It’s Sunday Night Football in Baltimore. The undefeated Buffalo Bills come to town with Josh Allen playing his best football and the Ravens cannot afford a 1-3 start in the AFC. Luke Jones and Nestor get you ready for a big September football game downtown.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
ravens, play, game, lamar, buffalo, josh allen, talking, win, big, team, bills, week, good, defense, ball, baseball, luke, season, part, lose
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
8Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, Towson, Baltimore, Baltimore, positive we are doing the oyster tour. I feel like at some point I’m growing a playoff beard here. I’m not sure, certainly not a raven playoff beard just yet, but I do have Raven scratch offs to give away, and I will be shaved up for the oyster recovery partnership event that we’re doing this week, as well as being a cost this on Friday, we’re going to be there Friday afternoon. Want some friends. Leonard Raskin is going to be there. I’ll have his crab mallet. Haven’t had crabs in a while, probably. I mean, this is time to year to have them. Marvin Lewis and I were talking about a couple weeks ago. This is the best time. They’re the biggest in fact, yeah, they are. So we’ll be a cost us on Friday afternoon during the Maryland crab cake tour. I’ll be having the oysters. Rockefeller is part of our oyster tour and the oyster recovery partnership our friends at Liberty, pure solutions. One 800 clean water. They keep my water clean. The oysters keep the bay clean. We’re educating folks about that. I’m having a bunch of oyster farmers on and all of it intersecting with Oriole playoff baseball next week and all of the Oriole, Grayson, Rodriguez and the Yankees and Dean Kramer and gunners hitting bombs and Westies back and all of that will all stop for a couple hours on Sunday night before they gear up on Tuesday, what we believe will be afternoon, Luke will play some football here on Sunday night. And I don’t, I don’t know, man, I don’t remember a bigger game this time of the year. Um, for where the ravens are, where the bills are, where they’ve already lost to the chiefs. Thinking about playoff games in January, which is, it’s what we do around here. It’s the way we roll. We think about playoff games in January. We we always wonder what it would be like to have an AFC Championship game here. And now we’re wondering what it would like be to win one or run the ball four times in one. This is a big week. I mean, it’s a big test for John, it’s a big test for Lamar. It’s a big test for Zach. Or based on the way the bills have played, and now we find out the offensive line. You know, only thing worse than not playing well is injuries.
Luke Jones 02:02
Yeah, and look, I mean, I’m not necessarily convinced that these are injuries that are going to keep these guys out Sunday night. Obviously, Tyler linderbaum dealing with a little bit of a knee issue at the beginning of the practice week, and Patrick McCary listed with a neck. Andrew Voorhees with an ankle. It looked like Voorhees was shaken up towards the end of the game on Sunday. At one point, I noticed him being a little slow to get up, but they all made it through the game. You know, you’d like to think that these aren’t injuries that are going to keep these guys out Sunday night, and that’s kind of what my gut tells me is they’re not going to miss Sunday night, but are they less than 100% and we’re talking about an offensive line that kind of sort of felt like it had turned the corner a little bit against the Cowboys on Sunday, albeit, I think a defense we all would agree look very soft, trying to stop the Ravens run and stopping the saints run the week before that. But you still like the progress you saw. You know, whether you’re talking about Daniel Fowle or Voorhees or, you know, Patrick McCarey at right tackle, whatever. You certainly don’t want to be dealing with injuries. But I mean, this is such an exciting matchup, because let’s face it, the ravens and the bills are kind of kindred spirits right now, in the sense that they both have had so much success, but they haven’t been able to get past Patrick mahomes and the chiefs. I mean, that’s really what we’re talking about here. Now, the bills have had more regular season success against the chiefs, but at the end of the day, who cares about that? Right? I mean, it’s about January. It’s about getting the Super Bowls. It’s about winning Super Bowls. And you have, in my mind, easily, the two best dual threat quarterbacks in the National Football League, two of the best three quarterbacks in the league, for my money. You know, I It’s Patrick mahomes and these two guys right now. And I say that with no disrespect to Joe burrow or CJ Stroud or anyone you want to throw out there, but these two guys and mahomes being at the top of the list. These two guys are right there. And so far through three weeks, Josh Allen’s been MVP of the league. That’s how good he’s been so but Lamar has had a really good start to the season too, in his unique brand of football. So exciting matchup, certainly important for the Ravens from the standpoint of you just got your first win of the season, not that one in three is insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination. But you know, you don’t want to lose a game at home, and you don’t want to be in a position where you’ve already lost one to Kansas City, and then you lose at home to Buffalo. Then, you know, everyone’s doubting you in terms of your ability to, you know, come out of the AFC and get to a Super Bowl, understanding it’s still September, and, you know, going to be early October next week, but just exciting, because this is a really good test for both teams. You know, both these teams have scored a lot of points, the bills defense, which has absolutely dealt with injuries. I mean, they lost Matt Milano back in mid August with the torn biceps. Maybe he comes back by the month of December, but no guarantee there. They’ve been without their middle linebacker Terrell Bernard since. Is week two, Taran Johnson, who we all remember, had to pick six against Lamar in the playoffs a few years back. He’s been out with a forearm injury since early in the season opener. So yeah, this is Bill’s defense that’s played well despite missing some really key players. So you give them credit on that front, they have a very good defensive front that I think will pose some some significant challenges for this ravens offensive line. But we’ve talked about that narrative every week, right? I mean, it was Chris Jones in week one, it was Max Crosby in week two, it was Micah Parsons in week three, albeit Micah Parsons, you know, and the rest of that defensive front, you know, not exactly playing well, but you know this, this is exciting, and maybe, maybe