Making sure the Lions don’t make it a jungle on Monday night

Getting you ready for Monday Night Football under the bright lights in Baltimore. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the strengths and threats that the Detroit Lions bring to the Ravens and Lamar Jackson.

Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discussed the upcoming Monday night game between the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions. Jones highlighted the Ravens’ 28-0 win over the Lions two years ago and noted the Lions’ recent success under new coordinators. He emphasized the need for the Ravens’ offensive line to improve, particularly at the guard positions, after a subpar performance against Cleveland. Jones also pointed out the Lions’ weapons, including Amon-Ra St. Brown and D’Andre Swift, and the importance of the Ravens’ defense, especially with key players like Kyle Van Noy and Marlon Humphrey potentially sidelined. The conversation also touched on the Ravens’ overall offensive potential, including contributions from new acquisitions like DeAndre Hopkins and Zay Flowers.

• [ ] Analyze the Ravens’ offensive line performance and identify areas for improvement.
• [ ] Evaluate the Ravens’ defense and their ability to contain the Lions’ offensive weapons, especially the running game.
• [ ] Monitor the injury status of key Ravens players, such as Kyle Van Noy, Nate Wiggins, and Marlon Humphrey, ahead of the Monday night game.

Detroit Lions vs. Baltimore Ravens Preview

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show and mentions Luke Jones is in Owings Mills, preparing for the Monday night game against the Detroit Lions.
• Luke Jones reflects on the last time the Ravens played the Lions, noting the emphatic 28-0 win and the high offensive output in the first half.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ history of beating NFC teams and the challenges the Lions face, especially with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.
• Luke Jones highlights the Ravens’ offensive line struggles against the Cleveland Browns, particularly the lack of rushing success with Lamar Jackson.

Ravens Defense and Injury Concerns

• Luke Jones discusses the Ravens’ defense, noting their rebound from the Buffalo Bills game and the challenges posed by the Detroit Lions’ offense.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones talk about the Lions’ weapons, including Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, and the Ravens’ defensive injuries, such as Kyle Van Noy and Nate Wiggins.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of Marlon Humphrey’s availability against St. Brown and the need for the Ravens’ edge group to perform well against the Lions’ running backs.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ offensive line, particularly the guards, and the need for improvement against the Detroit Lions’ defensive line.

Offensive Line Performance and Expectations

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones reflect on the Ravens’ offensive line performance over the past year, noting the penalties and the need for better play from the guards.
• Luke Jones compares the Ravens’ offensive line to other teams’ lines, emphasizing that no team has a perfect offensive line.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the importance of Ronnie Stanley’s health and performance against the Lions’ defensive line, particularly Miles Garrett.
• Luke Jones highlights the need for the offensive line to avoid penalties and perform well in pre-snap situations to support Lamar Jackson and the running game.

Ravens Offensive Potential and Player Development

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the potential of the Ravens’ offense, including the contributions of DeAndre Hopkins, Zay Flowers, and Isaiah Likely.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of diversifying the offense and the potential for more production from the running game with Derrick Henry.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones talk about the Ravens’ ability to win big games and the need for the team to show killer instinct in close games.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of the defense stepping up against the Lions and the need for better performance in crunch time situations.

Detroit Lions and Coaching Staff

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Detroit Lions’ coaching staff, including the impact of losing coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn.
• Luke Jones reflects on the success of the Lions’ previous coordinators and the importance of the new coordinators, John Morton and Kelvin Shepherd, performing well.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones talk about the challenges the Lions face with their new coordinators and the need for the team to continue their success.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of the Lions’ offense, including their running backs and weapons, and the need for the defense to step up against the Ravens.

Ravens’ Schedule and Playoff Hopes

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ upcoming schedule, including games against the Chiefs, Lions, and Bills, and the importance of staying competitive.
• Luke Jones highlights the Ravens’ need to win their division and the challenges posed by the Bills and other AFC teams.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones talk about the importance of the Ravens’ performance in the playoffs and the need for the team to show consistency.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of the Ravens’ offensive line and defense in achieving their playoff goals and the need for the team to perform well in key games.

