With everything riding on every play, the Baltimore Ravens will host the Pittsburgh Steelers in a frigid Saturday night playoff game in January for the first time in the history of the franchise. Luke Jones and Nestor buckle up the chinstraps for an epic battle that everyone seems to expect Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to win.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the upcoming Ravens-Steelers playoff game, highlighting the Ravens’ 9.5-point favorite status and the Steelers’ recent poor performance. They note the importance of Lamar Jackson and potential issues with the Ravens’ offensive line, particularly the guards. Concerns about Zay Flowers’ injury and its impact on the offense are also raised. The conversation touches on the historical rivalry between the teams and the potential challenges posed by cold weather and the Steelers’ defensive strategy. Both agree that while the Ravens are favored, the game could be closer than expected due to the familiarity and psychological factors involve
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ravens playoffs, Steelers rivalry, Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers injury, offensive line concerns, cold weather, Pittsburgh motivation, defensive challenges, Derek Henry, Russell Wilson, Pro Bowl alternates, Super Bowl contender, game prediction, fan expectations
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio
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Nestor Aparicio 00:02
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 towns of Baltimore and Baltimore, positive. We are positively into the new year, into the playoff week. It is a festive us. For the rest of us, we will be meeting all downtown on Saturday evening. It’ll be a little bit chilly when the Ravens get together with a very familiar foe, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be in for the wild card game, dogs and cats. I didn’t even know they were allowed to come here. It’s only been three decades. We are getting the Maryland crab cake tour out on the road. As you know, it’s been snowing all week. It’s been crazy. Lips grill in Bel Air on Tuesday, allegedly the destination, but that remains to be seen. I must say, I still have one Raven scratch off left from all of it, but I did get my own scratch off. Gigi Causey sent me a birthday gift that I found, triple threes. This is actually my real this is my lottery ticket, not one. I give away, one that someone gave me I haven’t even scratched yet. Maybe, maybe I won $13,333 and then maybe I could afford to go on this Purple Magic Carpet drive with you. Luke Jones, Luke, of course, covers all things ravens for us. It was weird weekend where individual $3 million catches in Tampa, and $300,000 sacks, and all of the bonuses and all the coaching carousel and all that went on. The Ravens were first up on Saturday afternoon. It was ugly, it was sloppy, it was us, it was all of that. But as you pointed out in your column at Baltimore, positive a little wake up call, especially when you’re playing teams that have beaten you and that have owned your ass and didn’t look so good and haven’t looked so good the last month, they’re, they’re a 90 half point favorite. I mean, like they should just roll the ball out and the Steelers are just going to curl up in a fetal position. I don’t think it’s going to be that way on Saturday night, but let’s have at it. How are you happy football to you Happy playoffs tournament, whatever we’re calling this wild card weekend. We’ve
Luke Jones 02:07
waited 12 months for this. We’ve Wait, I guess, closer to 11 months right after the AFC title game loss last year. I mean, it’s such a long journey. You don’t know exactly how it’s going to go. You don’t know how healthy you’re going to be. We’ve talked about it. The Ravens have been so healthy. We’ll get into zay flowers here at some point. But here we go the second season, the real season around here, when, when you’ve been as successful as the Baltimore Ravens have been in the regular season, when Lamar Jackson has been healthy over the last six years, this is what matters. This is what everyone’s been waiting for, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are coming to town. And as you pointed out, a very, very much an underdog Pittsburgh Steelers, and rightfully so, they’ve been awful over the last month. I mean, there’s no way to sugarcoat that, but it is a division rivalry. It is Raven Steelers where, I mean, they kind of epitomize the concept of throwing out the records, throwing out the statistics, knowing that it’s going to be, you know, going to be a battle, a fight. I think the ravens are a justified nine and a half point favorite based on how these teams have looked over the course of the season, and, more specifically, over the last four weeks. But to your point, if the Ravens have the mindset that they’re just going to roll the ball out and show up and Pittsburgh’s going to just lay down on the field at M and T Bank Stadium, I think they’ll be in for a rude awakening in that regard. But I don’t expect them to do that so