there’s a little less juice for this just because of more energy being pumped and more attention being pumped into the baseball team, clinching a playoff spot this week and knowing what’s to come next week. But come Sunday night. I mean, Sunday night football the national spotlight, Lamar against Josh Allen. I mean, that’s a lot of fun. I mean, it’s a lot of fun. But I will say this, that ravens defense, which we’ve seen, looks so good in the first half of games the last two weeks, in last week’s case, the first three quarters, really, they better be ready to play 60 minutes against Josh Allen and this bill’s offense that there were some questions about with Stefan Diggs no longer being part of the fold, but, yeah, they they haven’t missed a beat, you know, but you can make an argument that they’re better, and not with Josh Allen not having to worry about Stefan Diggs being unhappy and not getting the ball as much. I mean, they’ve really spread it around nicely. They’ve got a really talented young back and James Cook, who can, you know, run between the tackles, but also make some catches out of the backfield, which I think is probably, probably poses a greater challenge against a defense that shut down the run. But you know, certainly, you know, backs can make some catches in space. So this could be a big challenge. It’s a big test for both teams. For the ravens, it’s obvious, because they’re one and two for the bills. They’re three and Oh, but Jacksonville is an absolute mess. Week two is when tua went down with the concussion, and the Dolphins are a total mess the bills, if you recall week one, Arizona took it to him in the first half of that game. So I think there’s a sense for the Ravens that they just need to get another win after an O and two start for the bills. This is a chance for them to make a statement and say, No, it’s not Kansas City and mahomes right now. It’s us, and they go into Baltimore and beat the Ravens in their building, knowing how difficult it is to do that in prime time. That’s a heck of a statement for them. So I’m juiced up for this game. I mean, this is a really interesting matchup, and I’ll say this, I think, with how these teams have played, how the Ravens have profiled defensively, this is the kind of game that I’m not a gambling man, but I’d probably take the over. I think we’re going to see a lot of points. However, we’ve had this rain all week here in Baltimore, and last I checked, there’s a chance it could be lingering even Sunday, so that could impact it as well. But I’m looking forward to this one, because when you’re talking about any matchup that has two of the elite quarterbacks going up against each other, it’s going to be a lot of fun. Luke
Nestor Aparicio 08:10
Jones is here. He is Baltimore. Luke, you can find him out anywhere the Orioles and the Ravens are going to be they let him in. They might let me in if you make it to the American League Championship Series, I’m hoping, and that they could win some ball games here and and make it fun for us. But we do have football, you know, like the Orioles are gone next weekend, we got Cincinnati to deal with, and oh, and three and everything borough doesn’t look right they, they don’t look right at all. So I’m a little more thinking, like, Sky could get blue after the ELO concert, Mr. Blue Sky, I am the sky could get a little bit more blue if they can beat the bills. And we’d say, All right, well, you know, maybe, maybe they wash out that Raiders game, and it was just a blip in the radar in the second half. But as Vic crucia came on this week, and yeah, he’s covered the league forever and is up in Buffalo. They’re putting them in the Buffalo Hall of Fame. He did a great segment me about all the things you were talking about with Buffalo’s had a lot of injuries, a lot of problems. This is kind of shocking. And he’s like, the fans appear, don’t think we’re winning the Super Bowl. They think they’re gonna screw it up again, because that’s the way the fans think, because they’re Buffalo. And yeah, Josh Allen looks like an MVP. It’s September. Wake me up. And so that’s a familiar refrain here. It’s like you said, you know you’re everybody’s chasing mahomes, everybody’s chasing Tom Brady, everybody’s chasing that we couldn’t beat anybody. You know, we’re not winning games in January and borough. Can at least say, Well, I took you to one Super Bowl. We had a lead, not my fault, but these two teams and where their destinies are, where the fan bases are, and how the mafia is going to come down here. And this is spotlight game. I mean, this is as good a game as the league gets, really, especially with the way the bills are playing right now, the Damar Hamlin thing, which I would think the league would want to run away from that, but they turn it into it’ll never happen again. And I, I. I shudder at all of that because I’ve been around the game and how violent it can be, that we take that part of it out of it, but that part comes in every time I see Damar Hamlin, I I wince a little bit, and a lot of it actually, but I would say that the comeback of him this on the public stage, Allen being the best player in the sport for the first three weeks. I mean, the league’s got this wrapped up in a bow, real nice. And even you who’s a little worried about the Orioles next week, I think this is kind of a treacherous game, and for me, they’re a favorite in this game. They haven’t they’ve played well enough to have lead. So you’d say, well, have they played well? Well, they’re up a couple touchdowns the last couple weeks. So, you know, how well do you want them to play in the body of things? And they gave Kansas City a fight, and it came a, you know, a tippy toe away from maybe making that something it wasn’t on the road. And we feel really different about the Ravens because one and two, we feel different about the Ravens because of penalties. I feel different about the Ravens this week because it’s offensive line thing. I’m never going to feel great about that offensive line until, like it road grades teams, finishes games often, you know, like, finishes games like and I don’t know that they’re going to start a game this week. Couple these guys, who knows, right? I this is, um, this is a really dangerous game for the ravens, for the franchise, for John, for one and three. I think Cincinnati’s not the hurdle that I believed it to be. I watched them play the other I mean, I watched both of those games on Monday, and it was staggering to see how you talk about Adley rutman Being a one one. And maybe we’re worried a little bit. I mean, the Trevor Lawrence thing is frightening if you’re a Jaguars person. I was at a I was at the Chaucer in Highlandtown having an oyster the other night. And Sammy cavares, my dear friend, Hall of Fame voter, Baltimorean Woodlawn man, one of his neighbor’s