Ravens’ Offensive Strategy and Player Development

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ offensive strategy, including the use of DeAndre Hopkins and the potential for more production from the running game.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of the offensive line in supporting Lamar Jackson and the running game, and the need for better performance from the guards.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones talk about the potential for more contributions from players like Isaiah Likely and the importance of developing the offense.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the need for the Ravens to show consistency and perform well in key games to achieve their playoff goals.

Detroit Lions’ Offensive and Defensive Strengths

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Detroit Lions’ offensive strengths, including their running backs and weapons like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of the Lions’ offensive line and the need for the Ravens’ defense to perform well against their running game.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones talk about the Lions’ defensive strengths, including their defensive line and the need for the Ravens’ offense to step up.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of the Ravens’ offensive line and defense in achieving their goals and the need for the team to perform well in key games.

Ravens’ Defense and Injury Concerns

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ defense, including the challenges posed by the Detroit Lions’ offense and the importance of key players like Marlon Humphrey.
• Luke Jones highlights the need for the Ravens’ defense to perform well against the Lions’ weapons and the importance of staying healthy.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones talk about the potential impact of injuries on the Ravens’ defense and the need for the team to show consistency.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of the Ravens’ defense in achieving their playoff goals and the need for the team to perform well in key games.

Ravens’ Offensive Line and Playoff Hopes

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the importance of the Ravens’ offensive line in achieving their playoff goals and the need for better performance from the guards.
• Luke Jones highlights the potential for more contributions from players like Isaiah Likely and the importance of developing the offense.
• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones talk about the Ravens’ upcoming schedule and the importance of winning key games to stay competitive.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the need for the Ravens’ offense and defense to perform well in key games to achieve their playoff goals and the importance of staying healthy.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens, Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, offensive line, defensive line, Aiden Hutchinson, Kyle Van Noy, Marlon Humphrey, DeAndre Hopkins, Zay Flowers, Ronnie Stanley, John Harbaugh, playoff contender.

SPEAKERS

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Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, am 1570 task of Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive and positively. I’m out on the road, but I will be home by Monday night. The Detroit Lions coming to Baltimore. We’re one on one, and Luke Jones joins us now. He’s been out in Owings Mills, where things get backed up. A day, you get a little crunch, and then next week chiefs on short notice, so certainly radar up for John Harbaugh with tough game on Monday night. I always think with these NFC teams, they handle their business, and certainly they handled their business the last time against the Detroit Lions. But this time isn’t last time, as the bills found that two weeks ago, right? Yeah.

Luke Jones  00:42

I mean, it’s, it was two years ago. I think at that point in time, there was a sense of how real are the lions, and they’ve been very real in the NFC, but that said, I mean, they’re still chasing January success and the Super Bowl and all that, just like we’re talking about with this current iteration of the Ravens. But it is funny, you go back to that game, and there was a lot of hype for that. You know, it was a Sunday afternoon game. It wasn’t prime time like this one, but I looked at it, and I think everyone remembers the Ravens handling them in emphatic fashion, but it was 28 to nothing midway through the second quarter, the Ravens had 350 plus yards of offense in the first half. I mean, they completely stomped them.

Nestor Aparicio  01:23

And, well, they racing a lot of teams for a number of years. There were five or six games every year where they be up 28 to nothing. This was just a garden variety beatdown of an NFC team. And there been a lot of those. Yeah.

