By any means necessary in Pittsburgh

Luke Jones and Nestor discuss Ravens finding a way to win in Pittsburgh

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

game, ravens, pittsburgh, week, play, steelers, anthony brown, lamar jackson, locker room, team, cincinnati, quarterback, lamar, football, win, run, talking, afc, point, sunday

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

W n s t towson Baltimore and Baltimore positive it is a big week around here not just a Ravens victory in Pittsburgh and I witnessed my own self, but on Thursday we’re gonna be back in Dundalk doing the Maryland crabcake torch presented by the Maryland lottery conjunction with our friends at Goodwill and Windsor nation. celebrating my 31st anniversary this week we do an act from two until whenever we finish cheetahs shock Rock Roll Hall of Famer John Allen will be with us when his son horses, the entire team making the hammer Jack’s rock you mentary as well as some some old friends from beyond words. And if you’re familiar with the youthful band milkshake, they’ll also be hanging out with us telling some old 80s hipster rock’n’roll stories and we’re gonna have some great crab cakes crab period will be a Costas this week, all presented by the Maryland lottery with a Friends of goodwill and when donation Luke Jones joins us now he was stuck in the car with me at least for Breezewood up Pittsburgh Anon, back to Breezewood. Again, and I can’t say that we didn’t talk a lot of football on the way up. But on the way back, we did not discuss any element of what we had just witnessed in Pittsburgh a 16 to 14 victory. Look, if I would have told you it’s a 16 to 14 victory. It was the ugliest game you’d ever see. It was in December, you’d say we must have been in Pittsburgh.

Luke Jones  01:16

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Yeah, I mean, there have been quite a few like that. Maybe not quite like that, where you’re talking about a one team losing it starting quarterback and go into the backup. One team beginning with its backup and finishing the game with as you and I one of the things we didn’t mention in the postgame on our trip home from Pittsburgh was trying to estimate how many Ravens fans even knew who Anthony Brown was,

01:38

or the ones in the stadium that were you know, these are people that drove five hours to the game. And we were going around at 1200 Ravens fans there and said, Who’s that guy and they choose Anthony Brown they say they need just when Attorney General didn’t was wasn’t that the guy that lost the election? Oh, the last time right.

01:54

Something like that. Something like that. But I mean, and in fairness, Anthony Brown he had a nice preseason. I mean, that’s the reason why the Ravens wanted to keep him on the practice squad. He did show some promise as a rookie, you’re

02:05

the only one that watches the preseason. Come on Lupo. And

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02:08

that’s the thing. And that’s the thing. Even those of us who watch the preseason generally forget about it a week later. So it really untold miles from walking makes

02:17

the tackle to start the game.

02:19

Right. Right, right. But if I was trying to think about this, and someone making his NFL debut a quarterback making his NFL debut backed up at his own one yard line, I mean, just extraordinary. Right. And in Pittsburgh. Yeah. In Pittsburgh, no less. I think that what’s funny Nestor is you would look at this game. And there are certainly things to like there were things not like quite as much, particularly the health of your quarterback position right now. But I think what’s different about this when compared to Carolina a few weeks ago, Denver last week is this is a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, this is the kind of win that’s good for the soul. You know, we talked about this after Lamar went down with a knee injury, whether it’s going to be one game two games, like it looks like it’s going to be in some reports on Sunday morning indicated. We’re not going to see Lamar in Cleveland on Saturday, which isn’t a big surprise. I think many of us were looking at Christmas Eve against Atlanta as being the first game where you’d say okay, probably his most legitimate shot to come back is going to be that game. And then we’ll see moving forward how he looks. But we were saying if the Ravens can get one of these two division road games, they were in good position, right? It was all about holding down the fort. And when you look at all the challenges, you know, Tyler Huntley goes out early in the third quarter in concussion protocol. They they got Ronnie Stanley back but they didn’t have Kevin Zeitler and knowing what the Ravens were looking like a quarterback Pittsburgh knew the Ravens when to run the football. You get JK Dobbins back. I mean, there, there was a lot to this game to unpack but they got to win and a impose their will on the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that had been better of late. But certainly a team that’s that was desperate for a win, desperate to try to stay in this AFC wildcard race, whatever slim chances they had at the at five and seven going into Sunday’s game. But you know that this was a game that the Ravens you didn’t need to win. But boy, you feel so much better that they were able to come home with a victory considering all those circumstances, considering where Cincinnati is in this tough AFC North race for the top. I just think it’s the kind of game that you just feel so much better about. Last week, we were talking about Denver and the Broncos offense stinks. And the Ravens couldn’t move the ball and, you know, Jacksonville, we saw what happened there and that Carolina game coming out of the bye week was so uninspiring. It’s a 1614 game. Let’s not make it out to be more than what it is in terms of trying to project what it means for a deep January run or anything like that. Well, we

04:54

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don’t give stop points in Pittsburgh. I mean, exactly. And it’s certainly not to that Pittsburgh team that was eminently beatable but somehow a two point favorite.

