Big stakes on Sunday night for Ravens and Steelers coaches, QBs and franchises

It feels like more than just two mediocre teams with legendary stability and pedigree battling for an AFC North title in Pittsburgh on Sunday night. Luke Jones and Nestor assess the big stakes of Ravens at Steelers for coaches, quarterbacks and the offseason trajectory of the franchises given the long tenure and tumultuous seasons of John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin. And now Lamar is gonna play, too!

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the high stakes of the upcoming Ravens vs. Steelers game, emphasizing the importance of the game for both teams’ coaches and quarterbacks. They highlighted the potential impact on John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin’s job security, noting the recent losses and the need for playoff success. The conversation also touched on Lamar Jackson’s health and performance, the potential for Tyler Huntley to step up, and the broader implications for the franchises. They predicted a close game, with the Ravens narrowly winning 19-17.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Chauffeur Luke Jones to Pittsburgh on Sunday night and provide social media coverage en route (ensure Luke arrives for game and coordinate live posts).
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Publish breaking news items to the WNSD tech service (including the Zach Eflin update) so listeners receive timely alerts.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Plan and schedule the Maryland Crab Cake Tour to get back on the road soon (coordinate dates and promotions for 2026 events).
• [ ] Attempt to secure a press credential and attend locker-room access in Pittsburgh on Sunday night to conduct postgame interviews and reporting.

Ravens vs. Steelers: Pre-Game Analysis and Predictions

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the excitement of the upcoming Ravens vs. Steelers game, mentioning his plans to be in Pittsburgh for the game.
• Nestor and Luke Jones talk about the importance of the game for both teams, noting the high stakes for coaches, quarterbacks, and franchises.
• Nestor shares personal anecdotes about his recent experiences, including visiting sponsors and enjoying local food.
• The conversation touches on the significance of home-field advantage and the potential impact of the game on the coaches’ job security.

Historical Context and Team Dynamics

• Nestor and Luke reflect on the history of the Ravens vs. Steelers rivalry, noting the recent losses and the impact on team morale.
• Luke mentions the importance of evaluating the bigger picture rather than just the immediate results of the game.
• The discussion includes the potential consequences for both teams if they win or lose, including the impact on player contracts and franchise stability.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential outcomes of the game and the implications for the future of the teams.

Coaching Job Security and Team Performance

• Luke Jones argues that the outcome of the game should not be the sole determinant of the coaches’ job security.
• The conversation highlights the challenges faced by both Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh, including the need to win playoff games and the impact of player injuries.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of having a reliable quarterback and the potential impact of Lamar Jackson’s health on the team’s performance.
• The discussion includes the potential for changes in coaching staff and the impact on team morale and performance.

Player Health and Team Strategy

• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of player health, particularly for Lamar Jackson, and the impact of injuries on team performance.
• The conversation touches on the potential strategies for the game, including the importance of running the ball and managing the quarterback’s health.
• Nestor shares his thoughts on the potential impact of player absences during practice and the importance of team preparation.
• The discussion includes the potential for changes in team strategy if Lamar Jackson is unable to play or performs poorly.

Future Outlook and Team Dynamics

• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential future outlook for both teams, including the impact of player contracts and team performance.
• The conversation includes the potential for changes in team leadership and the impact on team morale and performance.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the importance of maintaining team cohesion and the potential for changes in team dynamics.
• The discussion includes the potential for changes in team strategy and the impact on team performance in future seasons.

Impact of Player Performance and Team Morale

• Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of player performance and the impact on team morale and performance.
• The conversation includes the potential for changes in team strategy and the impact on team performance in future games.
• Nestor shares his thoughts on the importance of player motivation and the potential for changes in team dynamics.
• The discussion includes the potential for changes in team leadership and the impact on team morale and performance.

Potential Changes in Team Leadership

• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential for changes in team leadership and the impact on team morale and performance.
• The conversation includes the potential for changes in coaching staff and the impact on team performance in future seasons.
• Nestor shares his thoughts on the importance of maintaining team cohesion and the potential for changes in team dynamics.
• The discussion includes the potential for changes in team strategy and the impact on team performance in future games.

Impact of Player Injuries and Team Performance

• Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of player injuries on team performance and the potential for changes in team strategy.
• The conversation includes the potential for changes in team leadership and the impact on team morale and performance.
• Nestor shares his thoughts on the importance of player health and the potential for changes in team dynamics.
• The discussion includes the potential for changes in team strategy and the impact on team performance in future games.

Potential for Team Improvement and Future Success

• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential for team improvement and future success, including the importance of player health and team preparation.
• The conversation includes the potential for changes in team strategy and the impact on team performance in future games.
• Nestor shares his thoughts on the importance of player motivation and the potential for changes in team dynamics.
• The discussion includes the potential for changes in team leadership and the impact on team morale and performance.

Final Thoughts and Predictions

• Nestor and Luke share their final thoughts on the upcoming game and the potential outcomes for both teams.
• The conversation includes the potential for changes in team strategy and the impact on team performance in future games.
• Nestor shares his thoughts on the importance of player health and the potential for changes in team dynamics.
• The discussion includes the potential for changes in team leadership and the impact on team morale and performance.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Ravens vs Steelers, Lamar Jackson, John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, quarterback controversy, playoff game, home field advantage, team performance, injury concerns, coaching future, franchise stability, game prediction, player health, team strategy, fan reaction.