kids. This kid’s like Sam cavares from TV for the Yeah, I grew up pretty on the street from him. I grew up with this kid text him. So I, you know, I get this text going back and forth. And meanwhile, cavares is worried about my safety in Highland town, which is insane. Told me stop watching Fox 45 and worried about my football team and his football team. So we’re now back and forth. I’m like, Dude, that Trevor Lawrence thing, my God, he was supposed to be your hope as a franchise. Um, and I feel that way about Josh Allen, Luke, I’ve had a couple of occasions just as the by the by you’ve been the buffalo, but you’ve never been to the airport there, right? You’ve come in on a bus with me, and we drove up one time, I think, right, yeah. So, right. I’ve been to the buffalo airport a couple times in the last couple years, during the Josh Allen era. And buffalo so uniquely pinned into nowhere and up against Canada and up against water. And who the hell would go to Buffalo? You know, I mean, like, who? I mean literally. I mean maybe Niagara Falls. I mean, there’s a lot of Asian tourists that come through and go up to night, because Niagara Falls is, like, a really, it’s a thing, like, all over the world. It’s thing, um, but like, I go to the buffalo airport, and for the minute you land there, you would, and this is before they’re going to spend a trillion dollars building that spaceship it. And by the way, when I had Vic Carucci on, he’s like they’re building the spaceship. It’s over here. The team’s not moving to Toronto. And Jon Bon Jovi, you’ll never play a concert in Buffalo again, or give a speech even, I don’t think he’s allowed in Western New York. But when you land in the airport there, it’s like being in rich stadium, like you walk through and there’s a Josh Allen sausage ad, and there used to be a Stefan Diggs cheese ad, and it’s just like one big buffalonian thing. Josh Allen is, like this Rainmaker there, in a way that I wish I saw more Lamar stuff around town, just, quite frankly, because two MVPs and all that. But Josh Allen hasn’t won a game, big game for them. He flashes all of this. He runs in the linebackers. He you know, he has all of that thing. If they go four and oh, and the Ravens go one and three, the tectonic plates shift a little bit, especially with where the Steelers are right now and where the Bengals are right now and where the Ravens kind of, I have a hard time believing the ravens are going to win in Buffalo and in Kansas City in January. I, you know, I, I feel like they need to have some of those games here. And when you start to get underwater and tiebreaking, this a really treacherous game, that’s all I’m saying. Like, I just think there’s a thing about Buffalo, and there’s a thing about that franchise and where they are and the want. And I talked to vicarucci about that, there’s a want there from everybody that will bring their fans down here to buy $150 tickets on Sunday, because this is a big game for everybody. But I think man the ravens and they need to win this game. I mean, one in three, just. Not be good air around here in a general sense, and it’s treacherous, that’s all. And they’re a favorite, and I think you think they’re going to win because they’re home, and because they have this pedigree of doing this, because our ball has been good in these games, Lamar has been good at home. We’re good home franchise. All of that, I just, I just need to see it, man, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, it’s been a month. I need to see it. I need to see it work. I need to see it work its playoff team. I need to see it on prime time. I need to see it at home. I need no excuses. I need no excuses about why Mark Andrews isn’t involved. I need no excuses about why Derek Henry can’t run the ball in the fourth quarter. I need no excuses about why Lamar got stripped or picked or hit, or how roquan or Kyle Hamilton or Marlon Humphrey, I just this is a this is a show up game. Yeah, this is a big boy game. And if they’re big boys, they’ll be two and two. And that doesn’t sound so good. Two and two don’t even smell good on Monday morning, but we have baseball on Tuesday, so that’s good, but they better not be one of three. I mean, I guess that’s my warning shot. That’s my long winded way of saying. This better be their best game of the year so far or for the next month or two. They need to come out and play really good Chris football, and they need to stop the issue with the penalties and the excuses and the stupid challenges from our ball. Get a system. John, um, you know, like, win the game. Lamar, you know, don’t let Josh Allen beat you. Roquan Marlin, namdi, down the list, win the game. I mean, this is to me, this is one in three unacceptable. Unacceptable. It will be unacceptable Monday morning. It’ll be unacceptable to you. On Monday morning, they better win.
Luke Jones 16:52
Yeah, you’re burying the plot. It starts with the defense, having to play better. I mean, Lamar hasn’t been MVP Lamar, but he’s played really well. I mean, he, and he was the one who closed the game out Sunday, you know, because the defense couldn’t get us thinking, stop in the fourth quarter. You know, their defense has to play better for three for four quarters. You know, it’s great to say you play well for a half. It’s great to say you play well for three quarters. And they have, they played very well. I mean, the Raiders had, what, 44 yards, or whatever it was, in the first half of that game in week two, but we saw what happened in the final 11 minutes of that game Dallas. I mean, they made the Cowboys look pretty sickly through the first three quarters of that game, but the fourth quarter was a different story, so they’ve got to figure it out. You know, I’m not in disagreement with anything you just said. I’m also not going to sit here and say the season’s over if they’re one in three, because I’m not a believer in the Bengals at this point with the state of their defense, and I respect the fact that the Steelers are off to a three and zero start, but I’ll, I’ll bet you more than $1 right now that they’re not having a 14 and three season so and that schedule is going to get tougher as the year goes on. But yeah, you don’t want to be one in three. I’m not going to sit here and say that anyone’s going to be happy or not have concerns about that. But at the same time, you know, this is a big game for week four. I disagree with your point about this bit, this better be their best game of the year. That kind of talk only applies in January. At
8Nestor Aparicio 18:14
this point, no, their best game of this year
Luke Jones 18:17
they they got to win. I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 18:20
look like and look like a playoff, like a championship caliber team. That’s what kind of effort it’s gonna win. Defeat this team.