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Luke Jones  01:35

I mean, we’ve talked about it. I mean, going back to, I guess, until the Eagles came into Baltimore early December last year and beat them, and obviously ended up winning the Super Bowl. So no shame in that, really. But it just speaks to what the standard, what the burden has been for an NFC team that isn’t used to facing Lamar Jackson, and now bring it back to the last two years not facing Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry at the same time. It’s certainly a tall order, I mean, for Detroit, or for any team that doesn’t see this offense very frequently. Now, that being said, you go back and look at what happened in week two against the Cleveland Browns, going back and reviewing that game, Nestor the Ravens offensive line got handled, I mean, and handled throughout the day. There was a, I mean, first of all, they didn’t run the ball at all. I mean, it was the lowest rushing total they’ve ever had with Lamar Jackson starting at quarterback,

Nestor Aparicio  02:27

or Derek Henry, in some way since he’s been here where, like, you give him the ball that much you don’t, he didn’t break a run. I mean, at all. Right, so yeah, but I but, but I

Luke Jones  02:36

understood on that. But we’re going back to 2018 games that Lamar Jackson has started. That was the fewest, you know, that was that total. Was the smallest rushing total the Ravens have had with Lamar upright and starting the game. So it speaks to one Cleveland does have a good defensive line. This Detroit defensive line isn’t that but still has Aidan Hutchinson. It’s still formidable. And I think there’s very much a challenge here for this offensive line to bounce back. You know, they they got, like I said, they got handled by Cleveland. And the the offensive success that the Ravens had a lot of it was Lamar scrambling, and then as the game went on, hitting some big chunk plays down the field, of course, and he finished with four touchdown passes. So there’s that. But on the flip side, then for me, I look at this ravens defense and say, All right, rebounded from Buffalo good. You handle Joe Flacco and the Cleveland Browns offense that is so lacking of playmakers that they played and played extensively. They’re starting running their rookie running back who hadn’t practiced with the team since June, until that week leading up to the game.

Nestor Aparicio  03:42

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So shelgen, it’s the fans he thought he was their only hope, right? It’s it speaks to

Luke Jones  03:46

their lack of playmakers. And let’s face it, God bless them. I love Joe Flacco, but it’s talking, yeah, yeah. So this is a different challenge for this defense, and we’ve already talked about Kyle van Noy. He’s not going to play this week. I mean, not official, but all signs are pointing to him missing at least a couple games here with the hamstring. They do have some other guys banged up as you and I are talking, you know, Nate Wiggins dealing with the groin issue, Marlon Humphrey, we know left the game Sunday, but full practice early in the week indicates you know you’re feeling good about his availability, but that’s a big matchup when you talk about Marlon Humphrey going up against Aman Ross st Brown, who’s one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, and works out of the slot quite a bit. So Matt abika has dealt with a little bit of a neck issue this week, you know. And I’m not saying all these guys are going to be out on Monday night, but you are talking about a Ravens defense, and, more specifically, talking about the edge group, because we do know, you know, all sides with Van Noy. It’s going to be a couple of weeks here. It feels like, if not a little longer than that. Yeah, you’ve got a very, very talented duo of running backs. When you’re talking about Jameer Gibbs and David Montgomery, they’re absolutely going to test these edge guys with setting the edge. And I. Get it Jared Goff, not a guy that is going to take off and run like Josh Allen back in week one, but he’s also someone who is coming off of a big performance and certainly has a lot of weapons at his disposal. So for me, as I said, I want to see the offensive line bounce back. And you know, I think Detroit has their hands full with his offense. There’s no question about that. I certainly expect the ravens to score plenty of points. But on the flip side, the flip side, defense, all right, it’s, it’s great to puff out your chest and rebound and play the way that you did against Cleveland, and they needed to, because we talked about how the offense was stuck in the mud in the first half of that football game. But this is a, this is a step up, you know this, this is a challenge through the air, and in stopping the run with this Detroit offense. So, you know, I think on paper, it sets up to potentially become a shootout, but I think you want to see this ravens defense. You know, they’re not going to shut them down like they did against Cleveland, but you want to see better than you saw in week one, right? You don’t want to see this, this defense collapse, especially in the fourth quarter, because you look at these wide receivers, I mentioned Saint Brown, but you know, you also have Jameson Williams on the outside, speed, you know, Kalief Raymond’s no slouch. So they have a good tight end, and Sam Laporta. So Detroit has weapons. You know, they absolutely have weapons. You know that I think their defense, you know, because they’re not at full strength with their defensive line, they still have a couple guys on the P up list. Because I think we all remember kind of monitoring that from afar, how many injuries that the lions had last year with their defense. So they’re still not at full strength in that regard. But you know, they have plenty of weapons that, if you tell me this game both teams are, you know, it’s midway through the fourth quarter and it’s 31 to 28 or 34 to 31 or something like that. I wouldn’t at all be surprised, even if you’re hoping for the Ravens defense to to build what they did on week two, Luke