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SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 to Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positively into the old year, into the new year, and when we get into the new year, I’m still going to be having the candy cane cash. It’s been a very lucky batch. Had $100 winner. It cost us two weeks ago. We’ve had so much fun on the Maryland crab cake tour, but now, now we’re on to the real fun of 2026 A Festivus for the rest of us. Luke Jones will be in the wnst Baltimore positive press box seat at the previously named Heinz Field, not after Heinz ward. Pretty good catch up, though. I like to relish. I’m not a mustard guy. We all know that decent on the barbecue sauce as well. But now acrosure, whatever that is, Luke will be on the inside. I don’t know. I might be at some country bar down the street, but I will be chauffeuring Luke on social media up to Pittsburgh, because, you know, we don’t get to hang out much anymore, and we haven’t had baseball playoff games where they threaten to throw me out of the press box. So it is. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. I mean, not just the holidays last week and all the fun. I have a crab cakes and great food around here and visiting sponsors. My wife came back from New Hampshire. I swear to god, dude, she’s right after your heart. She ran to Pizza John’s on Sunday evening, you go. So she would have pizza here because she was Jones in it. So I’ve had pizza John’s. I’ve had cookie. I have cookie in my teeth right now at gingerbread stock. We had great football over the weekend, and now, and Outlook, I’ll let you be the Debbie downer on this. It’s fine. You picked against them last week. I did at some point, you’re doing a heel turn here, just like a Hollywood Hogan thing going on at this point in your career. I’ve always been sort of Ric Flair, the scientific wrestler that you know, love me, hate me. I’m walking to the ring and whoo. So that’s where I am on it. But we’re walking to the ring here one more time with this go round of Steelers ravens, and I really don’t care that they’re eight and eight and nine and whatever they’re going to be, somebody’s got a home game and a playoff game, and it wouldn’t have been any different. Dude. Ask the Rams who are going to win 12 or 13 games? Or, you know, whoever loses the Seattle game this week? Or, you know, the difference between going on the road and being at home, and what you have to do to do to earn a home game. And we argue about this in baseball, whether it’s good or bad. In the baseball set, it’s always good. On the football side, better to have a buy. I think it’s certainly in football. Amanda Steelers have f this all up, right? They would have had a buy this week, just been able to rest everybody and run around with you know, what’s the backup quarterback there? What’s his name? Jason Rudolph. Mason. Rudolph always going to call him Morgan Wallen, but that’s the country. I’ll be at Jason Aldean show on Sunday night, watching on the big screen, and I’ll either see a really deflated Mike Tomlin, and I’ll be in Pittsburgh when the top goes down, maybe even in the stadium, in his Sky box, for all I know, or it might be hardball I don’t know, like the tenor of all of this and the temperature changing in and around all of this. I mean, even these awful teams have Mel Kuiper on now talking about the quarterback they’re getting in April to come save their ass, right? Whether, whether the giants are going to get the one pick and they’ve got the right guy, and whether har ball might be the one coaching them, or Tomlin, like I just think this is really one of these teams had to make the playoffs, and the other one’s not going to make it, and we’re going to figure that out. But I think this is very tumultuous, all of this for Lamar, for his contract, and that’s just in this bubble where the aftermath of Derek Henry running the ball and historic this and 36 that was what a knucklehead hardball was for not running him last week. So there’s that, I don’t know that you can survive that 20 years into this for either one of these coaches. I just think they’re tectonic plates underneath the franchise is shifting here. Somehow the Ravens aren’t the ones hosting the game next week, and some key players have made key mistakes again, and somehow they lost to these pubs. They lost to a 42 year old quarterback who has no weapons with a depleted defense like all the way around. If somehow the Ravens lose Monday. Gonna be ugly around here, to be ugly somewhere, and it’s going to be a week earlier than even the playoff ugly. That’ll come along the line of, Oh, we didn’t win the Super Bowl, but if the Steelers went on Sunday night, it changes a lot of things for their franchise to make that deodorized. And I think that does the same thing here, even though you won’t say that now, because we don’t think they’re going to win the Super Bowl, but I think it’s very deodorized if they get a home game next week and somehow win it, I think it fixes things for here in a way that last week, things were not fixed at all.

Luke Jones  04:54

But should it be that, though you know what I mean like, and this will kind of go back to where. We were the week after Thanksgiving, right where, you know, the albeit the Ravens were coming off of the Thanksgiving loss to the Bengals, but the Steelers. I mean, all you were hearing that week. I mean, there was more talk in Pittsburgh about Mike tomlin’s job security and security in his future than anything about Raven Steelers. And then they came into Baltimore once. So I think the lesson here is, when you’re talking about these two organizations trying to evaluate here, I’m not saying the micro doesn’t matter, because it does clearly, because it’s part of the macro, but I think it’s probably a lesson to all of us that we’re everyone’s riding the wave a little bit too much. And I think you have to take a step back and kind of look at it big picture wise. And I think for Pittsburgh, it’s like, okay, if they win on Sunday night, but then they lose in the wild card round. It’s another year where they haven’t won a playoff game. Okay, they won the Division, but they almost blew it in week 17 with the loss to the browns, and they won it at what, 10 or 10 and seven or No, nine and eight. I mean, it’s

Nestor Aparicio  06:12

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just, I think, to the winner. They they got it out. It is. But week 18 win, and they got it home game, and they gave themselves a chance to go to a Super Bowl and for the loser, everything that was ever bad, booing Renegade. That’ll all happen on Sunday night if the ravens are the winners, and it all happens again, if the Ravens have to get on the bus and you go down into that room that I’m banned from, that I’ve been in 25 times in my life doing my job on behalf of you, the listeners, you the viewers. You want me to stop talking about it? Right? To chat steal, I’ll never stop talking about it. It’s wrong. It’s wrong this Sunday and it’ll it’s very wrong. So all that being said, if you’re in there and they’ve lost, and there is no playoff game next week, and they have stunk at home, and they went to Lambeau and ran the ball finally with Derek Henry and got it done. And somehow, couple turnovers. Lamar plays, but he’s not right. Huntley, the glass slipper, you know, cracks, and they send the dogs in on him, and they can get after Henry pop the ball free, hurt somebody’s feelings, confidence level goes down if you fumble something like that. I don’t these games always are that dude. This game is going to be 19 to 17. It’s going to be dirty, it’s going to be cold, it’s going to be eight minutes left to go, Oh, mama. I mean, you know all that’s going to happen, and the feelings are going to get there, and somebody’s going to get on the bus and have to go home and play golf and deal with lamar’s mother, or deal with the Pittsburgh fan base, and the fact that you don’t have a quarterback and you’re not bad enough to get a good bad enough to get a good one like tectonic played shift, it’s just, it’s just an enormous game. And to your point, we don’t think either one of these teams wanted Super Bowl either way. So, like, and that’s what great about it, right, right?

Luke Jones  08:15

And that’s where I kind of struggle with, you know, okay, Tomlin was being fired, and then they won three in a row, and now that he’s being fired again. You know what I mean? Like, it’s not really how either of these organizations operate. And that’s not to say that Mike Tomlin is not that he’s not going to be fired, or that the Ravens couldn’t potentially move on from John Harbaugh in some kind of way. But it’s just, you know, that we’re just doing this. You know, it’s as the Hot Seat turns, like, this team won and this team lost, so now this head coach is on that. You know what? I mean? Like, I don’t think either of these organizations was a bad loss for Mike Tomlin. Oh, it was a very bad loss. Like, that’s why I said, I mean, for for all the criticism of John Harbaugh, look, I’ve been critical of John. I said to you last week, I’m thinking more and more that maybe it is like Andy John Harbaugh when they don’t run the ball with Derek Henry, but that’s but losing to the Patriots pale at home. You know, even at home pales in comparison to what just happened to Pittsburgh in Cleveland on Sunday that I mean, that’s, that’s a top five all time loss for Mike Tomlin in 1819, years as head coach, has John Harbaugh had a loss like that? I don’t know, right? I mean that, don’t get me wrong, there have been bad losses and, you know, fourth quarter collapses, but like to just flat out lose to a terrible team in with that.