Nestor Aparicio 03:34
well, not in a regard. Is indicative of the last month, in no way indicative of the rivalry. I I can’t expect this to go to 10 and a half. I would think it’ll come down to eight and a half or something, because, like these games are always close. The Steelers know how to play it. They’re not as banged up as maybe they once were, and Highsmith was messed up and watt was more of a question. And here they go, losing to Cincinnati. Not a great look. Cincinnati was playing to try to get in, I guess. And you know, what are you playing for? And does Pittsburgh want to go to Houston or go to Baltimore? I don’t. I don’t know. The Chargers had that going to charges like they rolled out of bed the wrong way against Oakland. I’ll continue to call them Oakland because I picked up an Oakland Raiders belt buckle over the weekend for my patch at the brick. But it could be worse. We could be in Oakland, or the New York Giants, or any of these god forsaken places, the bears, where you think you have a quarterback, you’re not sure if you have a coach, you don’t not sure if you have a general manager. The Jets are interviewing Rex Ryan, you know? So I would just say, you know, things are calm here, because they’ve really played good football they’ve won. But as that goes, dude, I’m a month out and say, I wouldn’t bet $1 on their defense right, or on their offensive line to not, you know, put them in first and 25 or something stupid. So there was a lot of things that went wrong when they’re losing to Cleveland earlier in the year. It feels like you. Uh, they’ve got it ironed out until it rears its head in a game against a team that they were 20 point favorite, and I know they won by more than that, but like, I like that Har ball was there, and you guys are pressing them on, but it look as sharp as we want to look, and we got to come back and play on Saturday night, it’s going to be cold again. And they know us, and we know them, and we might not have the speed guy that we need to get the ball up in the air, might not be able to get the ball up in the air the way might people I don’t know. I mean, one of the reasons you don’t want to play in January in Buffalo is because you don’t want it to be 21 degrees. Well, it’s going to be 21 degrees here. Maybe worse. So from a temperature standpoint, from a climate standpoint for this rivalry and what the Steelers did. We were talking two weeks ago about how they owned them Christmas Eve. It was still a very lopsided rivalry. Now it’s Well, look at the Steelers. They haven’t won. They haven’t played great, but they haven’t been like blown out. They don’t look like a good, bad team. They look like a bad, good team. Does that sound right? I I’ve been trying to figure that out over the weekend, but as a nine and a half point dog coming in, feel it’s a little disrespectful toward the Steelers. It’s all the respect in the world for the Ravens. Just go out there and mow them over, which they are capable of doing. I mean, there’s no question as we sit here and the snow falls and nobody’s played a game, and mahomes is out shooting commercials, and Travis Kelce is doing whatever he does with with Taylor Swift for the next 10 days until they become relevant again, them and Detroit, after waxing the Vikings in The second half on Sunday night, these teams that have to play this week, this is to your point. This is everything it’s I mean, Tomlin is tired of hearing he hasn’t won these games. Russell Wilson’s washed up. TJ Watson not as good as his brother, sort of, maybe kind of, and has had no success in the post. Mean they have all of that going on, and they know the way down here. They know the way to the hotel, and they that’s why they’re making this a Saturday night game. It’s a heavyweight fight. I don’t think it’s a 10 point fight. Maybe. Now, maybe I’m wrong, and I know it could be if the Ravens show the best ravens, the ravens, I don’t want to say rarely the Ravens never show their best selves against the Steelers. They wax these NFC teams. If they get to Detroit in the Super Bowl, they’ll be a 10 point favor, because they will have beaten everybody’s ass. The next three weeks they get to the Super Bowl, they will be a big time favorite the Super Bowl against anyone, any Jalen Hurts. Your brother in law wants to send me, you know, whatever there, they’re probably the best team in the tournament, right? I mean, I keep hearing all the talking heads say that, right? But Vegas, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, offsides, holes in the defense, things that haven’t been an issue. Kicker, all of the things that have not plagued them for a month now, they need to do that for a month perfectly, close to perfectly. I mean, buffalo, Kansas City, what’s lying over the hill? Perfect would be having a 17, three lead at halftime and winning this game, 41 to 40, beating them the way Bradshaw used to come in here and beat Bert Jones’s ass 50 years ago. So there, this might, this might get off my lawn for January. Happy Snow Day to you.