Nestor Aparicio  06:53

Jones is here. He will be there in Owings Mills for all things football this weekend. Get you ready for Monday night. Everything’s a little off schedule. The Chiefs next week don’t look as tough as maybe the Chiefs once did. The lions, obviously Super Bowl contender. So back to the offensive line. I remember you and I spending days and weeks and months in the off season last year and spring and summer. Who’s going to be the offensive line? Who’s going to play left? Where’s Ben Cleveland? Where’s Patrick McCary Linder bomb, is he going to stay healthy? This the right tackle, you know, they drafted him. Is he going to play? Who’s going to play and how often now we look at this a year into it, last year, we stopped talking about the offensive line, I don’t know, back this time last year, second, third, fourth game last year, it felt like it was going to be good enough. And certainly Ronnie Stanley was, you know, five question marks, not one just based on all of his injuries and where he was, and the significance of the position and Derek Henry coming in. I mean, this time last year, we’re talking about Derek Henry being a little old, and wait and see. And then last week, he couldn’t run the ball. They couldn’t run the ball. Where are you on the offensive line? In totality, in that, in that we spent six months last year, off season, discussing the offensive line. I don’t know did you and I have discussed a leaky offensive line, an incapable offensive line, less than what John wants below the bar positions. The thing we had last year were penalties. Right? Penalties were the biggest problem in the offensive line. It wasn’t necessarily, hey, they can’t do it. They can’t run the ball. I mean, there was never a point we thought where they’re going to have trouble running the ball, because they didn’t. I don’t know, it’s a new year. How are you feeling about the offensive line? A year older and a year into this file, a thing that I don’t know. Has he had a game where you thought, well, he’s coming, he’s going to be a pro bowl guard.

Luke Jones  08:45

Well, I mean, he’s had some good performances, and I think it’s very easy to pile on him, because it just kind of looks out of place, right? I mean, he started out as a right tackle. They tackle playing guard basically, yeah. So, I mean, I’ll say, Let me provide my caveat, and then I’ll go into how I feel about where they are right now, offensive line plays an issue around the league. There are very, very, very few offensive lines, and I’m talking even amongst contenders. I mean, look at Kansas City, their downfall in two of these Super Bowls, when you go back to Tampa five years ago and you and against Philip open five years trying to figure it out, right? Literally, yeah, yeah. I mean, left tackle has been an issue for them, right? So we’ll talk about that next week on the short right. So when you’re talking about the gold standard, even having warts with their offensive line in recent years, it speaks to, you know, for every Philadelphia that has an offensive line that from left tackle all the way to right tackle, you feel really good about

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Nestor Aparicio  09:41

and they retire a guy in the middle of it, sure, right? It’s like after Marshall yondel left, we wouldn’t miss

