: Steelers-Bears, Colts-Chiefs | THE HERD Blazin’ 5

Welcome to the Herds official YouTube channel. Make sure to like and subscribe. Don’t forget to check out the Colin Coward podcast, all of our NFL instant reactions, and more football content. Uh J-Mack, I get very excited. You know, I love this. Five or six minutes on the show. Well, you like a hot win streak, too, obviously. Yeah. Um so, uh I would say the game I think Dallas has a chance to keep it close. I do worry about their offensive line in pass protection is not good. It’s near the bottom of the league. Jaylen Phillips looked so good for the Eagles in his first game and Jaylen Carter didn’t play in the opener. He spit on Dak. Yeah. So, and you you kind of you kind of talked me off this one. I give you credit. You talked me out of it. I do think the side, if you’re going to bet it is Dallas plus three and a half. The other thing I thought about in this game why I didn’t take it. Dallas looked great on Monday night. So, they are massively overvalued. Anytime the Cowboys are a popular team, Green Bay, Cowboys, Eagles, play in a standalone game Monday night, beat up on a bad team, everybody goes crazy. Lot of Cowboy love this week. So, I decided cooler heads prevail not to bet it. But here’s my blazing five. That’s a hot one. Let’s blaze it up. Fired it up. It’s Collins blazing five. Vikings and Packers. I’m going to take Green Bay as a home favorite to win and cover minus 6 and a half. This is about Jeff Halfley, Green Bay’s defensive coordinator. He has built a very sound defense. Second fewest big plays surrendered in the league over at least one takeaway, at least one in five straight games. So, this is about Green Bay at home where everybody’s defense is better at home against JJ McCarthy who I don’t think in the face of this defense can play clean football. He’s got multiple picks in three or four starts. His completion percentage is under 53% this year. He is a quarterback that needs to play with confidence and a lead. I don’t think he will. I’m going to go with Jeff Halfley’s defense to create some offense. Packers win and cover. It’s a lot. It’s a division game 28 to 20. Steelers at Bears. The up and down Steelers are going to lose. I’m going to take the Bears to win and cover minus 2 and a half. Listen, they’ve won seven of their last eight games. Number two rushing offense. They don’t need big plays. Caleb does not throw a lot of picks and at home he’s a better quarterback. At home, he’s only taken one sack in the last three games and his passer ratings mid 90s. He has been like a lot of young quarterbacks, he’s been better at home. The Steelers, Aaron Rogers is banged up. They can’t run the football. And right now, they’ve allowed 25 plus points in three of their four road games. So, defenses, Cleveland’s an example, Pittsburgh an example, tend to be better at home. I’m gonna take the Bears to win and the Bears to cover 2721. Colts said Chiefs. I like the over 50 and a half. It’s the two most efficient offenses in the NFL and the Colts are off a buy. So, you know, Shane Stiken is going to have some tricks. No two teams have punted less in the NFL than the Colts and the Chiefs. And the Colts and their opponents are averaging four 53 a game. So I’m just going to take the over here. And their defense in back-to-back games is a little banged up. Is given up over 25 a game. The Chiefs average 29 at home. Momes has played much better at home. And Kansas City is desperate. Don’t be shocked if the Chiefs don’t have their performance of the year off that Denver loss. I’m taking the over. I think it’s a close game. Kansas City wins 28-24. Take the over 50.5 points. Seahawks at Titans. I never take huge favorites. I’m breaking my rule. Seattle minus3 a half at Tennessee. Tennessee’s 0 and5 at home. Six of their losses are by over 10. Seattle outgainained the Rams by 165 points. Outplayed them the final three quarters. Almost won with four picks. They’re a great road team, 11-2 because defense and running games travel. Seattle does both well. Sam Darnold, despite the picks, PFF has him ranked number two. Tennessee is atrocious. Worst point differential in the league. They do nothing right. I think the locker room may be lost at this point. I hate taking huge favorites. Seattle wins and covers 31-13. Panthers at 49ers. Okay, I’m going to take Carolina plus seven. They’ve won three straight on the road. Bryce Young is six and4 if you’re not watching. And actually, he’s had back-to-back games completing 68% of his throws. And the Ner’s defense is a mess. It’s all beat up. Robert Saul is doing it with smoke and mirrors. They are just depleted. And I’ll tell you this, the NerS are a weird team. Go look the last year, year and a half, how they played after wins. Some of their