Nestor Aparicio  09:39

Well, John gets cover if they lose with Snoop this week, they lose with the backup quarterback. This week, John doesn’t smell nearly as bad as he does. If they lose. If they lose, John’s not gonna smell good no matter what like I I don’t like if they lose, they’re gonna lose having run Derek, Henry a lot. Him having fun. Humbled or it not worked. I guess that’s the game plan. No matter what we play that right?

Luke Jones  10:05

Guess the point I’m trying to make is, is, did the Cleveland Browns beating the Steelers on Sunday save John Harbaugh’s job? You know what I mean like? You know what I mean like? And that’s what scene should be over. And that’s where I kind of struggle with putting too much of a referendum on this specific game for either team, good or bad. Mind you like, because the body of work speaks for itself, yeah, and that’s where, and that’s where I kind of struggle with this thing. And the body of works really good if they’re still playing two weeks from now. I understood. But, like, but, but again, for me, for like, Pittsburgh, it’s like, okay, if you beat a mediocre ravens team on Sunday night, and then the Texans come in and blow you out in the wild card round. Does Do they feel any better about Mike Tomlin and the state of the Steelers from that point moving forward? Then, then, if they lose Sunday night, I’m, you know what I mean? Like, that’s where I kind of struggle with this, oh, like, Oh, he’s going to be fired this week. And, oh, well, he looks better this week, you know, like the ravens, you know, ravens look a lot better with two wide receivers right now, right? Sure, well, you know, and TJ watt, John Harbaugh, would look a lot better right now with a fully healthy Lamar Jackson, which we haven’t seen since week two or three, right? I mean, so, so that’s where I kind of just struggle with this idea of, you know, the outcome of this game determining, you know, the losing coach gets fired. I do think there’s a much stronger argument for Tomlin to go one because of what the last nine years have been anyway, with them not winning a playoff game, and to have this kind of collapse two years in a row. Keep in mind, they led the division in December last year also, and they completely collapsed. So for them to go into week 17 with a two game lead, with any number of football analytics sites saying they had a 9392 90% chance of winning the division and making the playoffs, and then you choke that away. That might be that that alone isn’t getting you fired, but it’s the, potentially the final nail in the coffin of this being what it’s been for them for the last nine years. Whereas, like with the ravens, it’s the same, you know? It’s the same idea, okay? It’s like, okay, if you go into Pittsburgh and win, and then if you lose in the wild card round. Let me be clear, I don’t think John Harbaugh’s being fired in that scenario. I think it, you know, maybe there’s a mutual parting kind of scenario, but, but I don’t know, like the fact that the Browns won on Sunday, like now it feels like we’re not going to talk about that scenario in the way that we would have had the rounds won, right? So like it’s just, it’s weird for me, you know, to kind of look at it in those terms. Because, again, it’s Raven Steelers. It’s great. I’m excited about it. As I said to someone on social media who was kind of asking, like, Should we be happy about this? Or is this, you know, if you’re someone that wants some change around here, is this a good thing? I said, you always want to have be playing for a chance to go to the playoffs. I mean, there’s no question about that, right? You never want to apologize for having a chance, even even if you’re a mediocre eight and eight outfit. But that said, in terms of, like, the bigger evaluation at work here, in terms of where is this franchise? What went wrong in 2025 all of that, you know, do you just table that and say, Oh, well, we’re fine because the Browns beat the Steelers on Sunday, and now we’re going to have a chance to go beat another mediocre team, right? You know what I mean? Like, I just like it. That’s where I struggle a little bit, because, you know, you talked about the tectonic plates, but these two organizations, it’s talking about a glacier is probably a more accurate way of talking about how these teams change from a brass standpoint, right from a leadership standpoint, you’re talking about the two longest tenured head coaches in the league. You know, I know Pittsburgh has a younger general both teams have a younger general manager now, but that was still grounded in stability of, you know, Pittsburgh having a long time General Manager, and Ozzie Newsome being here from the beginning for two decades, right? I mean, so, you know, tectonic plates, and, yeah, an earthquake is sudden, right? And like, bam, boom. That’s, fast, but that really doesn’t align with how these two teams have operated. So that’s where I these last few weeks are just so you know, it’s tough to kind of marry what fan perception is compared to how they feel internally. It’s like I said to you, it doesn’t, doesn’t matter what you or me or guy at the end of the bar thinks about John Harbaugh. It matters. What Steve bashati thinks about John Harbaugh. I suppose it matters, what Sashi brown thinks in terms of a business standpoint, and the fallout of it that they lose Sunday night. And you know, the most you do is fire a couple assistant coaches. Then how are you selling? Season tickets. You know, how are you selling next year’s team? Same conversations are going on in Pittsburgh right now, right? Even if, if the Rooney family doesn’t want to fire Mike Tomlin. So, you know that that’s a long winded way, I guess, of saying, you know, I’m not sure that. Like, you know, fans are kind of flapping in the wind here, it’s one, you know, this guy’s on the hot seat, then this guy, then this guy’s back on the hot seat, then this guy’s okay. You know, I I’m fascinated to see what these two organizations themselves actually think. But that, having said that, I do think the Pittsburgh like, if they lose Sunday night, and you’re telling me, they went in the week 17 with a two game lead, and they lost to the Cleveland Browns home or home or away or on Mars like there’s never an excuse for that to lose to the Cleveland Browns with what they had on the line on Sunday. And then if you lose at home to your biggest rival, who, let’s face it, is not very good this year, and you choke away the division then, yeah, I kind of see that scenario really feeling much more of a point of no return for Mike Tomlin. Then even talking about how we were talking about har ball last week, I still had have doubt about whether the ravens are actually going to make that change win or, you know, win or lose, you know, regardless of what happens here over the next couple of weeks. But, man, for them to if they choke that away. I mean, I saw someone mentioned, you know, in this was a Pittsburgh writer. He was saying, if they lose on Sunday night, Tomlin should be fired before he even gets back to the locker room. I mean, that’s how bad that that should be perceived. And, you know, I don’t know if it’ll be go down quite like that, but man, I mean that that, let’s get the

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Nestor Aparicio  16:51

other side if it. Luke Jones is here Baltimore, Luke, we’re getting ready for the game. If you’re on the wnsd tech service, you’ll get many breaking news, including Zach Eflin. And your thumbs up on Zac Eflin right.