Luke Jones  09:46

a beat, right? Right? Exactly. I mean, so, so, so that’s my caveat, that I feel like every team in the league and, and let me be more specific, even most contenders in the league have a Daniel fall Layla, whether. Right guard, whether it’s left guard, whether it’s right tackle, you know, whatever the position, center, they have a spot where you’d say, Man, I’d like better there. So that being said, they were bad against Cleveland. And look, let me be clear, the Browns have a great defensive line. I mean, for all the talk about their deficiencies as a football team, as an organization, miles Garrett still might be the very best defensive player on the planet. I mean, that’s how good that guy is. That’s how great that guy is. I mean, there are some reps Ronnie Stanley. And you know, you were just singing the praises of Ronnie Stanley for last year, and rightfully so, what he’s been able to do here, finally staying healthy and looking like the guy more and more like the guy he was, once upon a time before the ankle injury. But there are some reps. Ronnie Stanley could not have enjoyed reviewing because it made him look bad. But miles Garrett does that a lot to a lot of people. They have other formidable defensive linemen. So that said, I do look at the guard positions. Ball lays a below average starting guard. I mean, I think he was last year. I think he has games where he looks better. I I think what’s interesting about him is what he actually is compared to what I think maybe the expectations were when he first moved the guard. It’s kind of counterintuitive. You would think a guy with that kind of size would do what Maul people in the run game, and it’s really the opposite. He doesn’t really play that big in the run game, and he doesn’t move very well. Yet in pass protection, there are a lot of times where a defensive tackle, or whoever you know, some kind of stun, a twist that some kind of defensive line game to get someone you know, trying to get a free rusher, and they just can’t get around him, because he’s just so big. So there’s that. But I think the other part here, and this is where I think we need to be fair. If you look at social media, you’ll see plenty of fan angst, even some media angst about fall a lay. I’ll be totally honest. Nestor, having reviewed the first couple games, I think Voorhees has been worse at left guard. So now Patrick McCary, was he an All Pro guard last year? No. But keep in mind, Voorhees played the first few weeks. It didn’t go incredibly well. Keep in mind their offense in general was choppy out of the out of the block. That’s why they they started oh and two, but he wasn’t great. Then he got hurt in at the end of that Dallas game, and they put in McCary. It worked out better, and they just ran with that, right? And I don’t think it was, I don’t think it was this massive indictment of Voorhees as much as it was, hey, we trust Patrick McCary. He’s better than him right now. We just ran for a boatload of yards against buffalo in that week four game, and they just stuck with it. So it always

Nestor Aparicio  12:44

felt like they didn’t want to start McCarry. It always felt like they always wanted to be the six guys, the utility guy, yeah. And they always felt like something’s gonna happen to Stanley, and we’re gonna need him. You know what I mean? Like that,

Luke Jones  12:55

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that was really what I mean. And if you recall the one thing that we did talk about in the off season with the offensive line. I did say, I know I wrote this multiple times they would miss Patrick McCary. Now that’s not a criticism of Eric DeCosta. I wouldn’t have paid Patrick McCary what Jacksonville gave him for what you wanted him to be, but you’re still talking about someone who, on game day, can play all five offensive line spots to a level that’s capable to good, you know, competent, let’s say to good, depending on the spot, you know, depending on the matchup. So you miss a guy like that. And I think right now with their two guards, you know, you need to see the play elevated a little bit. You know, even Linder bomb had some issues against Cleveland. And again, it speaks to the Browns defensive line. So I don’t think Detroit, save for Aiden Hutchinson. I mean, they do have DJ reader who Ravens fans are familiar with, with some of his, you know, some of his previous teams, previous stops, you know, even in the AFC north, but you know, they, they still have a group that can pose some challenges, but for me, I do look at the two guards right now and say you need better than them, fans automatically will default to Ben Cleveland. Look not going to sit here and say that Ben Cleveland wouldn’t be better or as good, or whatever, but Well, John harbor doesn’t think so, right? So reality their coaches, their coaching staff, for multiple years, has told you exactly how they feel about Ben Cleveland, and they signed them. And look, we talked about the off field with the DUI. They signed them for a minimum contract. They think he’s a capable backup. They don’t trust them to start multiple games. Now, that said, if their guards continue to play like they’ve played and you know, it’s not as though they were awful and weak in week one, although certainly situationally down the stretch in week one, Buffalo’s defensive line got the best of them when they needed to pick up a first down, you know, move