05:02

Yeah, well, it’s not even somehow there are two point papers or two point favorite because you didn’t have Lamar Jackson, you didn’t have your best player. I mean, it’s that simple. It really comes down to that. But the Ravens got the job done. And this is the kind of game that again, as I am writing it, Baltimore positive.com, I said this to you one of the few things I said, and you’re right, we didn’t talk too much football on the way home, but this was a good win for the soul. I think it really was. And we even I think some people were even poking fun at John Harbaugh and some of his comments after the Denver game talking about how big of a win it was. And you know, it’s the Broncos and we’ve kind of seen what that team has been they’re gonna be firing their coach, whether it’s today or at the end of the season. I mean, that’s just where where they are with Hackett and everything that’s going on there. But you know, to get this win against that team, knowing what that rivalry means. Knowing this is the latest edition of a weird ravens Steelers game right where you’re talking about quarterbacks you’ve never even heard of,

06:02

or Charlie batch was the best quarterback in the building and he was eating cookies with me up in the press box. Not

06:06

true. Not true. And this is the other touch.

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06:10

That’s right. I

06:11

you and I as we’re getting all this is good. Right as we’re getting on the elevator to go downstairs down in the bowels of the place formerly known as Heinz Field ever refused to call it by its new day, whatever it is aquasource Stadium I think it is right. But as we’re waiting in line to get on that elevator, lo and behold, who is waiting right in front of us. Ben Roethlisberger, which all I could think was boy, I’m guessing Steelers fans would much rather had Ben Roethlisberger than Mitch Trubisky at quarterback on

06:42

BET as little beanie on. And his kids and his wife getting in the elevator. And they celebrate Christmas, I guess, you know, are heading that way. And you and I both looked at each other like man could use that guy.

06:57

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Yeah. So so I mean it really? What a strange game. It really was. But I think I

07:04

played the ravens, right? I mean, like other than Trubisky throwing lollipops, the Steelers should have won the game. I mean, I think they wake up and say, how did we lose? We made fatal flaws our quarterback threw picks and look, give ro Quan Smith credit give up. Certainly Patrick queen, a lot of credit was an element. But it was a very sloppy game from the Steelers perspective, a very winnable game, and one that sort of slipped away from them in a season. That doesn’t matter. Nobody, Tom was not getting fired. They’re not figuring out war and peace in Pittsburgh, this year, five and nine, wherever they are at this point. They’re, they’re five and eight, wherever they they’re, they’re no good. And they know that what this is, this hurts them a lot. This was a chance to punch the ravens and they, they couldn’t do it. They couldn’t finish the game.

07:52

Right. And now, I don’t know if I completely agree that they outplayed them, but I think it is very much worth mentioning. And you just said it. I mean, it was a strange game. For the defense, you look at it, they allowed 6.2 yards per play, which is the most they’ve allowed in the game since going back to week three. And that’s where this game reminded me a little bit of that week three, whenever the Patriots remember the Patriots were able to move the ball up and down the field. But the Ravens got takeaways, you know, they got those high variance splash plays that you love to get. I mean, it doesn’t mean you’re a dominant defense. But you’d much rather have that than a team. That’s, you know, maybe they’re grinding a little bit more, but they’re finishing off their drives with touchdowns in the red zone. So So you have that element. But where I will disagree a little bit in the way that I think the Ravens were able to impose their will, in the fact that Pittsburgh new the ravens, one of the run the ball going into the game knew that halfway through the game, they had to run the ball because they had a third string quarterback and let’s face it, this passing game wasn’t functioning at a high level, even with Lamar Jackson these last several weeks. So the fact that Pittsburgh knew the Ravens wanted to run the football. And they couldn’t stop them. Anyway, that to me was encouraging. That, to me is the biggest takeaway from this from a football standpoint moving forward, assuming you get Lamar Jackson back, whether it’s this week, next week, week after that, and assuming you can continue to take care of business, but I think just the idea that they were able to run the ball in the way that they did. And I think a great example of that was look what happened in the fourth quarter get the block field goal. Renegade comes on we know anyone who’s been to Pittsburgh for ravens Steelers knows that that gets the crowd fired up. Typically, it’s supposed to get the Pittsburgh defense fired up. And what did the Ravens respond with a near eight minute drive where they ran the ball on all but what a couple plays a couple completions got to completion to Andrews to move the chains but they impose their will and they were able to suck eight minutes off of the clock in the fourth quarter. They get a field goal. And that field goal turned out to be of the utmost importance because we saw Pittsburgh drive and score a touchdown. To make it a one score game again, so, but to be able to do that, in the fourth quarter in crunch time, in a game that, you know, the outcome had yet to be determined, even though the Ravens were leading most of the way, it really it says a lot for this football team considering the state that they were in, in the second half where you have a quarterback playing who had just been elevated from the practice squad on Saturday afternoon. I mean, it really does say something about this team’s will, it’s resolved. And that’s something that, again, a 1614 win in Pittsburgh against a less than impressive Steelers team in its totality in 2022. That’s not going to garner headlines, that’s not going to shoot them up the power rankings and put them among the very elite, you know, talking about some of these top Super Bowl contenders. But it keeps the Ravens in position. And when you’re missing your best player on the field as they were on Sunday, what more can you ask for?