Luke Jones  17:01

Thumbs up with an asterisk of I hope they’re not done on the rotation side. I love that as their number five starter. I love that if it means Tyler wells can now move to a bullpen roll, which is where I think he is best suited. But if that’s the you know, if Boz and Zac Eflin are the rotation moves for the offseason, then I think they’ve either think they’ve missed the mark there. So I’m okay with it as your third guy, by the way, I want to at least mention had back surgery. It’s, you know, based on the timeline that they reported back in August, I don’t think it’s a sure thing that he’s ready for opening day, necessarily. So maybe that becomes what Kyle Gibson was for them last spring. Now you hope he, hope he pitches way better. But the point was, they signed Kyle Gibson in late March. He didn’t, he didn’t pitch until May. So maybe this is something along those lines, a little bit more.

Nestor Aparicio  17:54

If it is know Him and trust Him, and this is he wants to be, he wants to be here, sure,

Luke Jones  17:58

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and I like it. If that’s what it is, I don’t like it. If this is Plan A or plan B in terms of your rotation, like that, you got to aim higher than that.

Nestor Aparicio  18:07

Everyone was in the rotation last year, and we saw it wasn’t good enough. So that’s six weeks for spring training. You know, 10 weeks, 11 weeks for we got to think about opening day. Let’s go back to the conversation we just had about Alright, Tomlin har ball, who smells good, who smells bad? What week is it? Are they booing Renegade? Are they cheering in on Sunday night? How are you and I when we’re doing radio in Monroeville at 530 in the morning on Monday morning? And by the way, we are going to Pittsburgh this week. One of us, at least, will be in the locker room. Both of us should be in the locker room, on behalf of all of you, as we’ve done for many, many years. But Lamar, there’s no thought in Pittsburgh that Aaron, I mean, we know the ending for them there, in regard to Aaron Rodgers, what the quarterback would need to do, and one of the issues that you would make and will be the story if somehow the Ravens win the story in Pittsburgh next week when they fire Tomlin. Or if they’re going to do that, would be, does he want to go coach the Giants and have a quarterback where he’s not starting from scratch? Because that job is perceived to be the gem job, because they’re the Giants, because the commander stink, because the Cowboys always, you know, like there’s opportunity there with the Giants, although they haven’t been much, and you know, recent times to recommend much of what we’ve come a long way from George Young and Ernie. Of course, he and going to Super Bowls and whatnot, but that Job has a quarterback when Billick got fired here. And if you open Purple Rain to open your reading to purple rain too, you know, Bill it gets fired in the PROLOG. And part of that was that Steve didn’t believe he had a quarterback and was going to find a quarterback. And through Redmond and bowler and having the rent McNair, that it’s just like we’re going to grow the quarter. Back in the coach together. Worked out great for har ball with Flacco worked out great for har ball to stick around with Lamar right. Tomlin hasn’t had that after Roethlisberger, right, let me just hasn’t, from from that perspective, to be able to have a bridge. I think if the Steelers lose, there’s much more of we’re going to get to coach in the quarterback at the same time, or whatever. Although both of these guys are under contract, they’ll both will be working whoever doesn’t want to work for the Ravens or the Steelers, and they both might be on their way out right like literally both might be to time. Then the Giants job becomes popular if they still want to coach. I have no idea. You know, I only talk to John Harbaugh when he writes to me and sends me scripture and ask how my wife is doing. But the tectonic plates for both of these franchises with 1819, year coaches and wherever they are with their quarterbacks, and you are of the mindset. And this brings me to Lamar. You are of the mindset that there’s no way they’ll play without Lamar, and that they can’t get something done and they won’t get something done, and they’ll have to get something done, and there have to be all in on Lamar, and John will have to be in on all Lamar. And whether, I don’t know if you read the mike Preston piece last week that everybody was, you know, up in arms about or whatever, I mean, the head coach has text me in times, showing me personal frustration with his quarterback years ago, before they inked him, not about the things that I up in arms about, about telling the guy in Pennsylvania to perform fellatio on him on Twitter, or leaving it there five days the silly man, boy, childhood, things that a 21 year old would do with a lot of money, that now a 29 or 30 year old maybe is expected to behave differently or be different, or be more wise, or be more leadership oriented, or have an agent that’s not his mother, that I know Florio when I see him talk about it, but it really does create wasn’t a good look for the Ravens last week, even if Preston’s just making it up. And I’m not even accusing him of that, because, I mean, he’s made things up about me, I promise you that. But in this particular case, I’ll take it at face value that there’s some frustration with Lamar is inability to get on the field for whatever reason that this has been other things that being the anti Vax guy during covid, as was reported, just general not coming to OTAs, like all of that stuff, festers and it becomes like a real zit On Monday morning, if he doesn’t play Sunday night. Somehow they lose a game they’re supposed to win to this sub optimal Steeler mess that it is, and they’re playing the Texans next week, and you and I are driving down the mountain, or maybe we’ll stop and get a Dairy Queen in breeze would just for old time sake for the bus. But like the Lamar thing, to me, is not written in stone, which complicates the John thing. I think the biggest complication Mike Tomlin has with or without winning this game with or without getting their ass kicked by the Texans next week at home, if they survive, this is just he doesn’t have a quarterback. The franchise doesn’t have a quarterback here. Think we have a quarterback. You love the quarterback. I love the quarterback. We all love the quarterback. How much for the quarterback is he going to play? Where is is he like it? Here? Does he want to be here? Do we like him? Does everybody in the building like him? Or, you know, we’ve been putting the front on. How does he get along with Chad steel? I wonder. Yeah.

Luke Jones  23:40

I mean, I’ll say this. And, you know, I don’t really want to comment on someone else’s reporting. And you know that reporting, people can think what they want about it. I will say this about this will be the one thing I say about it. I think it would be, I think, to completely dismiss reporting on Lamar Jackson of that nature, to completely dismiss it, so to just have the idea in your head that it’s 100% made up and it’s complete baloney and all that, I think that would be as naive as believing that a two time MVP quarterback is the biggest problem for this organization as well. Right? What am I saying there? The truth lies somewhere in the middle there.