Nestor Aparicio  14:47

the chains, control the clock, and they couldn’t do that quite as well. But you want to see a rebound from those guys. I don’t have any concerns about Linder bomb whatsoever, right? Hit bad game aside, he’s a pro bowl center. I. Uh, Stanley, for me, it’s about health. And he goes up against miles Garrett. He looked bad against miles Garrett. Miles Garrett makes most guys. I want to see him look good, though he’s a left tackle protecting the best. He’s making 20 million a year. And you know, I need to see, I need to know that it’s 2018 again for him to some degree, because they’re going to need that. And I go back to the day he went down five, six years ago, and I turned to my wife and I said, they can’t win the Super Bowl without him. They can’t win the Super Bowl if he’s going to get manhandled by every miles Garrett, by every elite rusher, because there’s going to be six or eight of them this year, sure, and he can’t get his ass beat in half the games. I mean that while, while, far lay, lay, and we know wherever they are on the rest of the line, Voorhees are struggling. How do you feel about right tackle?

Luke Jones  15:48

You know, I think Rosengarten, for the most part, I feel good about I don’t, you know he, he had some reps in week one that weren’t great. You know, to put it mildly, you know, he wasn’t his best performance, probably. But you know, I think my concern is much more so with the guards. And when I say concern, it’s relative, like, I like, I don’t think it’s like, I’m not sitting here saying, Oh, they need way, way, way, way better guard play for them to have a chance to win the Super Bowl.

Nestor Aparicio  16:17

Now, well, way, way, way would be 24 23/4 quarter. They’ve got the ball with four minutes, and they can’t run the ball. If you can’t run the ball in the fourth quarter, it’s not good enough. I mean, I mean, that’s really the truth, sure, close games and shutting the door, and what they’re trying to accomplish and winning a Super Bowl, they’re not going to go out and vote. They’re not going to be up 28 to nothing in the second quarter. I don’t think, I don’t think they’re that team right now. I really don’t. I need to see that team first