10:57

I would say stop the bleeding, but there was no bleeding, right? They’ve been they’ve been winning a couple of these games here. And in the case of the Steelers, as you pointed out, they’ll get to play that again, three weeks from now, right? The Steelers are gonna remember that they couldn’t stop the run. I don’t know what state Lamar is going to be in by the first of the year, but they’re gonna have to see the Steelers again. And this is always there’s some style points in this game. I mean, I I’m not taking anything away from this with a super super bowl contender part, or the division leader part. And to your point, they can fall again behind Cincinnati and make it up by beating them the last game of the year. But I’m not counting on them. That that’s the one game where I’m thinking, though, not a better team than the Bengals as comprise right now. And you go to Cincinnati, OH, four weeks from now and actually do it. This season, every quartile of the season, there’s a different story right? Middle of the season, the Ravens look like a Super Bowl contender for a week or two, right? Now all of a sudden, you start to watch the Chiefs play. You watch the bills play, you watch the Bengals play and you watch Lamar hurt. And you watch this defense give up six yards of play, but make a couple of big plays and say, well, I could see them making a big play. And I said this last week to you. I said, I think the defense could win big games in January single handedly by taking the ball away. I mean, look, they’re looking to strip the ball every play so that you’re gonna make a tackle and not make a tackle or strip the ball. But they play to take the ball away two or three times a game. And when they do they’re gonna win when they take the ball away three times a week. They’re winning the game.

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12:29

Well, I mean, that’s any team. I mean, let’s face it. I mean, that’s not that’s not anything unique to the Ravens. But when you can do it Sure. What they did Sunday is not, you know, as far as that defensive performance, can you force three turnovers every single week? Of course not. But the point the ability to be able to do that, coupled with an offense that will need to be firing at a higher level. There’s no question. I mean, no, no one’s suggesting that Anthony Brown or Tyler Huntley is going to be able to lead the ravens to a deep playoff run, if it would come to that. And I’m not suggesting Lamar Jackson won’t be back. You know, all indications are, you will be back. We saw him on the sideline, we saw him before the game.

13:12

I saw him in the locker room during the Soca. Yeah, so.