Luke Jones 08:37
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Um, they don’t need to blow them out Saturday. I mean, I forget about that part. I
Nestor Aparicio 08:40
totally, I wanted, I want to feel good about them going into this, not needing a 51 year yard field goal in the typical that’s this rivalry that is, aren’t you
Luke Jones 08:50
contradicting yourself, though? I mean, you were just singing the praises. You were saying Pittsburgh hasn’t been that bad, although I disagree that they lost by 14 to Philadelphia. They lost by 17 to the Ravens. They lost by 19 to the chiefs. They’ve stunk for the last month. It’s called a spade a spade. Now they may not on Saturday night. I’m not expecting them to just lie down, but we can also say that the Ravens have looked like a legitimate Super Bowl contender over the last month, and the Steelers have looked every bit the part of a pretender over the last month. Now that aside everything you just laid out, it’s fair, you know, I but, but everything you just said, every team is facing that right now. Every team that’s not Kansas City is looking at this thing and saying, all right, what are we going to do to win the wild card round? Other than Detroit, who, of course, has the first round by in the NFC what are we going to do in the divisional round, you know, how are we going to, you know, if we make it to the end the conference title game, how are we going to play there? I mean, this is all about stacking good performances. But, you know, I don’t need to see the Ravens go out and blow out the Steelers by 30 points to just win. Now, you don’t want to kick the ball around. You don’t want to turn it over four times. Times and win 10 to nine or or, if you turn it over four times, probably going to lose, right? I mean, we just know how those types of games work, and we understand what the Ravens have looked like in January at various times in recent years. You know, it’s why we’re having the discussion that we are right now. But the ravens are a justified nine and a half point favorite. I mean, they absolutely are. They’ve looked like a championship contender over the last month, and Pittsburgh has not, not even close. 100%
Nestor Aparicio 10:26
agree with that. Oh, so yeah, go out and play, play to that. Well,
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Luke Jones 10:29
I mean to a point, sure, but I, I, I don’t care about style points in January, just win. Just win. So sure. I mean, to a degree I get, I suppose, but for me, it’s just take care of your business. And, you know, you alluded to it, and I did write about it at Baltimore positive.com and, yeah, these weren’t colossal red flags. I think these were more reminders, as far as Saturday’s game against Cleveland, where, you know the offensive line, specifically the interior offensive line struggled. You know, I think for all the flowers that we have handed the offensive line and look, the group ended up holding together way better than many people anticipated. But we’ve also seen the times where, when it struggled, it’s really struggled and it’s really messed up their operation, and, more specifically, their guards. You know, McCary was barely played on Saturday night. He’s dealing with an illness all week. So, you know, they rotated in Voorhees. They rotated in Ben Cleveland. But even if it’s a healthy Patrick McCary, it’s a question mark. Uh, Daniel Fauci, like good stories of Pro Bowl alternate Sure do. I really think he played at a Pro Bowl alternate level? No, not even close. But he’s still, how did
Nestor Aparicio 11:43
that happen? Not because, yeah, I mean, it matters.
Luke Jones 11:50
Yeah, it matters at the top in terms of, I think there’s something to be said for the starters. I think there’s something to be said if you’re an initial selection, but when you get beyond that and start getting into alternates, and who gets to, I mean, Snoop Huntley was a Pro Bowl alternative. He did
Nestor Aparicio 12:07
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that with zay flowers. And let’s have a zay conversation on this, because he was shown exuberant. And Derek Henry’s like, you know, let me know when I get my ring and my bust, because those are the only things that matter today. Derek Henry’s got $100 million in the bank. I mean, the bank. I mean, it’s just, you see the differences, and where all the want is for all of this, and where the newness for a guy likes a flowers that feels like he’s coming into his own, he probably ain’t gonna be on the field Saturday. Or where are we? Where? How are you? Where are you? Yeah,
Luke Jones 12:38
I mean, it’s hard to say. I mean, what? I’m sure John Harbaugh is not going to say a whole lot about it, unless, unless it’s a case where he’s definitively out for a couple weeks, and then you’re wondering if he’s going to be able to make it back for the AFC title game or something like that. Again, that’s just my conjecture there. But the initial reporting, I mean, I know Ian Rappaport had made a, you know, had a post about it late Saturday night, I think it was or early Sunday morning. To your point, all the days are still running together post holidays. But you know the initial some of the language that John Harbaugh used when you try to read the tea leaves when you’ve covered him long enough, and some of the initial reporting out there, it does feel like this week’s going to be at best, really iffy for zay flowers. So does that mean he can’t play whatsoever? No, but does it look like there’s a good chance he’s gonna miss this game? I mean, again, you kind of hear when John Harbaugh is saying that someone quote has a chance, that usually means it’s not a very good chance. So we’re gonna see how it plays out. And let’s be clear, talk about a wheel on a speed guy. That’s tough, right? And that’s and that’s where you look at this thing through the lens of