Luke Jones 18:27
8They have to win. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s a win. I It doesn’t have to be a perfect performance, but they gotta. They gotta win. You know, if you make it so buffalo isn’t perfect, and buffalo turns the ball over, and if it ends up being a different game than people are anticipating. As I said, I expect quite a few points to be scored in this game, and if it ends up being a lower scoring game, then that’s how you win. Then great. But yeah, no question. I mean, you don’t want to be one in three. One in three is not insurmountable. One in three doesn’t mean the season’s over, but you’re really starting to question things. I mean, this is what happens when you start, oh, and two, you put yourself in an early hole, not insurmountable, not impossible, to to get out of it. But yeah, I mean, this is a big opportunity for both teams, like I said. I mean, the bills, have you know, if they lose, they’re not thinking their seasons in trouble, but at the same time, they’re trying to prove that they’re for real, because of what you just said. I mean, everyone thinks Jacksonville stinks and Jacksonville is in disarray. And, you know, I mean, Miami lost two in the middle of that game, and the Dolphins are going nowhere at this point in time. It feels like, I mean, looks like Tyler Huntley might even be starting games for them, whether it’s this Sunday or somewhere sometime soon. So, I mean, there’s, whenever you have a game like this, you’re always thinking about the ramifications. You’re always thinking about the the eyeball test, and you’re always thinking about what it could mean for January. And you made a very cogent point in the sense of talking about the Ravens have already lost in Kansas City. No shame in that. You know, let’s be honest about that. I mean, I. You either going to win or you lose. And if you lose to the defending world champions, it doesn’t mean the season’s over, but as it pertains to tie breakers and thinking about seeding down the line and all that, yeah, it can play a part. And same with if they lose to Buffalo on Sunday night. So you know, I this is, this is a big football game. There’s no question about it. And I think if you’re the ravens, if you win, to me, you’re two and two and beyond just the general concerns you have about any position group here or there on the football team that Kansas City has right now, that Buffalo has right now, that any take your pick of whatever team you think is really good right now, everyone has some question marks, but you have the Ravens get to two and two, and they beat buffalo on Sunday night. Then, as far as I’m concerned, it’s kind of a season reset at that point, you know? I mean, you’re two and two and you’ve got 13 games to go after that. And
Nestor Aparicio 20:55
I agree with that season reset, if you lose, what happens then,
Luke Jones 20:59
if you lose. I mean, it’s more of an uphill climb. I don’t think the season’s over. I’m not saying I would still predict them to make the playoffs, probably assuming we’re not talking about, like, season ending injuries in the midst that that game, or they’re not losing by four touchdowns, because the Ravens hardly ever play like that, right? I mean, we never see performances like that, by the way. I thought the commanders there’s
Nestor Aparicio 21:21
just going to be an easy game for my birthday. Sammy hagar’s birthday, that, you know, that kid can play, you know what? I mean, he can. Yeah, he
8Luke Jones 21:28
can’t stop anyone but, but he can. But Jalen Daniels, I mean, if we didn’t talk too much about this, about the draft, because it’s not like the Ravens were in the quarterback conversation whatsoever, but he was my favorite quarterback in this draft. I mean, I love watching that kid, watching him at LSU last year. I’m just like, he’s gonna be good in the league. I mean, yeah, he can run, and elements of that remind you of Lamar Jalen Hurts. Or, you know, you know Josh Allen. You know Allen’s a bigger kind of running quarterback, but you watch him spin the ball, it’s like, man, that kid can throw, I mean, couple dimes he threw against Cincinnati, which, by the way, the Bengals can’t stop anyone. I mean, their defense is a sieve, right? Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 22:08
I’m looking at the rest of the schedule and just saying, you know, I don’t know if Herbert will be back for the Chargers by the time they get there, but they’re not facing murderers row here. They got, they got some Cleveland’s in here, and, you know, winnable games on the other end of this, if we are, if they are, even if they lose on Sunday and they are who think they’re this, yeah, yeah. I agree, yeah.
Luke Jones 22:30
I mean this, yeah. I mean you’ve talked about, I mean, you, you pointed that out over and over and over going into the season. And, you know, I didn’t, I didn’t disagree with you. So can’t wake up
Nestor Aparicio 22:39
8one in three when the Orioles start playing playoff games. I’ve said that all along, and they’re in peril of that happening. Because, I mean, my God, the Cowboys thing you you wrote by the skin of their teeth in your headline. Um, yeah, I you know, once you start one and three, you’re not a good team. You know what? I mean, you’re not. You can’t even portray yourself as a good team, and you’ll be talking like they can still make the playoffs. I’ll hear that, but then they have to go out and show that they’re not the Bengals.
Luke Jones 23:07
Yeah. I mean, at some point in time, you can talk all you want about true talent level and what your metrics look like. I mean, like, for example, DVO way. I mean, they’re they still rank very highly. I think they’re fifth in DVO way right now. But at the same time, it’s like that has to translate to playing four quarters and finishing games. And you can talk all you want about the defense looking so great for three quarters, and it did on Sunday, but they’re leading the making penalties their last in passing yards allowed. I mean, sure I hear you, and you know the penalty thing. I mean, have there been some calls that have gone against them? Absolutely, but at the same time, I can’t sit here and you know that’s continuing to focus on something you don’t have control over. So you can either wallow in that and let your seeds and spiral, or you can control the things that you can control, which is they need to tighten up that defense, you know, looking at it again, having reviewed it again, not to dwell on it, because we’re talking about the bills game, but the middle intermediate portion of the field, my goodness, they’ve got to fix that.