worst games have been after they win and you think they’re going to get momentum. The defense has the fewest sacks in the NFL this year. So Bryce Young, who’s been on good on the road playing with momentum, is going to have time to throw. I think it’s close. I think San Francisco probably at home finds a way to win. Also, the NerS, despite having Christian McCaffrey, are not running the ball particularly well. Eight of their 11 games under 100 yards rushing. I’m going to take seven points. I think Carolina’s one of those teams that people aren’t giving the credit to them because they’ve been so bad and so dysfunctional. Carolina can go toe-to-toe. Carolina won at Lambo. Carolina plus seven number does not make a lot of sense to me. I’m going to take the points. I think it’s a game that goes to the very end. I’ll take the home team. There you go. Jmack, anything you like or dislike vehemently? uh like the Seahawks. Um sort of like the Bears, sort of like the Packers. I don’t know about the Panthers, Colin. There is some uh there’s some juice behind this Niners offense right now. I don’t think the Panthers can hold them down. Yeah, I I would lean Niners in that one. But overall, hey, you’re hot. What can I say? I mean, we did did both go 5-0 last week. Um yeah, I don’t hate your picks. I’m surprised you didn’t weigh in on the Shadore Bowl. Shador against the Raiders. He’s a senior NFL reporter, Monday morning quarterback, and he loves college football as much as I do. And I want to start there with Albert Brer is now joining us live. So, um, kind of overlooked in the Lane Keifin situation is the one way to leave Old Miss and not alienate a conference that you could come back to is to go pro. And everybody would be like, “Okay, old miss. Old Miss to the Jets or Old Miss to the Giants. Everybody gets that, right? Wherever he goes in the SEC, it’s just it’s messy, especially because it’s the great alltime old miss season. I believe that he’s got NFL interest, right side of the ball, young former player, attitude, presence. What do you hear? Yeah, I think the NFL would be interested in him quite honestly. And the NFL has been interested in him before. Of course, he was a head coach in the NFL for a brief time with the Raiders. We all know how that ended with the overhead projector um and Al Davis and all of that, but there was a point where the NFL was interested him in him as an assistant when he was the offensive coordinator at Alabama before he went to Florida Atlantic. I remember talking to a few college scouting directors, guys who are out there on the trail who would tell me like, you know, this is one thing that could be an interesting idea for someone. And remember that was when Chip Kelly was in Philadelphia and there was a lot of fascination with college offenses, right? And here was a guy who had sort of incorporated spread principles into his West Coast background. And so he was sort of doing both, you know, and and and being able to give college kids some grounding in a in in a in a in a pro offense while doing the spread things that got them up and running fast. And so this is something the NFL has looked at in the past. Again, of course, he’s been a head coach, but they did look at him as an assistant about about a decade ago, and I do think that if, you know, word got out there that he was really interested in going to the NFL because that pipeline has run sort of dry with all the turnover there is in the pros, I do think NFL teams would show an interest in him. So, um, the teams that can get a Mendoza in the draft or a Dante Moore, either have two first round picks like the Rams or Cleveland or Dallas. Now, Dallas doesn’t need a quarterback clearly or a roster that is really loaded and you feel like I mean, the Colts are like, “Guys, we’re gonna resign Daniel Jones. Our old line’s good. We just solved our one issue, S Gardner. We like our roster. I’m gonna throw this out to you. So, Seattle’s got a stack roster. Yeah, they like Sam Darnold a lot. But I watched that game and I thought to myself, and I know John Snyder is going to college football venues looking longterm at quarterback, right? You have to. I mean, he looked at Josh Allen when Russell Wilson was going to Super Bowls. What about a team like what did you make of the Sam Darnold performance? Is it just one of those, hey, Sam is But you look at that the game against the Rams last year, the game against the Lions. Could you see a good team now taking a big swing and because Darnold would have Albert a massive market if Dante Moore stays in college of a massive market. What do you make of Darnold in Seattle after that performance or no big deal? I don’t think it’s a big deal. I think he’s got a Rams problem, you know, quite honestly. Like I the two games against