13:50
of course, you want to have them out there. Of course, you’re a much better offense with him at the same time. He’s not your entire offense either, right? I mean, there’s one guy that they can’t afford to not have out there. It’s Lamar Jackson. I mean, even Derek Henry, you can piece it together for a couple games, right? Because we’ve seen
Nestor Aparicio 14:08
about that once they get eliminated or win the Super Bowl, because we did that last week. Because I keep thinking, you would not want to get off the bus without Derek Henry,
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Luke Jones 14:16
see, you’re you’re completing what I said. I’m saying, if you had to this team’s been able to run the
Nestor Aparicio 14:23
ball for seven about what a difference maker he is. And we’ll hold that one to the next segment, because I’m going to write a column a little bit around that this week, because I do think if they’re in the Promised Land, it would be because of him. So when you’re saying it’s because of Lamar Jackson, who can we afford? No question about that. I mean, Lamar is going to play like Lamar. That’s, that’s,
Luke Jones 14:41
that I saw everybody, yeah. I mean, that continues to right? I mean, and this is why I pushed back all so much, not with not just with you, but in general, about what happened in that Kansas City game last January. Yeah, should they have run the ball more? Sure, but Lamar Jackson didn’t play like Lamar Jackson. That game. I mean, that’s what it comes down to. Josh Allen in Buffalo has to play like Josh Allen, if the bills are going to get to the Super Bowl, if the chiefs are going to 3p Patrick mahomes has to look like Patrick mahomes. I mean, you need your biggest star to be your biggest star. But of course, Derek Henry is important. Say flowers is important. Mark Andrews is important defensively. Boy, if Kyle Hamilton, you know when you see him go down, even though he quickly came back into the game on Saturday night, it’s a reminder of how important he is. I mean, you need your biggest stars to be available and to play like stars, so I think you know. But to bring it back to zay flowers, because we’re not talking about hypotheticals here. We’re talking about someone who’s dealing with a knee injury right now, I think it’s one of those deals where you have to strike the right balance between understanding that, yes, you have to win Saturday’s game, right? I mean, you can’t just say, Oh, well, we’re just going to hold him out, you know, for next week. Well, there might not be next week, but at the same time, if he’s nowhere close to even 90% or 85% let alone 100% that’s where you have to be a grown up about it and say, if another week gets him much closer to being zay flowers, then we’ve got to give it another week, and we’ve got to hope that everyone else in the same way that they held Mark Andrews out against Houston last year and he came back against Kansas City. Now he wasn’t much of a factor. But the point was, he had started practicing, but they said, Hey, he’s not ready for Houston. You know, he’s not close to being Mark Andrews. So, you know, I think, I think it’ll become, it seems like it’ll become pretty apparent over the course of the practice week. I mean, if say flowers doesn’t practice all week, on the heels of how that injury looked, which didn’t look catastrophic, but it didn’t look great either, right? I mean, it wasn’t like an ACL or anything like that. I don’t think obviously field, yeah. I mean, but, but it was one of those more where he got, kind of got hit in two different directions, and it almost looked like it was below his knee where the injury actually was. It was almost like the top of his shin. So, so we’re going to see, I think you know, there is some, you know, not, I’ll be at limited history. But remember, he, he got hurt fairly early in that Tampa Bay game, for example. Go look, the Ravens scored plenty of points that night, right? I mean, it’s not as though this offense is doomed without him, but it’s certainly not its optimal peak level in terms of what it can do. So that’s where, you know, the silver lining Saturday night was Rashad Bateman doing what he did, and Mark Andrews continuing to have a strong finish to the season. And yes, Derek Henry running the football and your Hope and Justice Hills back after, you know, this past week he missed because he was sick. I mean, he they said his concussion symptoms had cleared up, but he wasn’t able to practice to actually go through the protocol. That’s why he didn’t play against Cleveland. So, so, you know, everyone has to step up. But on the flip side of this game, again, the ravens, they’ve got to score points. They’ve got a block obviously, you know, you have to handle that Pittsburgh defensive line. But my big question, if I’m looking at this as a more objective observer, and not just someone who’s looking at it from the Ravens perspective, is, how’s Pittsburgh going to score points? I mean, are you kidding me? They only scored 17 points at home against that Cincinnati Bengals defense. That hasn’t stopped anyone all year. So, so to me, I mean, that’s, that’s the big question mark here. I mean, the Ravens will score points. I don’t think they’re gonna hang 40 on Pittsburgh, because it’s Pittsburgh, right? It’s Raven Steelers at the same time. Russell Wilson with those Moon balls, especially if it’s cold and windy. How’s that going to play out? You know, are they going to be able to run the ball against the Ravens who have stopped the run well all year long. So, so, you know, I mean, it’s okay. I hear everything you’re saying about the rivalry, and I’ve lived it. I’ve watched it. You know myself. You know anyone who’s seen this thing from the beginning knows that you don’t make any assumptions with Raven Steelers at the same really