Nestor Aparicio 24:04
Yeah, Marlon Humphries gotta get off his, uh, Instagram. You know,
Luke Jones 24:08
Marlon, Marlon Humphries played better than you’re giving him credit for. He he among their problems with their past defense. He does not rank very high to me, Marcus Williams needs to start making plays. Marcus Williams is making a lot of money, and he hasn’t made a play yet this year. I mean, I’m not saying it’s all him, and, you know, we’ve talked about roquan in coverage, but that area of the field over the linebackers in front of your deep center field safety. I mean, play after play after play being made there in crunch time, in the fourth quarter of these games, and you can’t have that. So yeah, Marcus Williams needs to pick it up. I mean, this guy’s being paid way too much money to be what he’s been pro football focus. And look, I’m not at all suggesting their grading system is gospel or the end all be all he is last in grades among qualified safeties in the national. The Football League. Now, do I think that means he’s absolutely the worst safety in the league? No, but he basically hasn’t played well. He needs to be better than last when he’s making what he’s making, which is, what, 716, $70 million
8Nestor Aparicio 25:12
whatever it is. I mean, you know, he’s a very high paid player. He’s one of the highest paid players on this roster. So they need him. You know, they need roquan to play better. They need their defense collectively to play better in the fourth quarter. And penalties are a part of that. So well, that’s going to be situational, getting Josh Allen to the ground or getting or getting in to get rid of the ball, because he’s not just going to throw the ball away. He’s going to duck and run you over and get get you up in the air and do all the things that mahome does, things that Lamar does. Lamar doesn’t fake the ball much like I see these other guys do the Lamar just runs, man, you know, but like Josh Allen, will be a magician with the ball. He’ll five times. He will extend the play. Maybe it gets made, maybe it doesn’t, maybe he gets picked, but he’s going to extend plays and make you play to your knees on Sunday night.
Luke Jones 26:07
Yeah. And on the flip side, if you don’t get pressure on them, but you just keep them in the pocket, he can carve you up. I mean, he is. He’s playing at a very he’s playing at a very high level. And look, I know not so much this year. Last year, there was a lot of discourse about his turnovers. I still think he’s one of the he is, like the the slugger that does have a higher strikeout rate than you like, but my goodness, he just he makes so many plays and he is. They’re a different style in how they play, but him and Lamar both have this quality that so much else can go wrong, and they are just Tom Brady, nicknamed Lamar the eraser on Sunday. And I thought that was actually a really good nickname, just in terms of, like, anything that’s going wrong. Nope. Lamar fixes it. Josh Allen, very similar vibe, right? And you know, different stylistically. I mean, Josh Allen, look for as much as you know, you love your line about running into linebackers. Josh Allen does that more than anyone. And there’s, you know, there’s the same injury concern, other than the fact that Josh Allen’s bigger, but you know, he can still get hurt. Any quarterback can get hurt. Guys get hurt in the pocket all the time. You know, as I pointed out to you over and over and over, but I’m like,
Nestor Aparicio 27:22
do these guys never think of sliding? You could slide. Nobody can hit you. You’re
Luke Jones 27:27
8quite I think what’s so different for Buffalo now, and I’m not necessarily saying that it’s going to make play a major factor in this game, because the Ravens have been so outstanding stopping the run, not that Dallas is a great example of that, or that the Ravens have played great running teams to this point, although they, you know, they face Pacheco in week one, you know, and obviously he’s hurt now, but you know, Raiders couldn’t Raider can’t run the ball against anyone. Cowboys can’t run the ball against anyone. But I think what’s really changed for this buffalo team is the emergence of James Cook and his ability to run the football. And, you know, so they’ve got some, you know, they’ve got some juice that isn’t just Josh Allen running the football. And again, I mentioned it earlier in our conversation. Stefan Diggs out of the picture all these questions about, you know, who’s Josh Allen going to throw the ball to? But, you know, Khalil Shakir has looked good. Keon Coleman has had his moments, despite the fact that he was disciplined for showing up late in their week three game and what sat out the first quarter. But he’s had his moments here and there. You know, they’ve got a good tight end and Dalton Kincaid, you know, they’ve got Dawson Knox as well. So, you know, I think they’ve become. There was a narrative that was always idiotic, quite frankly, if you watch the games, especially the last couple years now, after enough time had passed, there was this narrative that Josh Allen was the product of Stefan Diggs. And maybe that was true, say, back in 2020 but Josh Allen’s not really missing Stephan Diggs, right now. I mean, he’s playing that well. So this
Nestor Aparicio 29:03
is saying Lamar is missing Hollywood Brown. I mean, the receivers come and go like a Billy Joel song, like I that’s the way good teams do it, you know, like, in a general sense, and that would be, you know, Joe burrow is going to throw to somebody other than that kid there at some point, because he’s going to last longer, I think, and being able to, being able to pick up the pieces, I said that to vickruchi, I’m like the perception outside of Buffalo was, Oh, my God, they’re breaking up the band. They They must be not thinking championship anymore, and at three and, oh, and coming in here on Sunday night and looking to steal. You know, the Ravens lunch money while they’re not playing great football, and the offensive line has some questions, but they’re going to have to tackle too. You know, they’re going to have to play defense. Their defense is going to get tested in a way that maybe it did a little bit by a running quarterback in week one with Arizona, but, but certainly there, Lamar is a challenge. With that, there’s a reason the ravens are favored by two and a half well,
Luke Jones 30:02