the R and that’s a problem because you’re in the NFC West, but there’s something that Chris Shuel has been able to do against Sam Darnold that clearly is working. It worked in the Minnesota game last year. It worked in the Seattle game this year. So, there is like a hump that Sam’s got to get get over. But, I’ve got the statistics up right now. And this is even with that game against the Rams, the three interception game against the Rams factored in. He’s seventh in the NFL in passer rating. He’s seventh in passing yards. He’s 10th in touchdown passes. And he’s first in yards per attempt. He’s elevated Jackson Smith and Jigba, who is already a really good receiver to maybe becoming the best receiver in football. He’s helped them mitigate some of the issues they’ve had on their offensive line. He’s been everything they wanted, and he’s relatively affordable. He’s he’s he’s getting paid just over $30 million per year for 26 and 27. So they have him under contract for for for a few years. And you look at like where they are and and yes, John Schneider’s always looked at these these these these big picture ideas. And one of the things I remember hearing that the Seahawks were doing all the way back in the day, right? Like when Russell Wilson was on the rookie quarterback, they even considered the idea, do we churn quarterbacks? like what would that look like if somebody tried to keep taking advantage of that that that benefit of having a quarterback on a rookie contract? So, they’ve thought creatively um on these things in the past, but I think Sam’s done too good a job for them. He’s too affordable for the next couple of years and they’re too much in a window now with the group of players they have. I think they’ve got a really good team there to turn the apple cart upside down at quarterback. So, I I don’t mind the idea and I’m sure John has thought of everything. I just don’t think they’re gonna do it right now. All right, throwing it out there. Okay, so Nick Wright said something this week I thought was really interesting. He said because of Shadur’s history, the speeding tickets, the iffy judgment, um you know, tanking some pre-draft interviews that this start against the Raiders, if it goes sideways, it’s really ugly. Does he get another start? Like the whole league is watching this game. The Raiders aren’t good. that that he has done himself a bit of a disservice with a lack of self-awareness, some immaturity, likable kid, that this this actually means a lot for Shadore, like he needs to be mid or up. Do you do you view that? I mean, I think the default I I think the default for Kevin Stfansky is just to turn to Dylan turn back to Dylan Gabriel and Dylan Gabriel is healthy. So, I think Shidor’s got to overcome that in the short term to to to to get a a shot to continue as the starter, right? So, yes, this is an audition, but I think there’s a relatively high bar to clear there. Like, he’s got to play well. It can’t just be so so. Um, and part of the problem, Colin, is all the things that you heard scouts talk about before the draft and stuff that I was trying to tell people back then that I was hearing from all these people, like all of that stuff showed up in the game against the Ravens. He doesn’t have great sense. He doesn’t see it fast enough. He bails out of the back of the pocket and tries to run away from the rush that way. all of that stuff and not only is that not good for the team, it’s not good for his own development if bad habits are being reinforced in game action. So, I think the biggest thing you’re looking for from Shadore is breaking some of those habits. Can he do that on the fly? Can that happen with the Browns having a chance to build a game plan around him and a and a and a relatively weak opponent on deck this week with the Raiders? Um, you know, I think that’s what you’re looking at here is can he move past some of the things that he was criticized for before the draft. If so, maybe they think about continuing to start him. If not, then I think they put him right back where he was as a developmental player on their roster. They got their look at him and then maybe they look at him again in 2026. But I I don’t have any reason to believe that the Browns quarterback for 2026 is on the roster right now. Um, and I I I think for Shadore, this is as much about just getting another chance to show what he can do in December more so than it is about establishing anything for the future. So, I I have to end with this and it’s a it’s a real story. I mean, Josh Allen got hit 12 times. Um, they don’t have a deep threat. They couldn’t get the plan on time. Even Even Houston ran on him in the first half. Um and and and Brandon Bean got very uh spicy with local media this off seasonason when they ripped him for the