Nestor Aparicio 19:00
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ripe right now to be taken right and a half point. You know, favorites in this but I’ve seen every Ryan mallet. I’m going to have Charlie batch on the show this week. I promise you, as the snow falls here, that we will, you know, bring up ancient history of who the Steelers are and what they represent, and that’s why the league wants the game. Um, I I would be shocked if it’s a nine and a half. Not shocked, because I wouldn’t be shocked at the Ravens could play great. The Ravens don’t play great against the Steelers. I don’t know why. I do know why that they play great against these NFC teams that can’t scout team. It can’t prepare for it. Don’t have an answer for Lamar, don’t, you know, once Derek Henry gets his legs going, if he gets his legs going, they have to run the ball right? They have to commit to the run the way they did in the second half against Cleveland the other day, because Schwartz had it pretty tied up early on, you know? And they
Luke Jones 19:59
didn’t run the ball. Well at all. I mean, Derek Henry had eight yards in the first half on six carries. I mean, they won’t run. My
Nestor Aparicio 20:04
point is, even this week, they have spit it up. So if at halftime, it’s seven to six and they’re playing the Steelers in that kind of game, I will not be shocked, but it will mean they’re missing kicks, they’re not converting fourth downs, they’re in second and bad, and not second and two. And you know, that’s first down, first down, first. And I go back to 2018 and 19. I will continue to beat on it. For anybody out there in the internet that’s new to me, that thinks I’m a Lamar ater and all that, it’s insane, because this offense, when it’s doing it right, is in second and two, second and three, second and one, never in third down, moving it, moving it, moving it left, right, air, down, ground, fast, not letting you substitute all of that going on. I don’t know. I mean, I’ve obviously, they can do it. He’s the best player on Earth, dude. I mean, he is. I mean, you i I’m in. I’m sold. Now they gotta go win uphill on the road. They’ve set this awful course for themselves to try to win a Super Bowl. It’s terrible to try to win a Super Bowl. Being Steelers at home on a cold night, having to go on the road to Buffalo won’t be warm. Having to go on the road to Kansas City, it won’t be good. If they can do that, they’ll they’ll be a statue on Lamar down to you know there will be, because I there’s no way I’ll use the Marvin Lewis line that he used on me that week down in Tampa. There’s no way we’re losing. There’s no way they’ll lose to an NFC team as long as they get healthy. Lamar turns an ankle in Kansas City in the fourth quarter. I mean, bad, right? But they are on a pathway to win a Super Bowl, but they’ve laid it out in a really difficult fashion. They Damn. They’re almost had to go on the road to Pittsburgh to do it. If Pittsburgh didn’t fold, they’d have to go to Pittsburgh. If they were the only ones that be, if Pittsburgh held their water, they’d be in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh fell apart. So they have to come here. That being said, I still think it’s a tough game. It’s tougher than a nine and a half point game or 17.3 weeks ago. I I just, I’ve seen it too much to think it’s going to be easy. And then once you get through this, and you’re already saying, we don’t need style points, you don’t need to cover the spread, just beat them, okay? And now you got to go to Buffalo negative Kansas City. That’s where they are, and they’re judged on that. It’s not 1998 anymore. To your point, if they were to lose Saturday night,
Luke Jones 22:30
it’d be as bad as the Titans lost five years ago, if not. Were probably worse just because of it being Pittsburgh and the fact that we’re five years later, right? Yeah, I think you bringing that up. And I’ve even seen, you know, not necessarily reporters, but Ravens fans on social media want to
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Nestor Aparicio 22:54
take phone calls from these people. I don’t mean it would be insane around you. Need talking about seven measure delay. Yeah,
Luke Jones 23:02
I’m talking about measured people in my life who are Ravens fans, whose opinions I value, just in terms of, you know, if we’re having an adult beverage, some people know
Nestor Aparicio 23:14
how hard it is to do, but, but,
Luke Jones 23:17
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but, I think I’ve seen a few of those types. Make mention of if the Ravens were to lose Saturday, talking about, where do you go from there, in terms of coaching, in terms of, you know, and let’s call it what it is, John Harbaugh, right. I mean in terms of if that would happen again. And we’re not talking about going to Buffalo and losing. We’re not talking about losing in the AFC title game, talking about losing on your home field to a Pittsburgh team that’s looked lousy for the last month. They have Steelers have stunk for the last month. Let’s call it what it is. They may not stink on Saturday night, but they’ve stunk over the last month. I mean, they have, but if you were to lose that game, boy, that that’s one where, as an organization, if you’re Steve Bucha, you got to take a long look and say, Why is this not progressing? Because we’ve got this incredible quarterback, we’ve got this team with nine Pro Bowlers. We’ve got this team that is first in DVO way again.
