As the Ravens take a weekend before gearing up for the stretch run that begins against the Los Angeles Rams on December 10th, Dennis Koulatsos and Nestor wonder what goes on in the brain of John Harbaugh and the flow of information from the Ravens upstairs when the red challenge flag is thrown – or isn’t.
SUMMARY KEYWORDSgame, run, ravens, quarterback, ball, play, nestor, steelers, joe flacco, thursday, watch, team, good, point, browns, coons, offense, week, shot, hearSPEAKERSNestor J. Aparicio, Dennis Koulatsos Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01Welcome home we are wn St. am 5070, Towson Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore positive. We never stop talking by week here this week. And I’m going to crabcake role right now the Maryland lottery in conjunction with our friends and window nation. I had a friend Jeff MultiCare sent me out on the road I I was remiss the Orioles in October did not do a lot of crap pictures, but I got three this week actually for this week. If you count next Tuesday, I think this guy is going to be joining me today fair. We’re gonna be Coco’s on a Wednesday. I’m gonna have my co host Mike Rusik Liano joining us there as well as Ron Cassie from Baltimore magazine. On Thursday we move to gertrudes at the BMA with Dan Rodricks Councilwoman Odette Ramos, one of my favorite people joining us on Thursday ovary gertrudes for legendary crabcake. Then on Friday, we moved to Hollywood casino up in Perry Ville. I’m going to be joined by former Maryland stadium authority chairman Tom Kelso. And we’re going to do stadium for dummies. We’re gonna start at the beginning. I want everybody to understand this. I’m going to try not to be interrupted, he has a whole outline that I want to get out as a little bit of a term paper. And that’s going to be on Friday. And then on Tuesday, we’re at State Fair for breakfast. And I think that his co author is just going to join I don’t think he’s gonna join me on a typical Monday now you’re gonna hear him Thursday this week with Luke and I and again on Sunday morning before the non games but hey, Joe snackers playing this week against the Rams, I gotta do some scouting against the Rams. My picks have stumped the last couple of weeks. The ravens are really good and balanced and are winning games that they used to lose to some degree and they get this time off. I can’t remember a time Dennis going into a December where they have most of their health Andrews aside Humphrey aside, but just where the optimism could be for them to really be the best team in the AFC. Dennis Koulatsos 01:57Absolutely Nestor I think that the most telling thing for me was when I woke up Sunday morning was that there were four teams that had a legitimate shot at finishing out the day as a number one seed in the AFC, of course, the Ravens had last shot with the benefit of the Sunday night game. And that’s what they did. They came away with a victory their nine and three wasn’t a prettiest victory. Lots of opportunity for improvement everywhere. But today they sit on top of the AFC and Kings of the North. Well, I Nestor J. Aparicio 02:29mean, I know you listen on Monday mornings as you’re going into coons for to security Boulevard and Luke and I and yeah, we usually do one rambling piece on offense, one rambling piece on defense, one rambling piece on where are we, you know, are Mork and Mindy? Where are we, you know, where are we going? What have we learned? I’m I guess at the buy at nine and three and seeing where Cincinnati is where Pittsburgh is for Cleveland is and then seeing where buffalo is and where the Chargers these teams that were supposed to be good, along with the Bengals losing their quarterback, what Miami represents Houston and Jacksonville what they represent in the Kansas City. And I’m wearing my red coons for today, not for Kansas City. But but certainly that will put all of that being said, if they can navigate these next few weeks, and I don’t think they’re going to run the table. I mean, they got tough games, Jacksonville wrote stuff. I think Christmas night out in Santa Clara is gonna be difficult for them. I don’t think Miami is a cake. I don’t think they’re always that easy. The Rams coming in here. We’ll see them play Flacco this week. But from where they are from a prosperity standpoint, from having their quarterback not only be upright, but making good decisions with his body, not getting his head taken off. Not having that instinctive thing. They’ve managed to pull out the stinger in the be of I’m going to run I’m going to run I’m going to run I’m going to run. Lamar doesn’t behave in that way doesn’t act in that way anymore. It feels like it’s a last resort thing. They did run a little bit in the fourth quarter. I always think when they got the lead give the ball to somebody else. But there was that in pocket ze flowers is he going to take it am I gonna take it and save him keep Mitchell with the speed where the speed will kick your ass 57 minutes into a game you know, and you saw it on that play was a Back Breaker play that could have been a fumble game could have turned Anything could happen on that. But they broke a team’s back with speed late in the game. And that’s just something even on the coldest day in Kansas