draft and they said all you did is draft defensive players. We we Josh Allen needs more help. So I mean I this year Josh Allen has lost to last night Tua Michael Pennet and Davis Mills. Okay, that’s just not good enough. And we’re getting and it’s a standalone game and you know Albert that matters. I I do not see this as a Super Bowl team. I thought the Texans have a better roster. I And I did not feel that two, three years ago. I think the Heat’s getting ratched. I don’t think you can keep losing to C level quarterbacks. I think that loss means something last night. I really do. Do you? Um I mean it depends, right? like what happens the rest of the year and is this a blip or is it something more because we now have four losses um to go on and you know really like I think the the like like going forward the way you look at this Josh Allen turns 30 in May and like how how much more of this can the Bills ownership take and looking at where they’re at um I view it a little bit like and I think the right comparison here is Tony Tony Dunie in Tampa. Um where like when when when when Tampa was when when Tony Dunie first got to Tampa in the mid9s um he completely turned that organization around. They were able to flip it on the strength of a historic defense with John Lynch and Warren Sap and Derrick Brooks and they kept knocking on the door and everybody loved Tony Dunie and he’d done such a great job. And then eventually after seven years it got to the point where okay like we’re not there. Ownership started courting Bill Parcels. They wind up trading for John Gruden and the rest is history. I don’t think the Bills are there yet. But I would say like when you’ve got a talent like this like Josh Allen is the Bills version of what Tampa had in that defense, right? and you keep knocking on the door and he’s getting older, the pressure of course is going to be on everybody to continue to put the best team they possibly can around him to put him in this best situation possible. And I I think a couple of things that that that really stuck out last night was the Bills inability to deal with to to deal with the def the defensive front of the the Houston Texans. I think the Bills got out coached on that side of the ball. um you know and then you see no Dalton Concaid that had an impact. Keon Coleman who was a high second round pick isn’t out there with them. Like all of those are issues you know so um I think as as you go on you can say Brandon Bean and Shawn McDermott have done a fantastic job completely rebuilding that Bills organization and changing who they are and helping that stadium get built and being the ones who brought Josh Allen in. Um, but of course like having a talent like that on your roster and Josh Allen getting older does does create a sense of urgency for everyone involved. Now J-Mack and I had a disagreement earlier. I said in Philadelphia the media is hyperaggressive and they keep going to AJ Brown’s locker and asking aggressive questions and he won’t bite. Like one of them was, you know, your numbers are down. What does that say about you? And he said, well Saquons are down. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad player. I thought that was totally appropriate. Um Jac is like, “This guy’s starting fires.” And I’m like, “Listen, the Philadelphia media is aggressive. Newspaper, TV, sports radio.” I wonder what the fissurers like. Is it overplayed by people like me that aren’t there? Um and but for the record, Philadelphia is noisy in a good year, isn’t it? It’s The Fissers are there, but they’ve been there. And I would just tell you that that’s sort of been the the sort of cadence for this team over the last few years. That locker room’s got a lot of big egos in it. There are a lot of mouths to feed. Jaylen Herz hasn’t always been the most well-liked person in that building. AJ Brown can be volatile. Jaylen Carter um isn’t the easiest guy to deal with either. Um they’ve been able to bring all these personalities and egos together in the name of building the most talented roster possible. This is where the value of Nick Serriani is though, Colin. I mean, his value isn’t as a quarterback developer. It isn’t as an offensive schemer or play caller. His value is in his ability to manage people and to bring people together and to deal with these sorts of brush fires. And I think that’s the one thing people miss on Sirani is he’ll put the fire out with AJ Brown. He’ll manage Jaylen Carter. He’ll deal with with Jaylen Herz. like all of the big personalities, all the big egos, all of the big money guys that are in there. Not everybody can manage that. And I think in that way, Sirani is even a little bit like Mike Tomlin. So I I think for the time being, the Eagles deal with this as it comes. And Nick Sriani does a good