Nestor Aparicio  24:23

I can confirm that they have that there, that Har ball has had frustration with Lamar Jack. Let’s understand, I

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Luke Jones  24:30

can confirm. Let’s understand that these player, players are human beings. Players are people. You manage people. People are not perfect. People have things about them that you don’t love. Eric Acosta, he always leads with that, no doubt. So So look, I’m not going to sit here and try to, you know again, I’m not going to go through it detail by detail, but to completely dismiss it, to say it’s a complete nothing and it’s completely fabricated. I think that’s as naive as to any agenda. Where, where anyone would say Lamar Jackson is the Raven’s biggest problem, which that would be Baloney, by the way, if Lamar doesn’t want to be here for whatever reason, and that’s a different conversation, then that’s a different conversation.

Nestor Aparicio  25:13

And maybe he’s done with here and whatever, and mad at the doctor, who knows what, right? But whatever, if he wants out and perceives that he could go play in Miami, he and his mom might take a pay cut to go do that with two $50 million already in the bank, if he feels like that’s what he wants to because he doesn’t have union pressure. He does. He has his own pressure of his own. I need to win, and you win a Super Bowl. I need to be validated. I need to get a, you know, I need to have a statue built for me. That’s not going to happen here unless I win. Do I like Mr. Eric? Do I like Mr. John? Hey, what happened to Mr. Nestor? Oh, you know, I don’t know. I look you love the kid. I’ve always liked the kid from afar, but I do think there’s a point for him with the legs and with whatever eccentricities he has, whatever that Willy Wonka, Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, gold the teeth, like just all of it. What the pizzazz the modern player out on Twitter. Doesn’t make commercials. He’s not he’s about winning. I mean, there’s no body that would say that Lamar is not about last I heard, he’s about winning. And man, the pressure on him this week with this back thing that’s clearly killing him to play or not play, the state of the team the morning after for har ball, and everybody, if he doesn’t play and they lose, or if Snoop plays and they wind up winning games without him, what did they win this week? What did they beat Houston without him? Like that would be crazy, but you don’t want to throw Lamar off the side of the boat. But to your point, Lamar has got different kinds of emotions and feelings, and maybe some other people would have and act through their agent. I know Florio, but we’re talking big stakes here, all the way around, and if somehow they’re not playing football next week. Man, there’s nothing hotter than my $50 million quarterback. Didn’t play, couldn’t play, did did play? Didn’t play well, played well. Shouldn’t have played, had a back problem, had a leg problem, and we want to fire the coach in the morning, and it felt very infighting to me last week. Luke, you know what I mean? Well, our friend Jason Cole would say, on the edge of chaos, Preston’s writing that stuff, and you and I are basically saying, well, could be true. You might you know, like not. I can’t confirm that. It’s not true for sure, and I’m certainly not of the mindset of ravens.com and all is well in the castle and all that, because I don’t get the vibe that the way the stadium is emptied out, and the emptiness and the losses at home, and the disappointment and the not running the Derek Henry, and the fact that people have been much more uppity about horrible on a national level, on a national level that I put on a game where they win, and everybody from Shannon sharp through to the post game, and you know, Sims and Tony Dungy are saying, well, Maybe they should have run the ball last week. Geniuses, so hard balls taken a lot of abuse. Lamar has taken a lot of abuse. There’s been a lot of disappointment. I can’t imagine any more disappointment than him not playing the backup quarterback, losing a game they’re supposed to win in Pittsburgh, and Monday morning, we got to talk about it like something bad. I mean, we’re gonna wake up in Pittsburgh. Something’s gonna be on fire Monday morning, because that’s this kind of game and this kind of season with these kinds of stakes, and that’s that really is the story to start the year, which next week might be, hey, we’re packing our bags and going to Jackson, but we’re winning playoff games, because one of these teams could be doing that too.

Luke Jones  28:55

Yeah, yeah. I mean, for me, and look, I mean, there’s so much, there’s so much about the Lamar thing that I don’t really care about. You know, some of the details you mentioned I don’t care, like, I don’t even know why he’s bringing up his teeth is even relevant, and you’re just, I know you were just kind of talking about it, his personality. All have the teeth. Now I don’t care about I don’t care. I couldn’t care less about that. That’s a non issue for me, the issues that I have. And as I just said to me, trying to look at this in a balanced way, I think it’s naive to completely dismiss the reporting is nothing. And I think it’s just as naive to think that Lamar Jackson is this organization’s problem, right? I mean, I just like, that’s insane to me, someone who’s a two time MVP, well,

Nestor Aparicio  29:44

8

I could see rashadi saying to John with the cigar and a, you know, a drink,

Luke Jones  29:51

I pay you $20 million a year to manage him, you got to get the most out of him. You got to make him happy. And to me, that might be whatever his eccentricities are. He’s the most talented football player on the planet, like literally. Now, Mike Tomlin doesn’t have that going on in Pittsburgh. He doesn’t have that. He hasn’t had a quarterback since late career. Ben and even at the end of his career, Roethlisberger wasn’t the guy that he was anymore. You know, I mean, it’s been, it’s been a long time since Pittsburgh’s had elite quarterback play. So to me, that’s, that might be the only thing that’s saving Mike Tomlin at this point in time, right? Is the idea that he’s got a 42 year old quarterback. You completely whiffed on Kenny Pickett, and Kenny Pickett’s been with three teams since then, right? No, no one thinks Kenny Pickett can play like he’s it’s not like he didn’t develop him. He’s just not very good. So, so, so anyway, bringing it back to the Ravens. I mean, you know what you just laid out there? I’ll say this much. I short of a scenario where Lamar Jackson comes out the day after the season and says, I’m done here. I don’t want to play here. That’s that. Any other scenario. I would reject the notion that you’re going to pick John Harbaugh over Lamar Jackson. Like, if one has to go, like, I’m sorry, I’ve just wholeheartedly reject that because of what you

Nestor Aparicio  31:08

just said. We would say everything to me if John Harbaugh said I’d rather just go play with Jackson dart right now. Like, that

Luke Jones  31:14

would be like, Wow, maybe. But, and you know what I would say, well, the Ravens owe it like, this organization owes it to this fan base to see if you can get another head coach that aligns better with Lamar before you give up on Lamar and that, that would kind of be my thought on that. But here are the things that concern me about Lamar Jackson. He’s now been unavailable at the end of three of the last five seasons, and now he could still come back this year. Maybe he comes back and plays Sunday night. Maybe he plays well, and maybe that does start.