City or the rainiest day in Baltimore the snowiest day and wherever they would play that the speed part and what they have from a weapon standpoint and offense, that’s going to give them an opportunity to to and they don’t play from behind them the behind all year, if even if they fall behind by two touchdowns in January. That’s a different story much like the Tennessee game and the buffalo when they’ve been outed in January, but right now, there’s so much to recommend them from a balance standpoint, there really is absolute Dennis Koulatsos 04:53Nestor. I started my day by watching Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Again division rivals just to see what they have Have with Jake Browning. And also can he pick at the Pittsburgh office? What would it look like without met candidate running the plays? It is a parody driven league any on any given Sunday, anybody can beat anybody else. Then I watched the redzone Scott Hanson he had a situation in the studio but really paid attention to the bills and the Eagles. That fantastic overtime game and what stood out was Jalen hertz and Josh Allen when he when he’d run the ball Nestor they commit to running the ball which is something that I don’t like to see an indecisive Lamar Jackson I don’t want to see him playing not to get hurt. He’s very talented but when hertz and Alan took the ball in, they’re not quarterbacks are running back at that point and they’re attacking. And I think if Lamar Lamar just can’t be no man’s land he’s got to either make up his mind run the ball run somebody over run around somebody or or sleazy Nestor J. Aparicio 05:53coach now to keep the play alive look down though keep the play alive. We’ll get on the field that Lamar instead of you running between linebackers finds a flowers pop, you know, find a pop in throw the ball. And Luke even said this to me earlier. He wants to throw the ball. He doesn’t want to run the ball, where it felt like in the beginning, it’s what he knew, and it’s what his crotch was and what he’s gonna go back to. And in that Roman offense, where the option truly was his at the mesh point, literally, absolutely. sigh whether he runs it or not. Most of the time, he wanted to run it. And I think somehow in these last few years, maybe his teammates have gotten to a maybe some of the coaching whether it you know it’s James urban in his ears or whether it was Greg Roman in his ears or whether it’s young now just hearing more voices Petrino all the way through saying, your quarterback, your pastor, you’re not running back, don’t be running back. Don’t get yourself hurt. Don’t be vulnerable. And I don’t know that that’s bad if you really can play the position and he can and he really can deliver the ball. Sometimes it’s a little errant. Sometimes it’s a little errand for everybody. I like I like good decisions, though. And I like that he’s not throwing the ball up for grabs. I do think it’s weird him and all of these young quarterbacks, when they’re getting thrown around like a rag doll at the end by somebody, their instinct isn’t to tuck the ball and go down their instinct is like to throw some weird pass that almost always is an intentional grounding. If not a fumble in some cases, Dennis Koulatsos 07:24I think fee with the absence of Mark Andrews, it was to be expected that the offense would look somewhat uneven. And it was I mean, he didn’t have his security blanket. I’m sure the answer was more often than not was his first look. So with Anders not being there. We expected and not even performance. But those those calls by John Harbaugh, the non challengers in the challenge and game management that left a lot to be desired. And it shouldn’t be this way, with him being a longtime head coach of this of this franchise. Yeah, Nestor J. Aparicio 07:54he’s taking notes to me here. Obviously, I think he’s a man with zero integrity. And I’ll sing that he’s earned that from me after after 18 years and having a press conference with three reporters there in LA me not being one of them. So he’s a man without integrity, his brother’s a cheater. And I but all that being said, they’re nine and three he gets a team ready to play. All of the above checks all those boxes per man in the games over the course of the balance of his he’s not a great tactician. Seeing the game well, here in the game, will he such a hyperlink weird? paranoid and and Dennis Koulatsos 08:42did you see the call sheet you had over over his mouth a couple of times? I don’t know if he’s Nestor J. Aparicio 08:46talking to the caster on camera. I’m thinking you’re communicating with the general manager in the fourth quarter of a game on the field. It’s just Dennis I, I don’t know what it is. And they take it away my license to ask questions. So I’m going to be asking questions about the $400 million. They’re trying to siphon off Angelo steel. I’ll be answering that. I believe me, I’ll be on that wall. Watch me. But in the meantime, all of that being said, I can’t ask them about any of this. And if Luke asked them, they may throw Luke out at this point because it’s who they are. I’m the case study in that after 39 years of doing this. I would just say all of it feels really weird for nine and three team and it feels like McDonald’s. Clearly