job of leaning into what the team is good at, which I that team has a fantastic defense. That’s what no one’s talking about. But that defense is one of the best in the league right there with the Broncos and the Texans. and you ride it out and you see where you can go with this team and then you make a decision on AJ Brown after the year. I I’ll be interested to see what his trade value would be too, but they were never going to trade him in season because they’re chasing a championship. In the off season, the dynamic changes because you have the wherewithal to replace him on your roster. You don’t have that in season. So, they manage it for now and then I think they revisit it after the year. Albert Brer, Monday morning quarterback. Good stuff. Good stuff. I love that Lane Keifin info. Um, good seeing you buddy as always. All right, thanks Colin Jmack with the news. No, no, no. Heard on the news. This is the herd line news. Yeah, maybe it’s time McDermott put in a call to Brian Dable who’s unemployed right now to advise the offense, Colin. All right, let’s go to the Baltimore Ravens. They’ve won four straight to climb back into things in the AFC North. Interesting. So, we saw Josh Allen was sacked a billion times last night. Well, you know who else is getting sacked a lot? Lamar Jackson. Yeah. Right. Last year, he was only sacked 23 times. This year, he’s been sacked 23 times in seven games. Lamar was made aware of the stat. Here’s his response. I think he got 23 sacks all of last year and that’s how many you have this year in in fewer games. Talk to mind about that. Well, about that, man. Realistically, I mean, guys about that. Do you feel the cumulative weight of of some of the pressure you’ve been getting this year? I mean, it’s part of football, you know. Sometimes guys will get you, sometimes they won’t. You know, like I said, I’m talking to my guys about that. They probably going to like that, though. Yeah. I mean, um, it’s noticeable. I also think the one question we’ve always had about the Ravens forever is wide a receiver. Is a Flowers a one? I mean, it’s it’s again some pretty good defense in the AFC. You know, is is he holding the ball because there nobody open? I mean, that’s the Josh Allen issue. I Cam Ward holds it forever. I’m okay with that. You’re Cam Ward and you’re a young guy, but uh it’s interesting. I I still Baltimore just does not look quite as dynamic offensively. Now, again, they’ve paid some guys on defense, good players. So, you know, it’s quarterback’s making some money. Kyle Hamilton now, I think he’s making some money. So, it’s a reality of it. Hey, you got to reallocate uh resources around the team. And Lamar, like you said, is getting paid. Offensive line’s not great, but Colin, we’re being honest. He doesn’t look as elusive as he has in years past. I don’t know if it’s the ankle injury and what he went through this season or it’s just an accumulation of a lot of hits, but if Lamar’s not as elusive, you have to go get a wide receiver then cuz he we know he’s a great pocket passer. Yeah. But the running around was his superpower. All right, let’s go to the uh Green Bay Packers who are um currently uh right there in the NFC North. They’re in the mix for a for a playoff spot for sure, but they only have played one divisional game. That was the season opener, remember, against the Lions. So, interestingly, five of their final seven games are against the NFC North. Matt Laflur talked about what’s at stake. All that matters is this one game. And for us right now, I mean, we just got to focus on what’s right in front of us, and that’s to try to put together the best plan to go out and play a team that I think is extremely tough football team. Um, and they I mean, shoot, they put it on us twice last year. So, uh, our guys our guys will be motivated. They’ll be ready to roll. So, this is a problem. I I didn’t anticipate this. So, five of their final seven against the division. That’s familiarity. Everybody knows each other. Green Bay, by the way, three and seven against the spread, Colin, second worst in the NFL. Yeah, I I I I’m gonna tell you, I believe starting this weekend, and again, they don’t have Tucker Craft the rest of the year. So, the offense does have a hole in it. I’m going to make a prediction that starting this weekend, Green Bay is going to start playing their best football of the year. I believe it. I this has been it’s still a it’s still the youngest offense in the league. I think starting against Minnesota it they’re going to take a jump. So I said that last week against the Giants they got the win only got the push did not get the cover but they just didn’t look awesome. Every week it’s something either the defense doesn’t play up to what you expect or the offense isn’t as cris. Now I