and Derek Henry as well. I mean, I think you look at the buffalo defense, how they like to play, they like to play nickel. Well, the ravens, if you’re looking at a team that likes to play nickel, how do you want to play? You’re going to go heavy, right? Not, not that. I necessarily think that they’re going to go into having a game plan where Lamar only throws 15 times like he did against Dallas. I yeah, I don’t think you’re going to see that to that extreme. But you know, if Dallas, gonna lie, or Buffalo is going to line up and nickel and dime, then the Ravens will go heavy and try to run on them, right? I mean, they Dallas. Dallas had the Cowboys in my mind, for some reason, Buffalo has a, you know, a defensive front, you know, with Ed Oliver and evanescent Daquan Jones, Greg Russo. I mean, that’s, that’s a tough front, but they like to play at Nickel, so I think that’s going to be really interesting to see if the Ravens can force them into a little more base. And then what impact that has, as far as the chess match, right, in terms of, you know, maybe that gets Mark Andrews going, gets Isaiah likely going, you know. So, you know, because at some point they’re gonna have to make more plays through the passing game. I mean, what they did against Dallas, I do not buy for a second that’s going to be the blueprint the rest of the year where you’re just going to run for 250 yards, and Lamar is going to throw 15 times, like it’s 2018 again. I you know they’re gonna have to make plays in the passing game, and there’s no reason to think they can’t if, if, if their offensive line can hold up from a protection standpoint, and that’s where, again, so far, you know, like against Dallas, great. But now what’s the next step? And again, with some of their at least early week health concerns. You know, it does make you tick pause a little bit more, but we’re going to see. I mean, this is anytime you have two great teams going up against each other early in the season. Yeah, you think about it in terms of playoff seed, seeding down the line and potential January rematch. I mean, all the things we talked about leading into week one. I mean, that applies here, even though the bills are the same as the Ravens in terms of trying to break through and get to a Super Bowl and get to the top of the mountain and knock mahomes and the Chiefs off. But you know, this is just fun from a bragging rights standpoint, right? I mean, this is fun to say, Okay, who is the best right now? I mean, Kansas City, I get it is undefeated. Do I think the Chiefs have looked so overwhelmingly impressive the first three weeks. No, not really, but you know that they if, if anyone has earned the go through the motions until January after last year. I mean, the chiefs have earned that. But for everyone else in the AFC, you know, it’s the Ravens trying to overcome this bad start. It’s the bills trying to show that this year is going to be different, and they’re not just three and, oh, against Trevor Lawrence and the woeful Jags and the Toulouse dolphins and, you know, Arizona, who’s better? But, you know, they’re the Cardinals, right? They’re trying to, you know, they go into Baltimore, then it’s like, and win. Then there’s nothing you can say to them, other than Kansas City. So it’s, this is fun. I think you could tell by me, you know, the way I’m talking about this, I’m very much looking forward to this, and I expect this to be a really good football game. And, you know, the Ravens have the home field advantage, and that’s always great to have, but at the same time, it doesn’t matter if you don’t finish, right, you got to play four quarters. I mean, the message this week is so incredibly simple, but to go out and do it against the team that’s playing like the bills are right now, it’s easier said than done, so we’re going to see you know, but everything you said about the possibility of going to one and three, and you know what that means, and just the the hole that that creates for yourself to have to climb out of. I don’t think it’s insurmountable, but you’re, you’re definitely doubting things more and more as things go on and you continue to, you know, kind of spin your wheels, so to speak. Luke
Nestor Aparicio 33:56
Jones is here. He is Baltimore, Luke. He’ll be monitoring the game. So listen, pretend Chad stealing, Greg Bader, aren’t listening? Which one are you looking forward to more? Football or baseball? Everybody’s wondering that this week, right? I mean, because this is seen, this is a big, big week of sports here, from Sunday to Tuesday to Wednesday to whatever the the baseball thing might be. And I think that that’s the promise of baseball. And the same way January football. It’s once a week. It’s a train wreck. But we’re about to maybe go on a little bit of a carpet ride your next couple weeks where, you know, the Ravens have one and three and the Orioles out of the playoffs by next Friday. That would not be good.
8Luke Jones 34:32
Yeah. I mean, if you’re asking me, which I’m looking for, I mean, look what, which one is more important, which one has higher stakes. It’s the postseason, right? You know? I mean, it’s the Orioles playing in the playoffs, of course, one in three, as dire as it might feel, as bad as it might feel, one in three still not ending the season, and there’s still 13 games to go after that to get yourself back on track. Well, ravens aren’t
Nestor Aparicio 34:53
going to play a big game like this again for a long time. You know a big game. You know where they can prove something. Yeah. I mean, right, like Sunday night, all of that, right, sure, sure, you can beat the Bengals. It means nothing. Now, you could beat them whatever they’re calling the Washington team. You could. They don’t have a game there that. I mean, the Chargers thing will be about the brothers, you know, like and whatever. But that, I
Luke Jones 35:18
was tired of that a decade ago, let alone rehash. I mean, don’t get me wrong. We’ll talk about it at the time and look, we’ll see where the Chargers are. One of
Nestor Aparicio 35:25
8them still speaks to me. So yeah, there you go. Yeah. But, but the baseball thing, I would agree with you one. So yeah.
Luke Jones 35:32
I mean, it has to be. I mean, I mean, if it’s not, if you just for anyone who says the Ravens playing the bills is bigger, that just means you like baseball or you like football way more than baseball. I mean, let’s just call it what it is. If you like both. It’s not even a question, all right, it’s absolutely the process checking your
Nestor Aparicio 35:49
temperature. So here’s what I’m going to do this. Let’s be clear.
Luke Jones 35:51
It’s exciting. I’m absolutely jazzed up about Sunday night football. I mean, this is a it’s Josh Allen against Lamar Jackson.