calling the shots on the defense. on the offensive side John’s never been a guy call him plays or any of that stuff. So special Dennis Koulatsos 09:40teams coach and I know he hates that. But he’s a special teams coach. He hates all that. Oh my god, but he’s a special teams coach. He’s a co coach, which head coach which is fine, Nestor J. Aparicio 09:51but at some point during the game, what is your responsibility? Gotta Dennis Koulatsos 09:55be hyper engaged and hyper involved. You have to have the final say, and if you don’t have people upset hairs that are doing their job. We’re miscommunicating to you have to replace them at this level. Well, Nestor J. Aparicio 10:04I was gonna say, Well, you know, get go get Matt Weiser. You know, one of these guys that likes to watch, you know, cheat and do stuff that used to accuse Bella check doing monkeys and trees and whatnot. But having somebody there I said, Look, where’s his father, get somebody he trusts somebody that when the when the button hits the end says, John, I get your flag out, throw it right now, or John don’t throw the flag. But the thing that was crazy about the lateral was it was right in front of him. Every time they kept going to the shot on TV. I’m seeing Harbaugh literally standing right next to the wide receiver threw the ball backward. And the ball clearly went backward. The angle in real time was the wide receiver looked down the hash and make sure he he purposely arc the ball backward. I mean, the running back home it had to stop Dennis Koulatsos 11:00and reach back that was a great it was a great plate know quite Nestor J. Aparicio 11:03awkward because you’d never see that play. It wasn’t ever handed, home run, throw back in the middle of a play across the field. Because you’re doing all the things you tell a quarterback not to do. Throw the ball across the field and backward. So now suddenly, the ball hits the ground. It’s a fumble. Like it’s everything about it’s high risk or high reward, but it happened right in front Harvoni through the flag like that. That’s crazy. You know, Dennis Koulatsos 11:31late in the game, I noticed both teams had one timeout left and I’m thinking man, you know, it’s a good thing that Brandon Staley is on the other side. Coaching against John Harbaugh, because it was a better head coach. This game could have easily gone in the other direction very quickly. I mean, seriously, Nestor J. Aparicio 11:48the guy play the flowers play if they stop that play, things are different. Tucker misses the kick. I mean, there’s a lot of things that happened at the end that my wife woke up she fell asleep on a game and and she woke up so what happened I said they want 20 Attendant it sounds like well that no no no man that game was in a balance that was that that was a game they squeaked out and I do wonder when they haven’t been behind at some point you’ll fall behind right you will I don’t know when that Dennis Koulatsos 12:18is that’s the big quest. The biggest question Where can it come back from 10 or 14 or 20 for that matter can if you Nestor J. Aparicio 12:23don’t go down you’ll never have to know Yeah, well that’s what a good job and what a good job the operation has done is they haven’t behind very much I mean they’ve been a pissed away three games awfully. I mean, they’ve just choked them up. But they have not come out flat. They have not come out losing they have not come out at halftime looses three three and even when they kick the ball around they take punch the ball out. And Dennis Koulatsos 12:48that’s so that’s where I caution to everybody is in love with Mike McDonald and I will caution people that anytime you move up, you get a promotion. You’re moving away from your strength now he’s proven to be a very good coordinator but it doesn’t always translate not saying that it won’t at some point but like to your point John’s teams never get rarely get flown out always come to play. The offense was a little flat and Lamar Jackson said as much but that was to be expected with the absence of Mark Andrews not making excuses for them but everybody in love with Mike McDonald pumped the brake for a minute Would you please Nestor J. Aparicio 13:19well that is go out so she’s here he will be there and here on Thursday from three to five taking you home with Dennis colosso shows while it’s a Sunday Sports voice heard from eight until noon. Sometimes it lingers a little longer. It shall this week as well. So um, are you done with ravens you want to move on to Flacco and I mean, it’s such an interesting thing, right because browns are playing the Rams this week. We have the week off the games this week. And you and I you know we’re gonna go through this on your show on Thursday as well. I mean it is it’s delicious. It’s almost like the computer spits these things out and sort of you know how these games are gonna go. But this Browns games interesting. Then we get a 40 Niners Eagles game at the same time. We got a chiefs chiefs Packers game on Sunday night we got Bengals Jaguars on Monday night I mean we got these teams we’re seeing teams that are going to be in the way and we get a nice weekend on the couch as the balance team relatively healthy I don’t want to say Andrews and and Humphrey but watching these other