13:15

So that was a good sign, you know, if they were hiding a much more severe injury probably wouldn’t have even made the trip to Pittsburgh, if we’re being honest. So, so we’ll see how that develops. But if you’re talking about trying to look ahead and project what this looks like, in January, against some of the top teams in the AFC, you’re gonna have to score points, there’s no question about it. I mean, you can’t just count on turnovers of that nature, especially when you’re allowing Mitch Trubisky and the Steelers to move the ball through the air the way that they did. But if you can get some of those high variance splash plays, you know, those game probability altering plays, you know, where you turn the ball over, or you take the ball away in the in the red zone, the way the Ravens were able to on a few occasions, that that just that makes all the difference. That’s you’re not shutting down Kansas City, you’re certainly not holding Kansas City to 14 points in the way that the Ravens did against the Steelers. But that can be the difference of keeping them in the 20s compared to scoring into the 30s, potentially. So I mean, that’s, again, we’re getting so far ahead of ourselves. And for me, Sunday’s game wasn’t really at all about thinking about January, it was more, keeping yourself in good position right now. And we talked about if you can get one of these two games at Pittsburgh at Cleveland, they’ve done that now. So now it’s a matter of, as you mentioned, if we’re talking in terms of not talking about the playoffs, but the AFC north, now you’re in position where, hey, winning these next three games. I’m not saying that’s easy. I’m not saying that that’s destined and certain to happen. But it feels far more plausible now then, going into Pittsburgh and saying okay, these next four before that Cincinnati showdown in week 18. So I think that’s where you just look at it. Every win you can get now is a little less work ahead of that week 18 game. And I think the reality is, yeah, we know the Ravens have a tiebreaker right now. So that works in their favor. But there’s still a path here, if you can take care of business these next three weeks, and if Cincinnati stubs, its toe watch, which, you know, they’re playing great football, but they still, you know, they still have some games on their schedule that you’d look to and say, Hey, that’s not a layup by any stretch of the imagination, including them playing buffalo in week 17. So it’s just win, right? I mean, just when it’s that simple. And again, I think the unlike the previous weeks, you know that the Carolina game, the Denver game, certainly I mean, Jacksonville was a loss. Of course, no one felt good about that. But this one, I think you you just you come away from it, feeling so much better about yourself than I think the ravens to a man privately felt after Carolina, and even after the Denver game where I get it. And look, they lost Lamar and Tyler Huntley took care of the football. I think that’s something that you need to praise these young quarterbacks for doing. They’re taking care of the football for the most part, which Mitch Trubisky is not even that young. I mean, he’s played way more in the league than Tyler Huntley or Anthony Brown, and he didn’t take care of the football and you saw that being a major difference in the football game. So it really does speak to some of the coaching that gets a lot of flack you know Greg Roman gets flack you know James urban has gotten Flack, but these young quarterbacks coming in in place of an injured Lamar Jackson to they’re not lighting up the scoreboard. But playing mistake free football. There’s something to be said about that, especially when you’re talking about a young kid and his first NFL action. Entering a game, his first NFL snap backed up at his own one yard line. Think Anthony Brown played with a lot of composure, even if yes, the Ravens certainly didn’t ask him to do a whole lot.

16:59

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You can read Luke Jones’s work out at Baltimore positive.com. I’m also putting the final touches on my column this this week if you saw me in Pittsburgh in the press box in the press room asking questions in the locker room. It was because Mike Tomlin left me a media credential on Sunday in Pittsburgh. So the first game I attended the first time I was in the locker room the first time I met Coleus Campbell ever because of the plague, and we haven’t been in the locker room for almost three years. It’s it’s been 35 months since I have freely spoken to ravens players, and coaches and executives all that the executives wanted no part of me. I would say this Luke, we you and I do this every week. We have these big thoughts on Monday about what it means and we live with it for a week. That’s the nature of the NFL. I just got to thinking about this. You after I dropped you off in Breezewood and went through Hagerstown and got doughnuts at grumpies. I thought about what I saw in that locker room after the game and I thought about what I would have seen in week three, week six, week nine right now we’re getting more toward the end of the year. And I looked around the locker room and I saw Oh, there’s Mark Andrews. He didn’t play for a couple weeks. Oh, there’s Ronnie Stanley. He was hurt for a while. Oh, there’s Kyle Hamilton. He was hurt for a little while. Oh, there’s Gus Edwards. They Oh, look at that. They even got JK Dobbins back. All of these players are in front of me with their purple bottoms and their shirts off. And I’m looking at all of them and I’m and I’m thinking to myself, all of these guys have missed games. And when they miss games there have been scuffling, there’s been problems there’s been fillings there’s been understudies, and in a game with a play with a third string quarterback a rookie third string quarterback. All the rest of the pieces of the puzzle feel like they’re coming back in class Campbell was not limping. It’s late December he looks okay. Some of the veteran guys the JPPs and the Justin Houston’s and the guys that they’ve imported into this situation. Even Marcus Peters was managing the dance, you know in his elder state in the corner to the Soca so I start to feel like being in a Pittsburgh locker room we can ask before Christmas and Lamar is gonna be alright. I think we you and I are in agreement with him walking around and being there. Whatever the leg issue is he’s gonna be okay he’s gonna be able to play against Pittsburgh here on the first day or even if they give him Atlanta off right. And part of that will probably be up Cleveland the Atlanta game becomes a little less important to you if they can do that this week. But health full complement and I’ll say this I believe they were a Super Bowl contender all summer. You did as well. Vegas that as well. We believe they were one of the better teams in the AFC and I think you and I to a man would say well first off there how many games into this and they’ve they’ve had a double digit lead in every single game this year, including on Sunday when they were up 10 points at the beginning of the game. So there is a part of this where if you believe fully not fully healthy, but fully complemented they get everybody on the yield, they have deep depth on defense, they have rotation. They have several running backs, right? That if they get everybody on the field, I know your pitch about the wide receiver thing because they don’t. That’s the one thing they don’t have as a quality wide receiver room. I would agree with that. But, but other than that, it feels to me like they’re trending in a direction where most of these guys are going to be standing on the field when they play their first playoff game, which will be January 8 against Cincinnati. Right, that’ll be their first playoff game. And then the weeks after that, trying to get everybody ready to play then I felt pretty good. Leaving the Steelers locker room with guys that have been on the injury report out questionable. We’re worried about them. Even JK Dobbins not running away from the secondary after he broke through in that sort of Ray Rice waterbug way that you and I were familiar with from Foxborough 15 years ago, seen all of their players are not in the trainer’s room the week before Christmas. That unto itself, leads me to believe they might be a factor next month in a game or two or three because they have enough talent. When I stand in that locker room and look around. I don’t see a team that’s not capable. If the horses make it to the course. Yeah,