24:16
Oh, genius is everywhere. Just geniuses everywhere, right? So, so. So I think, you know, just looking at it through that lens, and I don’t want to dwell on that part of it too much, because there’s a game to talk about here. But I think looking at it through that lens,
Luke Jones 24:33
boy, you got to take a long look and to try to figure out why there’s a lot of pressure in this tire if they begin the third quarter in Aaron. No question. I mean, and it’s not because, well, because, because of what I just said. I mean, if you’re Pittsburgh, no one’s expecting you to be to win. No one in Pittsburgh expects them to win. I was looking at some of the Pittsburgh media types. I mean, you know, I was talking to my pastor Sunday morning at church. He doesn’t expect them to win. He’s a Steelers fan. So you
Nestor Aparicio 25:02
got a priest that’s a Steelers fan? Yeah, you better pray with him on Sunday morning. I want to see that together. Oh,
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Luke Jones 25:09
he’s great. Man, great man. Anyway, football team, choice aside, but, but, I like Tomlin. Just not this week, right, right, but, but, but, but the point is, the vibes there are terrible. So everything about this game does set up for the ravens to be a nine, nine and a half point favorite, but Vegas doesn’t play the game. You have to go out there and play the game, right? I mean, DVO, a doesn’t play the game. You have to go out there and play the game. And that that’s why, you know, Saturday, they didn’t turn the ball over, but they had penalties. You know, like I said, the interior offensive line is still if there’s something beyond turnovers, penalties, things of that nature that are, you know, just the details. But if we’re trying to, like, break down this thing from a matchup standpoint, and looking at the ravens, just in general, week to week, from a matchup standpoint, it’s still the interior offensive line that worries me in terms of if there’s an area that feels like it could hold them back, and maybe, maybe that’s not so much the issue with buffalo, because Buffalo’s defensive line isn’t, you know, This imposing, big physical line in the way that Pittsburgh has one in the way that Kansas City has Chris Jones and that front posing challenges, but it’s still their guard play. You know, I mean, I love Linder bomb. I mean, Linder bombs a Pro Bowl center, but he’s, you know, he’s flanked by two relative weaknesses on this football team. If you’re talking about the the 22 positions on the field, offense and defense, their guards are toward the bottom. If you’re going to rank them all, one to 22 it’s
Nestor Aparicio 26:49
an interesting, um, interesting take on that. That, yeah. I mean, as much as we do top 100 players in the league, and like all that the NFL Network does in the off season, just ranking who are the best 22 players in the organization. That’s an amazing thing you just said there, because, you know, the kicker’s always been in the top three, right? I mean literally, like when you think about key moments and key players and where they are, they not had a running back who’s been one of their 10 best players, maybe since Ray Rice. So, like I until now, till now, sure, so they’re wide receivers. They haven’t had a wide receiver. It’s been one of their 10 best players since Michael Jackson, you know, like, maybe not that long I was gonna say Quan Bolton. You know what I’m saying, right? So it is. That’s a fascinating case study that if, let’s say Eric da Costa and I were still charmed friends, and we were getting together for a coffee, if they were to lose on Saturday night, and they and you were to look at it and say, Well, you played a whole season where your guards were the 20th and 21st and 22nd thoughts on your roster. And, you know, maybe you would have been better with Zeitler. Maybe you should have figured that out. You know, I I’m making that up, sure, sure. But if it falls short a lot of times it is, it does fall short and saying, how could we have been better? Where could we have been better? This team’s loaded. I mean, like by any standard, even when they flowers out on Saturday night, loaded and healthy as hell tested, disappointed veteran. Marlon Humphries having the time of his life. Andrews is back. Lamar is the greatest player on Earth. Derek Henry’s in going to the Hall of Fame. Horrible is going to the Hall of Fame. Like all they really this is a good story, Purple Rain three, but it’s a really tough book to write. When you look at the next month, month of where they put themselves, and starting with the Steelers, there are people rooting for this, not horrible. I think maybe NBC was rooting for hardballs, brother, I don’t know. Not even NBC. It’s Amazon. I guess it’s got the Saturday night game. Yeah, get your prime out, everybody. I got your prime right here. But I I would have way rather seen Jim Harbaugh come in here with a bunch of cold Cali boys than see the Steelers pack a lunch bag and have Tomlin storming up and down the Three Rivers all week long, pissed off for all of them that they’ve been embarrassed the last five weeks, and he’s probably not losing his job, but all the rest of them might be, yeah, I