teams but there’s nothing more fascinating to me being a Flacco lover than whatever the I don’t think the Browns are winning the Super Bowl I don’t I don’t know what Joe is at this point is like Boise inherited a situation as any Dennis Koulatsos 14:33while the Browns have a better chance than the Bengals again this is why I watch the Browns against the Broncos and for all Mike Tomlin said the prior week in regards to the Browns defense makes everybody look bad now that it makes the Broncos offense and Russell Wilson look badly scored on them they ran a ball on the spec these smack them around. Now the bangles Jake Browning he’s not the guy the Steelers helped him with ease and the Steelers You can’t help but think that game 17 is going to be a big big game between the ravens and the Steelers. But the Joe Flacco addition to the Browns may change the equation, depending on how much gas Joe Flacco has in this tank. Nestor J. Aparicio 15:14I don’t even know what to compare it to because like, the Jets were terrible, right? I mean, and the Broncos were awful when he got there. They had no running game. The defensive falling apart at that point like they had the wrong coach. I mean, like everything was wrong there clearly they fix things. I mean, Sean Payton is a dude right? I Dennis Koulatsos 15:32mean, we go in there he’s doing around he’s trying to Nestor J. Aparicio 15:36you know, I don’t know that I really knew that or believe that and all the years in New Orleans with breeze and whatnot and Bella checks trying to figure it out without Brady right? And hardball is now figured out with a couple of different quarterbacks here and Tomlins figured it out, you know, with Roethlisberger on one leg for 10 years, and now doesn’t really have a good situation there. And they still win. And they don’t get stopped points though. Right? So they rolled Dennis Koulatsos 16:00up over a foreigner yard with the bangles and the Bengals defense isn’t bad. But again, we don’t have a quarterback though. It’s complimentary football, that the Fletcher defense etc. So Steelers are very much Nestor J. Aparicio 16:10Flacco might be the second best quarterback in the division now he peep I Dennis Koulatsos 16:14think he may Yeah, absolutely. I will take Joe Flacco on one leg and can he pick it on to for sure. The guy’s terrible. Nestor J. Aparicio 16:20Yeah, and the Dorian Thompson rob you know, despite what happened to him in the game, and Dennis Koulatsos 16:25now. Now we saw him the kid can’t win. I mean, he just can’t he doesn’t have the arm. He doesn’t have the experience. He’s running quarterbacks still his his go to just tuck it in and just take off with the ball. That will only get them so far. But Joe Flacco does have a chance he does have receivers on our team and Joko, he’s got Amari Cooper. He does have a decent running game with with Ford and hunt. He does have a decent defense offensive line if his tackles can get healthy. So Joe is a Joe will always be Joe he’ll always be a raven. And they do have a shot but you have to you have to think that division is going to come down to the Bengals and the Steelers. And game 17 quoting Nestor J. Aparicio 17:01Ray Lewis Joe’s gonna be Joe I remember that, you know, every week, I was like, hey, I’ll just say this with him. I have no idea. But game manager, Game Manager. Dennis Koulatsos 17:13Yes, well, if they don’t turn the ball over to any team, they have a chance to win and if you rely on your defense you’re running a game which you know going back to the Ravens I always say what success pack your defense in your running game when you when you travel than the Ravens didn’t run enough. Get the offense again was out of sorts. But look, it’s a lot of fun to watch the league every Sunday, every every Thursday, Monday. It is the week to week league Nestor and the bye for the Ravens come to a very good time. We’re able to rest watch some quality games and enjoy the league for what it is. And the officiating is still a hot mess. It really is. I can’t believe people actually bet on these games. It’s It’s Nestor J. Aparicio 17:50terrible. I mean, in the calls, I’m gonna get to charge for the first couple minutes of the game. I’m like, You gotta be kidding me. I mean, Chino Stone had two feet at a bounce when he hit the quarterback like it was insane. Dennis glad to see here. He’ll be back on Thursday. So last thing for you and I’ll and we’ll pick this up on your show because we’re gonna have a lot of oxygen. You’re also gonna be with a State Fair next. It’s gonna be shrimp and grits or chicken waffles. What? For breakfast? You don’t go there for breakfast much do you? Dennis Koulatsos 18:17I do my go to is the burrito. The Nestor J. Aparicio 18:22potatoes on the side never had that. So I’m gonna have a bite of yours next week. So really, really good. I’m Luke said this. And I thought this to be fascinating. Five games last, the Ravens might have the toughest schedule in in the whole banana left, that if they wind up as a one seat, they will have really earned it. You don’t I mean, like if there are one seat, it’s because they beat San Francisco, they went to Jacksonville and one they held their water against the Rams, they didn’t lose to the Steelers that the dolphins didn’t come in