In the aftermath of another impressive road victory by the Baltimore Ravens, Nestor Aparicio answered the call from his Las Vegas pal J.T. The Brick on his Sirius XM Mad Dog Radio overnight show and gave an overview of what he sees from the AFC-leading 11-3 squad and their path to a No. 1 seed.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
ravens, baltimore, game, stones, team, vancouver, win, super bowl, cleveland, sunday night, season, hardball, clock, miami, john harbaugh, lamar, ronnie stanley, dolphins, minutes, buffalo
SPEAKERS
J.T. The Brick, Nestor Aparicio
J.T. The Brick 00:00
Nestor Aparicio has been a longtime friend of mine. We’ve done radio pretty much together for almost 30 years and he’s great with the ravens and he joins us and NAS I gotta say everybody’s given the Niners love they’ll play him next week and Miami is on Hard Knocks Is it fair to say Baltimore could be the best team in the entire lake?
Nestor Aparicio 00:20
Well, I’m gonna find out Chris tonight right I mean, you know this is a quite a test for the Ravens a huge win on Sunday night. I mean, just impressive. You know, just impressive in a lot of ways to Jacksonville outplayed them. The first 20 minutes of the game couldn’t score a point. And in the end, the Ravens just, you know, put their foot on their neck and and it Lamar and Isaiah likely and they had some good fortune that the replay in the back of the endzone may have extended the game a little bit. It was a 16 point game at that point. But the Ravens have been impressive. And you know, I’ve seen them all brick is as impressive the season as they’ve had they had a really good season in 2019. If you remember when Lamar was was the MVP, and they had a really good season and oh six with with Steve McNair unbuckles but but other than that, I mean, the franchise has been in existence 28 seasons now 20 going on 29 seasons, and this is as good as it gets.
J.T. The Brick 01:19
John Harbaugh says he believes Keith Mitchell is done for the year with a season ending knee injury. explain his impact as a rookie on this team. How massive of a loss is this going forward? Well,
Nestor Aparicio 01:31
I mean, you can only replace running back so much, right? I mean, especially past protection as they think they want to do. JK Dobbins was their first choice. He ripped his knee up last year came back, ripped it up again, you know, first game first series, and they weren’t I don’t think in the beginning of the season, they weren’t psychologically ready for that. And he certainly didn’t have the personnel for that Justice Hill that you saw run the ball around a little bit on Sunday night and has been a guy he had some fumbling issues earlier in the year and you know Gus Edwards great back for them and should be that fourth quarter power back when they have a 10 point lead kinda like they did on Sunday night grinded out a lead trying to grind out the ball. That’s what they had been doing. Ronnie Stanley’s injury and age and just deterioration as it’s going on this season with his leg. That’s a factor as well and I don’t know that this is the way Munk is playing it and the way they want to throw the football. But what Lamar is doing the last three or four weeks has been a lot different even than what they were doing in September. In regard to pat the ball move out of the pocket, keep your eye down the field, keep your eye down the field, pass the ball some more. Don’t run just yet. Hold on wait for somebody to get open. And then he finds Bateman for 30 yards refines Isaiah likely for 20 yards, right? Like there’s that long 567 seconds. Brick it looks like Ben Roethlisberger man. I mean I you know college was was talking about targeting dinner. So it just looks like he’s feeling the pressure and seeing what got what’s going on around him in the pocket in a much, much better way in a much more comfortable way to deliver the football. He’s improved dramatically, really as
J.T. The Brick 03:30
Nestor Aparicio joins us wn St. Baltimore. I’m interested on Harbaugh. I follow you on social media a lot. And he’s already won a Super Bowl. He’s had so many wins. That can’t be argued. But it does he have a weakness in some of these games clock and clock management and trailing and all that take us behind the scenes of John Harbaugh, and how he has evolved as a coach and it could he be a hinderance in the postseason here or No, he’s just he’s gonna take the team in front of him and take him as far as I can go. I didn’t say it. Well, you know,
Nestor Aparicio 04:03
Luke Jones covers a team for me at Baltimore positive.com and wn St. Louis covered the team for 16 seasons now for me. So you know, he’s in the locker room. He’s there all week. He and I got into it last week because hardball mismanaged the clock at the two minute warning and again through a challenge flag inside of two minutes the cost and the time out of the game last week. And Luke was of the mindset Well, a lot of these guys mess up clock marriage but did you watch Andy Reed and Bella Jack’s messed up? And then in the game on Sunday night, Peterson and Trevor Lawrence completely botched the clock at half the cost of points. I guess I’m seeing this go on so much in so many places. But yeah, John Archibald does have some issues with challenges and he does have some issues with clock management toward the end of the game. When it’s tight, you know when it’s not cut time, and it’s a two point ball game. And there’s two minutes left to go. I mean, listen, hardball doesn’t get crushed for this. But if you go back to that Billy condis Miss, and that Lee Evans dropped that cost Joe Flacco the original Super Bowl in New England. hardball rush to kick her out there had a timeout in his pocket and didn’t use it. And they rushed to kick the cost of the chance to go to Super Bowl. Harbaugh has won one playoff game since 2014. That’s a long time ago. So he has this much