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Nestor Aparicio  31:45

See, this is the thing where you’re about to play hardball with his agent and say, These are the check these are the black checks against it’s just like literally, and they don’t have the ability to negotiate that way, that that’s really at the crux of what Chad weaseling would tell me, or Lee Steinberg, and they both have come, you know, Joe Lin, I get any of these guys on, and they talk about how that’s in everybody’s best interest, and that doesn’t happen. And that really becomes a nasty little wound without a band aid, literally without any salve, when we’re talking about why we want to take money away from you, or why we’re less committed to you because you’re about to be a hard ass. And I, I commend you for that, because I because this is really the way it really goes down, and this is the real big boy stakes of the billion dollar franchise, and thinking about how they’re going to navigate this, especially, and again, if he doesn’t want to be here, and I’ve said that from from jump, that this might not be his ultimate place where he wants to be, that he loves being, loves coming to work, loves, you know, like it didn’t feel that way when he didn’t go to Cincinnati a couple years ago. And, you know, $75 million getting a check change that you know, like, and they felt the same way for miles, Garrett, who’s running around trying to go to the Hall of Fame with these bums, and, you know, didn’t have any problem signing up for it. So I don’t, I don’t know what’s in the heart or the soul of these guys, but this is the time of the year, as Billick would say, time for pay, time for play. I mean, nothing’s bigger than Lamar and John If last week, there’s no detent and the running back ran the ball 36 times. And we think there’s going to be more detente if he doesn’t play this week and they get eliminated.

Luke Jones  33:28

Man, yeah. Um, so, so you know, fully acknowledging he hasn’t been available at three of the three of the last five seasons, at the end, when they’ve at least been in an elimination scenario, which that’s what Saturday night was for them, regardless of what happened in Cleveland the next day, to extend the season. Had they lost to the Packers, it would have been over at that point and he wasn’t available. I’m not saying that to criticize him for that he was injured like he was injured. So my question would be there not so much that you know that that means that what he is now is just what he’s going to be moving forward. I’ll continue to reject that. I’ll continue to point out that, arguably, last year was the best season of his career. I mean, that’s how great he was last year.

Nestor Aparicio  34:12

He’s pretty great in the first half against buffalo this year. Sure, when he had his health, sure. Well now sure he was healthy.

Luke Jones  34:18

8

So, so that’s where I look at this. And I say, okay, here, here would be my concern with Lamar. If I’m being completely honest with you and really trying to pull back the curtain as much as I’m going to pull it back here, my question would be, is he doing everything he possibly can at this stage of his career in the same way that we all when we were all 21 years old, we could eat whatever the heck we wanted. You know, some of us worked out, but even if you didn’t, you could still stay in pretty good shape, just because your metabolism of a someone in their early 20s is much more favorable and forgiving than it is when you’re in your near 30s, your 40s, in your 50s, I can confirm that I can do i mean, i. Better to step on the scale after the holidays here, you know, be getting back on the mat and doing DDP, why and which

Nestor Aparicio  35:05

cookie Do you want me to hold up? Yeah, exactly a couple of my butt container. And this

Luke Jones  35:10

is the case for any athlete. This is not a Lamar Jackson thing. This isn’t any professional athlete. As you get older, Are you adjusting and doing everything you need to you can possibly do under the sun to maintain your level of greatness, your athleticism, your speed, your health, that’s the big one. Or is it you’re just and I’m not saying, I’m not suggesting, that this is what Lamar is doing, but is he, you know, and for me, it’s not even like what he’s done now. It’s it’s more so what are you doing moving forward? You’ve had this injury plagued year that started with a hamstring injury in week three, and regardless, and we might find out that Lamar played with a slight tear in one of his ligaments, or something this year in his knee, right? I mean, we might find that out. We might find out Lamar is having a knee surgery as soon as the scene season ends. Not like, not like playing on a torn ACL or anything crazy, but something that’s impacted him, right? It happens all the time. I don’t need to tell you that one of the big items of Business at the season ending press conference every year is asking, what players are going to have off season surgeries? Because inevitably, it’s at least three or four, if not a dozen guys that that have that it’s a brutal game. We all understand that. So if we’re ruling out that that part of it, and again, I don’t know that. My question would be, Lamar, you’ve had a really frustrating season, even by your own admission, with all these nagging things that have happened, what are you how are you going to approach this offseason? Are you going to approach it differently than you have in the past? Because you’ve had these hiccups, of some of these frustrating injuries, with at least one soft tissue injury, a hamstring is something that look, let me be clear. I’m not saying this meant Lamar Jackson was out of shape, but a hamstring injury is a soft tissue injury that players can do as much as they possibly can to try to prevent that. Has Lamar done that in the past? Look for the couple injury, injured seasons that he had at the end of 21 and 22 he also had seasons where he stayed completely healthy, right, other than a stomach bug, you know, where he missed a practice or two, right? You know, he he played all but one game in 2019 and he sat out because it was a game where they had everything clinched. He played every game but the last one in 2023 because they had everything clinched and sewn up, and they didn’t need him to play. So I want to make this very clear what I’m saying. But how is he going to attack this offseason, coming off of this season where he’s had all of these injuries. Is it, you know, you just kind of shrug your shoulders and say it was just one of those years, and maybe it was, I don’t know, again. What do I know? Or is it a case where maybe you need to be a little more vigilant, maybe you need to, you know, do a little bit more in the same way that when Shannon Sharpe said how he turned 30 years old. He started dropping a few pounds every year, because that’s the only way he could maintain his speed, or maintain some of it, at least, right? And that’s, again, that’s not to say Lamar is not to say Lamar is at the end of his career. I don’t, I’ll reject that wholeheartedly. But there’s, there’s that, and there’s wanting to do everything you can to maximize and prolong your prime years, and it’s just a simple question, and if anyone takes offense to that, then, okay, fine, then, then, then he’s beyond reproach, and there’s nothing to see here. But you know, based on some of the reporting that was in that column this past week, or, like, what you just alluded to, or knowing that he hasn’t shown up for OTAs, and which, you know me, I didn’t really care about that when he was the MVP of the league. When you’re coming off of an injury plagued year where you didn’t play quite as well, I’m going to ask if you’re not there next