8Nestor Aparicio 35:58
Five minutes about it, I can see the smile. You were very dour about baseball. You and I fought about pitching and Grayson Rodriguez and I’m a bad guy, and you don’t think they’re gonna win the World Series, so I don’t even know why you’d be excited about a freaking wild card game. So I love
Luke Jones 36:13
how you just you painted as, like, all or nothing. I mean, you know, I mean, did I pick the ravens to win the Super Bowl before the start of the season. No Nobody
Nestor Aparicio 36:21
would pick any oils in game one if they got to play the Tigers. But listen. So this week, I did a piece that you will even enjoy. And I know like You’re like my wife, you don’t want to listen to my freaking show. You have to deal with me. So I did, I did a you’ll be in a car at some point beyond. I did about an hour with this professor, an author, who reached to me about my show with Buddy Ryan and Lawrence Taylor and Mike Warren from 1997 I did four and a half months of television, the only show I’ve ever hosted in my life, other than whatever this is, and I had to shave up tight. No, I shared some pictures, and there’s a ton of video. I mean, I have, I have 12 of the 1516, episodes in their totality. They’re not even really grainy. They’re shot in a different format, but they’re there, and I could screenshot them, and I put them up, and the guy was asking me about Lawrence and Warren and gambling and the show, whatever, and the part that I forgot about the show. Have you ever seen the movie? A Bronx Tale? You’re not big, big movie guy. You’re more of a wrestling, baseball, sports guy. But have you seen A Bronx Tale? Yeah, a long time ago. All right, there’s a character in that movie called Eddie the mush. I’ve never seen the movie, right? But Eddie the mush is the gambling guy, and mush, because everything he picks goes to mush, that that’s sort of the thing. Mike Warren had a fascination with Eddie the mush, and he loved that movie. And Mike was kind of a fun, you know, kind of a neat guy. He bought that Eddie Murray ball. He was a psychic friends network. I mean, Mike always treated me good, you know, like it was good. So he owned the hotel down at the harbor pier five, put me and my girlfriend up back in the day and a $500 a night suite. It was beautiful. So he loved Eddie the mush, and he wanted to make Eddie the mush a part of our show. I mean, you know, Mike was like, Willy Wonka, to be really honest, he had a television show, and he wanted to make it fun. And he’s like, let’s get buddy Ryan. Let’s get Lawrence Taylor. I’ll give him 10 grand a week. I’ll bring him in. It doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter if Lawrence is sober or not, you know? And it was a 900 number pick show, right? Kevin Byrne didn’t like it very much, but I had a good time hosting. It was my chance to do television. So Eddie the mush came on every week, all right? And I don’t, I’d have to ask Lasky about this, because I and or will Schwartz, I’m sure they paid him 100 bucks or whatever. He literally was a dude at the end of the bar, but he was the guy in the movie who played Eddie mush. And every week they would send like a camera guy for 100 bucks who lived in the neighborhood in New York, and he would go to the bar and get in front of Eddie and bring him out in front of this bar. And Eddie looked like he smelled like yesterday’s urine, you know? I mean, Eddie was a mess, right? But he was a character, and he made his picks on our show and and he did this thing where he’d say, lock it up and throw it away. This is my number one pick. It’s my lock. I Dude, I just looked at the line on this 46 and a half. Like, I want to go over on that tell me, from a gambling perspective, how these two teams aren’t going to score 23 points. Like, seriously. Like, I’m looking at this and thinking, I thought the number would be a much, much higher on that. So if I’m going to make my pick and give you my lock in a week. Betty ovon, that means there’s no chance. But I’m looking at this and thinking, how, how were, how are these defenses going? You’ve already said, Betty, I think you said that like as a joke in the beginning, it made me look up the number. I don’t know who I like it two and a half. I mean, I tend to leave more in the bills than the Ravens. Because I’ve seen them both play, but I also know, like, I’m anti John because he has no integrity in dealing with me. But like, I’m not, I think John gets a team ready to play these games. Lamar wins the they’re at home. But you know, like, they’ve been a relatively inconsistent play from a head kind of team, and that’s why they brought Derek Henry here. I’d like to think if they have a 12 point lead in the fourth quarter, they can win, but I also know Josh Allen can win, and I think this is a real challenge for them, but I think there’s going to be a lot of points if I was going to make a pick, I say 3835 and that’s like a lot more than 46 and a half. That’s why I brought that up. I I think this is a heavy offensive game, don’t you? I do,
Luke Jones 40:39
8which means it’ll probably be 13 to 10. But you just said something, and I want to throw this out there, because it was something that I had thought about, but hadn’t necessarily brought it up. You just made the the point that if the ravens are leading by 10 points, whatever lead leaning into Derek Henry, you hope. But you could have said that about the Raiders game, and it didn’t happen. You could have said that about the Cowboys game, and it didn’t really happen. You know, it happened when Lamar finally hits a flowers at the end and then ran for a first down to put them in victory formation. But that’s where you are a little more concerned this week, because of a more potent offense than those two teams that I just mentioned, the Ravens being down 10. And for me, it’s not even about Lamar throwing or zay flowers or mark Andrews or Rashad Bateman. It’s the Ravens getting into that kind of game script where Lamar has to drop back and now you’re asking this, this offensive line, to pass protect for 40, you know, 35 or 40 times. You know, that’s where we saw this, in the Kansas City game, you know, and that being problematic at times, to say the least. So, you know, we’re going to see, I mean, I think it’s the given the state of the offensive line to your point, and I’m in full agreement with you. I’m still very much Dallas is a good step. I’m not at all convinced that it’s all fixed or fine or well and good moving forward. It was a good step. But you know, this is going to be a heck of a test, and if you fall behind early, then, yeah, that’s going to put so much pressure on this offensive line against the bills front that doesn’t necessarily blitz a whole lot, but, you know, they they have guys who can get to the quarterback, so I think I feel worse if they had digs, you know, to your point of like, where they are and where they are weapon wise, I
Nestor Aparicio 42:19
don’t want To say Marlon Humphries looking forward to playing this week, but he wouldn’t be looking forward to digs. Neither would Stevens, neither would any of these
Luke Jones 42:28
guys. I agree with you of digs two or three years ago,
Nestor Aparicio 42:31
but you think it’s lost. I
8Luke Jones 42:32
don’t. I don’t think digs is as good anymore, and I still think you kind of look at how the
Nestor Aparicio 42:38
neither did McDermott, by the way, neither did the bills, right? I
Luke Jones 42:41
mean, it got to the point where, I think you look at the end of last year, when they kind of made their their late surge and everything. Stefan Diggs, it kind of felt like he got, kind of got left behind and through that a little bit. And I’m not saying he was bad, but certainly wasn’t looking like the guy he was a few years before that. And I think it was very evident that the two sides had outgrown each other, so to speak. You know, that’s probably the nicest way to put it.