here and put a track meet on him on a nice day, you know, New Year’s Day and the weather’s nicer. I don’t know what the weather’s gonna be Jacksonville, whatever may be some rain, whatever San Francisco will be whatever that is. They have a couple of home games. They have a couple of potential weather issues here. But they have this by week sitting at them. They have nobody really coming to catch them of any consequence in the division. But they have tough games they have they have tough games, and they’re gonna have to earn this on the way out and there’s no more Gardner Minshew or Dorian Tonyia they’re gonna see real quarterbacks the rest of the way and they’re gonna get tested and that’s probably where you want them to be if you think they’re a Super Bowl team anyway. Dennis Koulatsos 19:32In sharp contrast to that Nestor is at the Steelers have the easiest remaining schedule. They have zero games remaining against the opponents with a winning record. And their toughest opponents gonna be the Ravens that’s that’s the only team with a winning record will face in the next five or six weeks. Well, I’ll Nestor J. Aparicio 19:47be watching the browns and rams this weekend as well. We watch a lot of football. That is we watching football as well. And a good time this weekend watching Alabama and Auburn and Ohio State Michigan and I did Turkey and football all day Thursday and then I did well leftovers on Friday and watch the Jets playing on Black Friday for crying out loud. But I am not football down and we shall not be crabcake out either. I’m going to be a Coco’s on Wednesday we’ll be at gertrudes on Thursday we’ll be at Hollywood casino and peripheral Friday and then back at state fair on Tuesday morning can be crab cake week. Gonna be some pumpkin pie This week I’m gonna figure out some eggnog wise markets for it’s all over with all it brought to you by friends at the Maryland lottery I’m gonna have some fresh up a peppermint and ginger bread scratch offs to give away as well as our friends at window nation. That is Rebecca Thursday off at three o’clock and Hey, how was Black Friday at coons Baltimore floor was it as zany as I kind of thought it was gonna be? Dennis Koulatsos 20:39Man it was phenomenal. We had games prizes, giveaways, saves our saved our customers 1000s of dollars. It was very, very festive. So close to 100 vehicles over the weekend. Want to thank the community for coming out of supporting us and and made a lot of new friends a lot of happy people off with holiday. Now you Nestor J. Aparicio 20:56say you Sonam is 200 That sounds like a lot but I don’t know what like a lot is, you know, a lot Dennis Koulatsos 21:01in this in today’s market. It’s a lot it’s it’s a really Nestor J. Aparicio 21:06a weekend does that would be like if you sold 25 a day for four days. That would be 100 And that would be like one an hour that’s a lot of dealership. I mean, I always see these commercials where there’s balloons and there’s a million people in a dealership and I think there was just never looked that way there somebody’s cars conked out or they make an appointment they come in I don’t see that look like a food court in the mall. something and you’re selling a car in our that’s a lot of car status. Dennis Koulatsos 21:35We were closed on Sundays Nestor and because of the blue county blueclaws So we actually sold those cars three days. We have three days. Yeah, it was 117 vehicles more Nestor J. Aparicio 21:44than a car now. Dennis Koulatsos 21:45That’s more than a car now. There’s always something going on here. Coons Baltimore Ford, and it’s good business to do business with businesses good. Just like W NSA. Well, Nestor J. Aparicio 21:54I appreciate the local play. Hey, you know it was shop local Saturday around here kicking wn St. Dennis Koulatsos 21:59Every day. That’s everything. You know, we we support local businesses, small businesses, family owned businesses. That’s what we do. All Nestor J. Aparicio 22:06right. Well, I’m supporting by week I am in full support by week here and autonomy calm well get together at the record on Saturday even allows me to have a couple extra beverages and take it take an Uber home if I want to from Towson, so you’re gonna hear Tommy Conwell this week, you’re gonna hear Tom Kelso this week. You’re gonna hear great, great conversation with John Eisenberg we had last week at Pappas, also at dusty Pappas on for Pappas to talk about shipping crab cakes are friends of Coco’s this week. Rick Costas, two weeks ago, we weren’t famous we’re going back to faintly so if you’re ordering crab cakes, if you’re out, take care of all of our sponsors. Try them all. They’re all different. They’re all delicious. Some places even have delicious cheeseburgers like our friends at Coco’s. And I’ve ordered they have coconut shrimp, they’re spelled with a K coconut shrimp, and with his raspberry jalapeno sauce, delicious, so I’m gonna beat my face off. I got leftovers around here. Dennis is going to be here on Thursday. Luke is on by week this week, so nobody bought leave Luke alone this week. Let him know baseball news. Leave Luke alone for the winter meetings. I am not sure we are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. And we never stop talking Baltimore positive