Nestor Aparicio  38:57

I’ll just say this, like, and this goes back to me having Marvin on recently, and me being with coaches back you know when the Ravens came in here a couple weeks ago, and just me knowing coach is better than anybody you’ve listened to on the radio. Knows coaches, over the course of time, when they don’t have their players at practice, they live their entire lives ready for the students to come back in the classroom. They’re up all night, looking at film, looking at tendencies, having staffs of people do this at a professional level in order to bring you in and coach you. And I don’t even know what to compare this to, because people that have played team sports sort of understand this. But like I remember, I’ll break this down into little league. Well, my dad, we’d have a little league team back east with little league if we only had seven players, because five of the parents took their kids on vacation that week and we didn’t have enough players. That’s like, you know, it’s devastating to the other members of the team. But when you’re out there to practice on Wednesday, every Wednesday, first. Three months, and you’re trying to win, and you’re getting your ass kicked. No wonder the bat, no wonder Snoop’s, you know, playing well. He’s taking snaps. He’s worked. He’s got some timing. He looks, look to me, like he threw the ball pretty well, and that they, you know, he didn’t look unpracticed, although it’s amazing what Flaco has been able to do. And like Philip Rivers, you know, these guys that have, and even Aaron Rodgers moving guys so much institutional knowledge, that’s what makes his ass dangerous on Sunday night, his brain, yeah, is he could come out just find the matchup problem and get the ball to Adam feeling three times on third down and wear you out and beat you by field goal and end your season. And then we’re talking about Lamar and did he practice? But I’ll just say, from the coaching perspective, if I got players that can’t come out and practice, and they can’t be there when I’m prepping and prepping and prepping, there just comes a point where, like, the tolerance for that, for whatever the reason. I mean, they love Dennis Pitt around here, but he got, he was hurt. You know, like when guys are hurt and they can’t play, you can’t count on them. Can I count on you? Can I count on you? And I know it’s important to Lamar, right? Of course it is. I mean, what? I don’t know if it’s as important to him as it might have been before he had two $50 million because I think that changes everybody. My show is really important to me. You would say to anybody, if I die today, anybody asked you how important my show was to me, my wife, anybody my kid? They would say, My God, his show is so important to him. Was as important to him today as it was in 1992 absolutely, definitely. I’ve met a lot of athletes that when they make money, it’s just not as important. Whatever it is, it’s just not, and I don’t know, and that’s a tribute to Harbaugh and Tomlin, who are making $20 million a year, or more money than they ever thought they would make. To me, it’s a tribute to Jim Schwartz, who’s, you know, running around with that unit, making his three and a half million dollars a year being a defensive coordinator. But like, that’s not your goal in life is to be a 60 year old coordinator. And having been, you know, it’s hard sure to be the backup quarterback. It’s hard to hear no for the first time in your life. Lamar has never heard no about anything like Right? He’s already you can’t do it, but when it come time to get paid and him to make that step up, he’s always been able to do that, and this year, his body hasn’t allowed him to do that for whatever reason, right?

8

Luke Jones  42:24

And that’s why, right? So that’s why. My question is, how do you, how do you respond to this, like, if you’re Lamar Jackson

Nestor Aparicio  42:34

or, you know, not, Oliver, look? Andrew said, No. Elvis gorbache said, No. Cam Newton said, No, you know, I just think

Luke Jones  42:43

cam Newton’s play just really declined so, so I hear what you’re saying now that said, I just acknowledge that is that line of thinking in any way me saying that I have any interest in trading or moving on from Lamar Jackson this offseason, absolutely not zero.

Nestor Aparicio  42:59

8

But if he comes in and says, I don’t like you. You don’t like me. I want to play in Miami, but that’s true of anybody, right? Like, but NBA a vacation of this, where, if he really wants to be here, he’ll be we’re going to find out. And the same thing for John and for Steve and Eric and circle in the wagons, because they’re probably going to go win with their backup quarterback on Sunday night, and they’re probably going to have a playoff game next week. And I would think, and I would think Lamar is probably going to play in it, like, so I that if you’re asking me the script, if, like, literally, I think that’s what’s going to happen. I think they’re going to win with Snoop puntley by a hair on Sunday night. I think all hell’s going to break loose in Pittsburgh for Tomlin and for just that situation there. And I think the ravens are going to be playing a game here next week that you’re going to be attending against the Houston Texans, and you know how Lamar plays in that game, or what their fate is at that point, they will have won a division and hosted a playoff game, so it does not feel like a stagger for the franchise, even though, doing it last week, we would have measured it as such.