Luke Jones 29:34
It’s interesting. You brought that up because I really struggled. I went back and forth with you know, if someone were to ask me who I would have preferred the ravens to have the Chargers of the Steelers. I think if you eliminated the team names and just the history, and you just looked at the players on the field, I might have said that the Chargers would be a tougher matchup, just because Justin Herbert, in my mind, way better. And Russell Wilson at this point in their respective careers, by the
Nestor Aparicio 30:03
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way, match har balls brother coming in here to eliminate him. Wow, sure, that’s a fight I wanted to see. I mean that, you know, like literally. So there was a point for me to say, you know, and, and, you know, they went out there and waxed them pretty good, you know what I mean. So like, the notion that they’d have any chance, they probably a 12 point dog, wouldn’t they? I mean, like, literally, if this is nine and a half to me 10.
Luke Jones 30:33
I mean, me. I mean, let’s be clear, the Ravens would be a clear favorite. I think the Chargers are better than the Steelers at this point in time. Um, okay, but that said
Nestor Aparicio 30:43
still is gonna give the Ravens a better
Luke Jones 30:44
game. Oh, but, but that’s, that’s not what I’m talking about here. And you’re saying that based off of history. You’re, I don’t know if you’re saying that. You’re not, certainly not saying that based off of the last four weeks. I mean, the Pittsburgh don’t play, right? I mean, they have, and that’s my point, and that’s what I’m talking about here in terms of that matchup. But when you throw the history in, when you throw the psychological factors in, when you throw the head coaches in, yes, yeah, sure. I mean, I I
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Nestor Aparicio 31:06
lost it home to the Eagles four weeks ago, and since then, they look like they’ve paved the purple road. But day after the Eagles game around here, not a lot different than the day after the Steelers lose to the Bengals in a game that sends him to Baltimore. That may be hard. Maybe Tomlin even likes it better and saying, I’d rather go to Baltimore than Houston, I get my guys fired up to go to Baltimore So, and we’ve looked at that tape plenty. And Patrick queen, you know, he I don’t have to worry about him being ready to play. He’s gonna want to play. Now, whether he plays well or not, that remains to be seen. But I don’t think there’s going to be any motivational problem this week for the Pittsburgh Steelers, after what they’ve been through, where the where all of it is, where your pastor is in your church, who loves the Steelers? Anybody that loves the Steelers looking at this, saying they should be better than this. They were better than this for a long stretch of period of time. Russell Wilson could be better than this. They could run the ball, but blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, well, Saturday night, you’re nine and a half point favorite, go out there and roll over and end your season and move to Cancun on Monday. I don’t think the Steelers guys want to hear that. And I’ll just say this, I saw a lot of teams that were playing for draft picks for their organizations, playing really hard over the weekend. I mean, I really did, and I don’t think, you know, I think that the motivation and the stakes of this time of year for the Ravens as well, but I think the Ravens have much tighter panties and much less latitude in these kinds of games at home on a really cold night where everybody’s drunk and It’s 10 o’clock and the game’s closed and the Steelers are in town, man, it just can’t be a close game late at night, or I’m, I’m not going to be able to manage it, Luke, and I’m not even there. I’m home with my cat, you know? But I just think this is, this is a tougher match up to nine and a half points and taking the stripes off the helmets and all of that. And you know that?