43:04
8But, yeah, that. But look, Khalil Shakir can
Luke Jones 43:09
make some plays. I mean, don’t, don’t sleep on him. You know, courtesy, look CD lamb, one of the best wide receivers in football. Now he was, he was lousy on Sunday, and he even mentioned that in the middle of this week, he kind of took some accountability, and he needed to, because he stunk. But, I mean, Dak Prescott was hitting wide receivers you’d never even heard of against the Ravens defense in that fourth quarter. So that should be a perfect lesson, right there. Tom Brady showing it’s a fullback. I mean, right? So, so like, Okay, you could say what you want about no Stefan Diggs. And I get it. They don’t have a clear cut number one wide receiver. I like Shakir, but I’m not ready to proclaim him as a serious number one, but they’ve got enough weapons. And again, Josh Allen is like Lamar Jackson, even if you don’t like his weapons. And we’ve talked plenty about lamar’s weapons, or at times lack thereof, he makes it work, and Josh Allen makes it work. So again, buckle up. I mean, this can be a, it’s gonna be a fun football game. And I, I tend to agree with you about the points, but it’s also
Nestor Aparicio 44:09
the, never agree with Eddie the mush, because everything he did turn to mush.
Luke Jones 44:13
It’s all it’s also the NFL. And for every time you you expect something to happen, yeah, it’ll end up being a 17 to 13 defensive, slugfest. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 44:23
I think you’d like me enough to at least go back and watch film from 27 years ago of me trying to act like a professional with Buddy Ryan and Lawrence Taylor making pics on the games. I’m entertained by it, and I was very entertained by some of the memories that I hadn’t thought about forever, until this guy’s writing a book on gambling and gambling in the 90s. So he’s a professor. His name’s David bachino from Elon University. He was a lovely foil to come on my show and question me while I was trying to come up with these thoughts about Eddie, the mush that I had completely forgotten about. So also a did a reminiscing piece this week about the 40th anniversary of my four. First team at the Baltimore news, American and sports first RACI is a part of that. There’s still some legends around town that are part of that as well. At the Baltimore Sun and moving forward. But you can find all of that out at Baltimore positive Luke’s works out there. Luke is getting powered up by our friends at Jiffy Lube and royal farms back and forth, Owings Mills, Camden Yards, Camden Yards, Owings, Mills, lots going on next week, we will have no one to cover the football team on Wednesday, because Luke’s going to be busy covering baseball down at Camden Yards. But the W, N, S, T tech services back. And if you know anything about it, you know how good it is, and do not hear it in my voice. I swear I’m not the one sending it. Luke is sending it. So if you hear the AI voice. If you have an AI thing on your phone to have it read out loud to you. Don’t have it in my voice, have it in Luke’s voice. And that’s 410, 821, wnst, that’s 410-821-9678, you text that number, join, J, O, I N, to w, N, s4, 10, 98219678, and you’re on the tech service. And it is. It’s working. Thank you, Bill Cole and Cole roofing and Gordian energy for powering that up. And a big shout out to Dennis kollsos and the the coons board of Baltimore team for supporting that for 17 years. It’s up. It’s new. It’s running, it’s good oyster tours running Maryland lottery tickets. I’ll have them at Costas on Friday, skipping next week, because I can’t plan anything with this crazy baseball schedule. And then on the 11th of October, we’re going to convene for our birthdays, Luke’s birthdays. Next week, my birthday is the 14th. On the 11th, on Friday, the 11th will be a pizza John’s in Essex. All that brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery, in conjunction with the Friends of Jiffy Lube, our friends of Jiffy Lube, our friends at Liberty pure solutions, they keep my water clean. One 800 clean water my friend Doug workman and a shout out to Matt Stover, who was always a part of the Liberty pure team as well. They do my well water. If you live anywhere in northern Baltimore County, have well water anywhere, but if you know a plumber, they also do that work Liberty pure solutions. They’re powering up the oyster tour with my friends at curio wellness and foreign daughter as well. It is our 26th anniversary. This is going to be one of our last cupcakes. I’ve seen the new oyster crab Maryland motif. So we’re going to have new stuff around here. I hope we have a two and two football team on Monday, and certainly playoff baseball. And no press credential for me, everything I’ve ever dreamed of. A letter to David Rubenstein is coming soon. Katie Griggs, you’re getting yours. I’m gonna let Chad Steele get his during the holidays. But if you haven’t read my ERICA COSTA note, please do that all sorts of stuff. I’m writing columns. Luke’s writing off games. The tech service is alive. We got a playoff baseball team. We got a big football game. It’s a big week. I’m Nestor. He’s Luke. Stay with us. These are the good times if we win. It’s Baltimore. Positive.