Luke Jones  43:59

Yeah, and, but, but, yeah, I hear you, and I’m not. I don’t disagree. I think they’re going to win Sunday. I’m not going to sit here with strong conviction about that, because it’s Raven Steelers. And I’ve seen this ravens team fool me before, where I thought, Oh, they’re starting to put it together, and then they lay their next egg. Pittsburgh’s done the same thing, right? The they’re very similar. How many times have we said how similar these teams are this year? They’re very similar. I mean, they’re they’re two mediocre football teams. Maybe the Ravens look better on paper, and certainly the state of their skill talent is better than what Pittsburgh’s is right now. But the Ravens have a health, major health question at the quarterback position, right? And just because Snoop Huntley did what he did in Green Bay doesn’t mean that he’s going to replicate that with a full week of tape out there for less than ideal. Oh, it’s not ideal. I mean, like, you know that’s that’s why I said, like, look, I love Huntley. I was higher on Huntley a couple years ago than most people. I mean, this organization tried to upgrade. From him for the better part of three years. I never really fully understood that, not to say that I thought Huntley was the greatest quarterback, otherwise Cooper rush thing, huh? I mean, yeah, that’s the other and I wrote this at Baltimore positive.com I was trying to figure out what how to write, from the standpoint I wanted to write off of the game, but I didn’t want to just wait until after the Pittsburgh game. So I wrote, from the standpoint of whatever happened in Cleveland, there was a sense of what could have been. And obviously the big one was Derek Henry and how they handled him at the end of the New England game and other times this year, compared to how they handled him against the Packers. The other one was, I mean, signing Cooper Rush was one thing, you know, they did it in March. They thought he was going to give them a more past centric backup quarterback option than Tyler Huntley before that. Or, you know, I mean, in all honesty. I mean, I, I would have been fine with them bringing back Josh Johnson as their backup again, right? I mean, he would have been better than Cooper rush, but you at least, I guess you could try to follow the line of thinking. But here was the problem for me all spring, all summer, and in the preseason games and watching him on the backfields and Owings Mills all summer, Cooper rush did not look good. I mean, he just didn’t I’ve seen what bad backup quarterback play looks like and he looked bad. I understood starting him in the Houston game. And let me be very clear, go back and look at what the Ravens inactive list was that day. No Ronnie Stanley, no, Kyle Hamilton, no roquan Smith, no Marlon Humphrey, no Lamar Jackson. I think a woozy, woozy a was out that game as well. I mean, Tyler Huntley wasn’t beating the Texans that day. No. I mean, even if Lamar with all those other guys being out, if Lamar had played that day with all those other guys out, might not have been good enough. I don’t think Huntley was going to win that game whatsoever. And they got completely embarrassed that day. So I understood that. But I think where they really whiffed was continuing the the sunk cost fallacy of sticking with Cooper rush the following week against the Rams, a game they lost 17 to three that I think If Tyler Huntley starts that game and you just say we’re going to play, and this would have been the precursor to what they did in Green Bay Saturday night. I’m not saying they win that game. I’m not, not guaranteeing that by any stretch. And if you recall, in that game, the Rams squandered some opportunities in that game, like Davante, Adams dropped three passes, something like that, Stafford, I remember, missed a wide open guy in the end zone. I mean, so so there was some fortune for the Ravens that that fell to even be a 17 to three game. However, I think if Huntley starts that game, they have a puncher’s chance to win that game. And at that point, when I was writing this on Sunday, early Sunday morning, the thought was, had they won just one more game, whether it was New England the previous week or a game at some other point along the way, they would have been guaranteed a week 18 showdown at that point in time. Well, little did I know? Little did anyone truly know? People were hoping, but the Cleveland Browns took care of business, and fast forward now to week 18. So so it’s, you know, the league’s kind of crazy. Tyler Huntley is a perfect understudy for Lamar Jackson. Does he have the same upside? Of course not. He doesn’t have near the passing capability that Lamar has when he’s right. Lamar throws him, can push it downfield far more effectively than Huntley, who didn’t really even try to throw the ball downfield on Sunday, on Saturday, which was fine. They didn’t need to when Derek Henry’s running for 200 yards. But in in the instances where you’re going to do that, which will happen at some point. It might not happen Sunday night, but for as long as Huntley. You know, if Lamar ends up missing more time than we think, or something else happens and and he’s the guy that gets exposed eventually, but for what he is, which, to me, he’s a backup quarterback who can run. He gets along well, well with your starting quarterback. He’s someone who his teammates really like. He knows the offense. And you can go out there and you can kind of just, you know, you kind of muddy the waters, right? It’s just like, we’re going to run the ball, and this is going to be kind of the 2018 style ravens, right, where we are just running the ball with our quarterback and with our tail back, and, you know, we’re going to do a little bit of play action passing, we’re going to get the ball out, and we’re not going to put put him in positions where he’s going to turn the ball down in distance management, but, but like, but that’s, that’s the style of play with him. If Tyler Huntley has to play for more than a couple weeks, then, yeah, he gets exposed. And I think we saw that in 21 and 22 right? But if it’s a case where it’s a three week sample size, I think he can win you help you win a couple

Nestor Aparicio  49:48

games downhill if you turn the ball over twice with Tyler, because you can’t bear that. Lamar offense didn’t look like it had any quick strike ability either. You know Lamar trying to run two mm? Did a couple weeks ago look like a

Luke Jones  50:01

train wreck, and that’s, and that’s still my biggest concern in terms of, you know, going back to your can they, you know, can they win the Super Bowl, this passing game, other than throwing to zay flowers, there’s nothing you can rely on in that passing game right now, and and that, for me, don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean I’m saying Lamar has to throw it 50 times a game for them to win the Super Bowl. No, no, it’s never been that, but you do have to be able to make plays from the pocket and make plays in your passing game, and that’s where there’s been just such a dramatic drop off from last year and the year before that, even if Lamar comes back with the back really feeling, well, let’s face it, that structurally, that passing game hasn’t looked anything close to where it looked last year in a long time. So that that’s still where I take some pause. And you know, even though this conversation has been about Lamar and horrible and you know, the future and big picture and all that, you know, I still go back to trust this defense against good quarterbacks. I mean, I just don’t, I mean, saw what Malik Willis even did to them once on Saturday night. So, so, but that said bringing

8

Nestor Aparicio  51:09

it back. This isn’t going to be easy thinking this is going to be easy because the Steelers choked in Cleveland the other day. That has nothing to do week to weekly. The Cleveland had miles Garrett. We don’t have that NFL.

Luke Jones  51:19

No freaking logic. I mean, I mean, they’re just, I mean, that’s, that’s my new one. I don’t know. I don’t know. Am I picking the Raven Sunday night? Yeah, do what I put my mortgage on that? No, not putting any, any, anything of value betting on this year’s iteration of the Ravens. Because I, I just, I don’t trust them. That said I trust the Pittsburgh Steelers even less, and that’s why, yeah, I am going to go with the Ravens on Sunday night.

Nestor Aparicio  51:46

I’m going to create a no freaking logic logo for you.

Luke Jones  51:49

8

I thought that was Luke Jones, who’s pretty good, by the way. I mean, no Fun League. Not for long, because I was, I kept trying to think, like, what? Like, you know, I was trying to think of, you know, what’s something that goes with NFL, that that a test. You know, it’s the idea that we don’t, none of us know what the heck we’re talking about on a weekly basis. And there you go. I mean, that’s, that’s the truth. I’ve been wrong picking the Ravens. I don’t know how many weeks in a row now, this week, so, so if you’re listening, you’re that’s probably, you know, probably a sign that I should pick against the Ravens this week. But, you know, I do think they’re going to win on Sunday night. But I don’t know for sure. It’s Raven Steelers Who the heck knows,

Nestor Aparicio  52:25

no freaking logic. Just checking that out. Luke Jones is here. He’s Baltimore Luca. If there is any logic to the Orioles, including the Zach effel edition, you get it first on the wnsd tech service, brought to you by cold roofing and Gordian energy. As we end 2025 go into 2026 I think we’re like 18 years now into having the first breaking news service. We still get it out pretty quickly through our Canadian things and the American government doesn’t allow you to send text the way we used to. So because of the spamming politicians that are out there, we’re going to get the Maryland crab cake tour back out on the road soon. It’s the candy cane cash. It’s been a lucky batch. This one still smells like peppermint, which is nice for the holidays, so like a peppermint mocha that I probably need here to get through New Year’s Eve. Luke and I headed to Pittsburgh on Sunday night. One of us will have a press credential. The other one’s going to get stolen cookies from the guy who has the press credential. And we’re going to watch some football in Pittsburgh this week while they slobber knock at the confluence with the AFC North crown at stake. I am Nestor, he’s Luke. We’re W NSD. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore positive and happy New Year’s you.