pressure on him. And Lamar has won one playoff game. Joe Flacco won one playoff game after the Super Bowl. And they were winning at a two touchdown lead New England loss and then they were never really heard from again. Flacco got hurt and 15 and then it was just kind of all over for him, except in Cleveland, right like that. Joe Flacco touchdown passes on Sundays, it’s 2023. And they might meet in four weeks in Baltimore. I mean, the plot gets pretty juicy buffaloes back in this Kansas City. So Real. I don’t think Jacksonville’s not real I just think styles make fights and they struggle with the Ravens on Sunday night but and the dolphins I mean, you know, the AFC is kind of treacherous. The ravens are not going to have an easy path to the Super Bowl. And I was saying the NSC would be that way because Philadelphia, Dallas, these are good teams. But next week, Christmas night, San Francisco and Baltimore. I mean, people will call it a Super Bowl preview or whatever but I just see it as it really good football game and sort of a measurement of where these teams are right now. Because where they are right now is not where they’re going to be a month from now. Nestor
J.T. The Brick 06:37
Aparicio Baltimore is the one at 11 and three Miami tenant for the two Kansas cities the three at nine and five get this Ness Cleveland’s the five and Cincinnati’s the sixth Cincinnati wins the tiebreaker over Buffalo and Indianapolis as of now and they’re holding that in their pocket. I think Cleveland went to the playoffs today on that fail Mary that didn’t go against them. I think that’s enough. They’re not in five. I’m gonna say they’re gonna find one more win. But I want to wrap it up with the dolphins in the Ravens before we get to the stones quickly. Who’s better? I test ravens dolphin to the dolphins has Dallas and I picked Dallas to win the Super Bowl this year. I know they got boat racing buffalo bad weather. Crazy situation travel there but Miami’s got Dallas coming up and the Ravens got the Niners, man, this is what the overall one seat in the AFC a big one.
Nestor Aparicio 07:28
And then they play each other on New Year’s Eve here in Baltimore. And I’m sure the weather will be complimentary. I mean, the schedule matters a lot brick Kansas City got easy games, they got walkover games the rest of the way right. No offense to your Raiders, but I mean they have the easiest schedule. The Ravens not just getting through Jacksonville to San Francisco home to play Miami. And if they’re not like loose, they have to go play Pittsburgh at the end of the year. I have Pittsburgh would love to wreck them and turn them into a three seat or a four seat or something if that’s what sitting there. There’s not going to be any backing into a one seat here for the Ravens it’s not going to work that way. They’re going to have to go win these football games because there’s too much traffic behind them. And too many teams like Kansas City that have an easier schedule Buffalo’s got it rough you know Cleveland has you know winnable games in front of them to your point though they’ll get another when I was a little concerned before the Jacksonville game about the Ravens like you stare at Jacksonville San Francisco in Miami that can hurt your feelings pretty quickly. The Ravens passed the first test but little bit of a body bag game with Keith Mitchell you know Ronnie Stanley going out you know obj really wasn’t a factor in the game but calm Hamilton’s these are these are dogs did you really easy. He’s a data
J.T. The Brick 08:43
alright after seeing the stones in Liverpool and then the biggest bad beef beat of my life make getting COVID while inside the stadium in Amsterdam, why would I have stones in Vegas and then we looked at the map and said we’d like you know we’d like to go international like you July 5. in Vancouver. I get a weekend show I get to go to Vancouver to see the stones which I got to think it’s gonna be my last time going into this one as Mick is an ad. So what about the stones in this upcoming tour? I like the new record. I think this is gonna be great.
Nestor Aparicio 09:16
Hey, man, I like the new cut. I mean, I’ve been here and it stones are still relevant. Have you been to Vancouver for I mean you’ve been to Vancouver in your life right?
J.T. The Brick 09:25
I’m embarrassed I’ve never been Mormons for I can’t believe I’ve been everywhere Wow Yeah, I gotta do Vancouver. Got to
Nestor Aparicio 09:38
do I saw the police open their their reunion tour there I saw you to open their their Joshua Tree tour there so I think Vancouver a couple times a little weird BC Place in time you see, you know showing a dome. It’s a little sub something but hey man stones are rockin the ravens are 11 and three and we’ll have plenty of football to talk about for the next six weeks around
J.T. The Brick 09:59
your brick and I’m a third of the way through get his book. I didn’t do the audio. I wanted to read it I it shocks people. I read a lot of books but you saw Getty live in Toronto on the book with a minute to go how beautiful was that evening.
Nestor Aparicio 10:11
You know, Alex Lifeson walked out and if you did the hair on the back of your neck wasn’t standing up, you know, because he was a surprise. I have two copies of the book. I have not opened it yet. Here’s the problem. It’s the holidays. I got like serious work to do with the ravens and Orioles or I got stadium lease issues here in Baltimore, the Maryland stadium authority meeting on Monday. So crazy stuff. I’m gonna get to get his book on my first vacation. Maybe when I come to meet you for the stones out in Vancouver brick. Start me keep
J.T. The Brick 10:41
up keep the Ravens going. They don’t hurt us in Vegas for the Super Bowl. Cowboys. Cowboys ravens would would be unbelievable. As long as I can keep the Niners and maybe the Chiefs out of here. I’ll see you there buddy. Take care. electrifying.