did just see a report about an hour ago out of Green Bay. Jaden Reed probably their most dynamic playmaker back at practice. It doesn’t sound like he’s going to go. Remember, he was on IR. I forget what the injury was. Maybe a wrist. Now he’s practicing. That’s a huge get back cuz he can line up in the slot outside. You can do some gadget stuff with him and they just need weapons. Um there’s a big game against the Vikings. Watson played very well last week. Watson did two Tutties. Uh if they lose to the Vikings, Colin, not only do you lose your bet, but that game for the Lions, Lions Packers on Thanksgiving becomes massive for Green Bay and their playoff hopes. Uh, final story, college football. Here we go. The big one tomorrow. Oregon, Oregon, Oregon, whatever. Uh, the Ducks host your USC Trojans in a big one. Okay, this has a lot of ramifications uh for the playoff. Obviously, the Ducks are heavy favorites. I’ll tell you who I bet in a minute, but um obviously uh the coaches are talking. And here is Lincoln Riley saying the Ducks are going to be on upset alert. you have to play complete football against them, right? They’ve shown the ability to to run the ball, especially here in the in the back half of the season. Um, you know, they’ve really ran the football well. They’ve been explosive, been efficient. Um, you know, you got a good group of backs. Um, some impactful tight ends. O line’s playing well. So, um, no, definitely be a big challenge for us there. Here’s the thing. When they go on the road, Illinois and Notre Dame are examples. Michigan last year, they don’t they don’t defend the run very well. And I said going into the Notre Dame game, I said that is a bad matchup for USC. Um I I think we’re going to get some scoring here, but I don’t know. I think Oregon’s going to be able to consistently run the ball here, taking it out of USC’s hands. Uh because the way to beat USC, Illinois showed you the way to beat USC is long drives, run the ball, keep Lincoln in that highpowered offense off the field cuz USC I think despite what the rankings tell you, I think USC will throw the ball in Oregon. Okay, I do. I think Oregon’s passing defense has not been tested to this level yet. Remember, Indiana went into and kind of controlled them, but I I tend to think Oregon is going to control the time of possession in this game. Interesting. So, the total is astronomical. 59 a half. A lot of that has to do with USC’s inability to play defense. I need to see an injury report and I know you’re against this. College football doesn’t really have them. So, we don’t know who’s hurt, who’s back. I mean, remember that game Oregon Iowa? I told Joel Clatt, he’s like, “Bro, Iowa’s going to cover.” and he’s like, “Oregon should be fine.” The injuries for Oregon have been massive, but they’re underplayed because there’s no injury report. So, we don’t really know who’s 100% in. Well, Oregon’s wide receiving groupings, this is a big benefit to USC. USC is is okay at corner, good safeties, not great at lineback. They have a decent pass rush and great safeties. You can beat them down the field on the sideline and Oregon has a potential to do that. But Oregon’s been banged up for two or three weeks at wide receiver. So, you know, game time decision, guys. If they go edge Oregon, but but but that’s made Oregon’s offense a little more sporadic is they’re not quite as consistent, but a lot of it’s just injuries to their receivers. So, I had liked USC. Remember earlier this week, I was like, “This is going to be feisty.” Well, you know, I talked to some gamblers. The the number one college football gambler I know is on is on Oregon. So, I I I took a nine and a half. It’s now 10 10 and a half. Uh, unfortunately, it’s a tough one for USC, Collins. It’s going to be difficult. I agree. I mean, listen, they struggle with Iowa. They struggle to put Iowa. They got into a big hole against Iowa. You can’t get into a big hole at Ason Stadium. By the way, weather it looks like 47 and clear. So, no, it’s fine. No inclement stuff.

Colin Cowherd gives his Blazin’ 5 Best Bets of NFL Week 12 including the Minnesota Vikings-Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers-Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts-Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks-Tennessee Titans, and Carolina Panthers-San Francisco 49ers. Next, Colin is joined by Albert Breer to discuss the biggest stories in the NFL and college football including Lane Kiffin’s coaching future, A.J. Brown’s drama with the Philadelphia Eagles, and more. Finally, Colin and Jason McIntyre react to the latest news around the NFL and college football.

0:00 Blazin’ 5 picks for Week 12
6:51 Albert Breer interview
20:44 Herdline news

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