Luke Jones 33:00
I mean, it could be or I could also see the Ravens beating them by three touchdowns. Because, put it this way, if both teams bring their A game, the Ravens win fairly easily, because I don’t even know what Pittsburgh’s a game is. Again, they don’t score a ton of they’re not this explosive offense. Well,
33:20
the defensive receiver could turn that on. Maybe their defense is good, but it’s not historic all time. Great Pittsburgh defense, right? I mean, Watson, phenomenal player. Hayward’s a phenomenal player. Their secondaries got some suspect members, right? So, so again, I
Luke Jones 33:40
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look Pittsburgh, what they like to do, like, it’s not even an A game thing. They they like to turn it into a rock fight, like they they like to drag you down like they want it to be. Put it this way, and I’m, I’ll go with this. Since I started saying this a game thing, they want it to be, bring you down to your c minus game, and they’ll beat you with their c plus game, right? I mean something like that. I mean it’s just,
Nestor Aparicio 34:03
it’s, by the way, I just saw the forecast, and I’m not making this up. 11 windy, right? No, no, no. They just updated the four. I’m like, no, no, no precipitation, five to six inches of snow between 11 and 4pm on Saturday, the 11th.
Luke Jones 34:25
Okay, well, as you and I are talking, we’re also, we’re also five days out from that,
Nestor Aparicio 34:31
just to tell you, it’s going to be really cold and raw and nasty, and I, I don’t know that makes for a high flying offensive act without zay flowers, I think that makes us a tougher game. And I’m not here to make a case for the Steelers. Just make a case with familiarity being a real problem in this football game for the ravens and and leveling thing conditions are going to level this. Fight to not be as lopsided as the talent on the field would dictate. That’s all.
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Luke Jones 35:05
Maybe, maybe. I mean, you say the familiar the ravens are more familiar with the Steelers too. I mean, I think part of the issue that Russell Wilson’s had the last three, four weeks is maybe teams have kind of figured out what he can do at this point and what his limitations are. At this point, he’s a very limited quarterback compared to what he was five years ago, let alone 10 years ago. So not going to mention the limitations of the talent around him, right? Exactly. I mean, again, we’re talking about an offense that they didn’t crack 200 yards against Cincinnati. The Bengals don’t stop anyone we saw that. We saw the Ravens twice, just score and score and score and score it. And they needed to, because they couldn’t stop Joe burrow and Jamar Chase, but for them to to be that inept offensively against that defense boy and again, this has nothing to do with Raven Steelers. I’m just talking about the Steelers right now. It’s like, it’s gut check time for them, like, where’s
Nestor Aparicio 36:02
your problem? Defensively, first down for them, everything right? Like stopping the run getting on Derek Henry, not letting the mark get loose, all the things that they that they 12 months a year, they’re coaching in Pittsburgh, that first set of downs, neutralize that get him the punt, and and then we play the game. You know what I mean? And if it’s not that, if it’s first from the 25 and you know, Henry 13 yards, Lamar 12 yards to Andrews, we’re into the other boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, that’s the way it’s got to go for the Ravens. For me on Saturday night, I need to see fast start. I need to see Christmas. I need to see all of the things that neutralize whatever snow, whatever conditions, whatever decals are on one side of their helmet, not the other. And I still have never understood that from the ends or not, but whatever jerseys they’re wearing too, because that’s always important too, whether it’s a blackout or a purple ad. But you know, it’s, it’s going to be thick in there, right? I mean, the lights nighttime, the stadium set up for all that, all that stuff that rocket sells around there with the bright lights. It’s, this is, this is big boy football. This is fun. This is, let’s talk more about it. Let’s take a break. I do want to talk zay flowers with you. I definitely want to talk more about Russell Wilson. We got the rest of the tournaments going on. We got other things going on. Luke will be out if his car can get him there in the snow to Owings Mills this week, in a shortened week, as it is a Saturday night football game. We’re just excited. If you’re on the wnst tech service on Sunday night, people are asking Luke on Facebook, Hey, What time’s the game? Get on the tech service. You get it instantly. It’s all available now. The crab cake tour brought to you by the Maryland lottery as well as our friends at Jiffy. Lu Baltic here, get back out on the road. Lips grill and Bel Air on Tuesday. Weather pending. We’ll have a whole bunch of reports here this week, and you can always stay with us at Baltimore positive. We’re always out on social media as well. Luke and I talking football playoffs. It’s a Festivus for the rest of us. And the Steelers are coming to Baltimore for a playoff game for the first time since Donald krona. My God, it’s Baltimore positive. Stay with us.