21:15

I mean, this is gonna sound a little bit like coach speak. What I will say is, I think your point is well taken and I think as this roster is currently constructed, knowing that Rashad Bateman is not walking through that, that door and healthy to play until 2023. And I don’t mean January 2023, I mean next season. But acknowledging that I think this team is in a position, assuming Lamar Jackson comes back. I mean, he’s going to come back, what’s it going to look like? assuming he’s right, at least 95%? Let’s do it. If he’s not

21:47

right, they can’t win. Right. I mean, we know that. I mean, that’s what that that’s why he makes 50 million a year. Sure.

21:52

Of course, of course. And I’m not suggesting otherwise, you know, that. That’s not the the of the utmost importance. But beyond him, you know, Kevin Zeitler, couldn’t play on Sunday. I think it’s a long term issue. I mean, he worked out about an hour before inactives came out. So you hope that that’s the case. So maybe another week of rest, and he’s right. But I think they’re in a position now with their health. And we know this can be incredibly fleeting, someone could wake up Monday and realize they tore the meniscus, for example. And I’m not suggesting that happen. I’m just saying, that’s just the unpredictability of this business. And I think that’s one thing that all teams and fan bases and media need to recognize that you can wait and wait and wait for optimal health. And sometimes it’s just not going to, that’s just not going to come together. And I think 2021 was a perfect example that and it wasn’t even a case of it not coming together, it was done before it even started really was some of the guys that they lost. But I think they are in a position where they have the capability to be as good as they’re possibly capable of being and what I mean, but you know, they can reach whatever their ceiling is for this roster. And again, I’m not going to back off up just because they get a really nice, important, Soul soothing kind of win in Pittsburgh, not going to make me back off about concerns about the passing game and wide receiver, you have to be able to do that I am not of the belief that you can just run and play defense to a championship in 2022. I just don’t believe that anymore. But that aside, I think this team is in a position with their health to reach whatever their potential is. And to be clear, that doesn’t mean I’m not suggesting they can’t win a playoff game or two. They can’t make some noise, especially if if Lamar Jackson comes back looking like early season, Lamar Jackson. But yeah, it sure beats being where they were at this point. Last year where yeah, they still had a winning record. But Lamar had gone down at this point. They hadn’t won out there. They had already lost a couple games. And they were no longer in that top spot in the AFC and they were just trying to hold on, right. They’re trying to figure out a way to hold on. Well, they did better than hold on on Sunday, like I said that the fact that they could impose their will and run the football against a team that knew they wanted to run the football knew they needed to run the football. I think that saying something and again, it does speak to this team’s resolve. What does it mean in the big picture? I really don’t know. You know, again, I don’t want to make too much of it. We’re all guilty of making each game a referendum on the big picture. But I think it was a really good win for this team’s DNA for its soul moving forward and again, it just makes these next few games feel you feel that much better about how this team’s gonna play and where they can be come week a team when they have that showdown with Cincinnati.

24:45

As I wrote in my column this man maybe the Ravens were the Renegades for one Sunday in Pittsburgh but the Steelers will be back up here or down here I should say in three weeks. Look Joe is going to be out there in Owings Mills. They still let him cover the team they if you saw me that was because of the Steelers. So ship the Captain Mike Tomlin. He did not trip me on the 35 yard line coming back. He he threw me into the stadium to do my job and I am eternally grateful for that for his integrity. Even if some folks in Owings Mills don’t have any. I am Nestor. We are wn sta a 1570, Towson Baltimore. We’re getting NAFTA ravens conversation all week long getting after my 31st anniversary on radio here Tuesday. This week’s my 31st anniversary we’ll be celebrating on Thursday at cost. It’s still brought to you by the Maryland lottery in conjunction with our friends at Goodwill and window nation. We’re doing the Maryland crab cake tour, rock and roll style with the queen of rock roll and Dundalk Gina shock. That’ll be Thursday afternoon at Costas hope to see you there we are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. And we never stop talking Baltimore positive