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Luke Jones  16:40

well. I mean, it’s tough to say they can’t. They’re not that team offensively, because, I mean, look how many points they’ve scored the first two weeks, 80. But what you do kind of wonder. It’s like, okay, it’s one thing to hold the Cleveland Browns down as a defense. You kind of question where this defense is right now in terms of how they’ll do against the Detroit offense that has plenty of weapons so but, you know, I want to see more out of the guards. I definitely do look this is, this is still, I mean, let’s the only thing that overreact. You know, you have overreaction in week one. You get plenty of that in week two. Also, I kind of feel like Week Three is when all these teams want to say, settle. That’s the wrong word. But you’ve started to, you now have a two plus game sample size, and you know, the odd three games, you know, on mid, at midnight, late Monday night. We’ll have an idea. You know, we’ll see if the ravens are two and one, or one and two, and we’ll talk in those terms. And they’ll have a quick turnaround going to Kansas City, right? But, you know, I definitely want to see a little more out of the guards. There’s def, there’s no question about that. But that said it’s not like McCary and fall Lele were, you know, I think fall Lele got a, it was like a some pro bowl, consider he was an alternate, right? I mean, I don’t see where. I never saw that, but he had some performances where you’d say that was good enough, like that, that was good enough. And that’s kind of what I want from the guards. Good enough, right? Blender bombs, Pro Bowl center, Ronnie Stanley at his best. I don’t know if he’s, you know, I don’t know if he’s a top three left tackle or a top five left tackle anymore, but he’s in that upper third, right, you know, above average. And Rosengarten, I think, is an ascending player on his way to having a chance to be in that tier for right tackle, the guards just need to be good enough, and they also need to not not have penalties. Dude, sure. And last year, for the times they were good enough, there were times they they put him in first at 20. And sure, Lamar is a magician about that. So is Henry, and they get chunk plays, and they do all that, but that’s you want to stay on schedule, just in a general sense. And I think those are the two questions. I’m still not convinced that they’re not. They’re going to be a penalty free team or a lighter penalty team. That remains to be seen whether they’re better than they were last year so far. Jury’s out on that for sure. I mean, it’s been good for two games. I mean, I think looking at the stats right now, they’re tied for 11th and penalties entering week three, their fifth in penalty yards. So that tells you they were down at 32 I think they were 32nd and one of those and 30th in the end, the end, that other one, just off the top of my head, I could be slightly off on that we know is a problem. So clearly they, you know, through two games so far, so good in that regard. Now they’ve had a couple penalties here and there at times that have hurt them on drives. But every team is going to have some of that, right? I mean, one of the big things you’re hearing a talking point, you know, more push, push. Talk about, you know, not just, you know, the before it was okay. Is this play fair, like, blah, blah, blah. But you can flat out, see examples of the Eagles interior offensive lineman literally firing off the ball before it snapped, you know, literally committing false starts that aren’t being called. So that’s obviously a big deal. So, you know, you want to limit pre snap penalties and things of that nature. And we. Going back to training camp, if you recall, I was talking about this, you know, they had quite a few pre snap penalties early in camp because they were working on cadence. They’re trying to vary the cadence. You know, it’s just one more thing you can do to stress a defense that’s already predictable. Sure that’s already stressed about Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, and knowing that half a fall step from the wrong guy can mean a touchdown compared to a four yard gain. So that’s just something that they’re trying to add to their to the proverbial toolkit, right? I mean, that’s what you’re trying to do in year three of a Todd monk and offense. So, but that begins with the offensive line. That begins with being sharp pre snap. You know, I think the one thing about the offensive line that was kind of talked about as well was maybe they didn’t do as well of a job. Priest pre snap against Cleveland. You know, maybe they, you know, whether it was Lamar, whether it was Linder bomb, calling out, you know, you know, identity, not so much that he didn’t identify the mic. I mean, that’s simplistic, you know, starting point, you know, when you’re blocking. But depending on what Cleveland was doing. Maybe they didn’t have things shored up in terms of who was blocking, which guy, you know, where was the double team coming, all that. So you just want to see that be a little bit crisper, you know? I mean, there are so many times where Lamar just plays hero ball, right? And I mean that positively with the off script plays that he does. I mean, Josh Allen does the same thing, right? Patrick mahomes through two games. I mean, look how many times he’s scrambled with Kansas City’s offense. Being in the state, it is these elite quarterbacks, that’s what they do. That’s not like a criticism, but you don’t want to have to rely on that so much, right? You want to have good structure. You want to be on top of things on your P’s and Q’s pre snap, you want to make sure assignment, alignment, technique is all as clean as it can be, and then you just have to go compete, right? And this is a lion’s defense that, like I said, the defensive lines not as formidable as Cleveland’s right now, but because they still have a couple guys that are coming back from injury that they won’t have till later in the season. But hey, Hutchinson’s, you know that that’s, you’re still talking about a heck of a player right there. He’s back, and you know he’s looked good so far. So you know, he’s certainly someone you have to be aware of. You know he’s not up front, but you know, Brian branch, their safety slash nickel is a very strong, above average, you know, Pro Bowl caliber, player. So yeah, it’s not as though this defense is devoid of playmakers. So, you know, I definitely want to see the offensive line bounce back, and if they do, I think the Ravens absolutely have a chance at a really big night. Because, like I said, at the end of the day, it’s still Lamar offense. It’s still a Derrick Henry offense. And okay, Detroit, they saw him two years ago, and I’m sure they watched plenty of that tape, but they didn’t like what they see, what they saw, that’s for sure, as they reviewed it. So I still expect this offense to have a big night. And for me, my bigger concern still lies with Okay, defense, build on what you did on week two, but certainly it’s quite the step up in competition when you’re talking about facing the Detroit offense compared to Joe Flacco and the browns in week two.

Nestor Aparicio  23:10

Luke Jones is here. He is Baltimore, Luke, you can follow him out on the interwebs. We’re getting you ready for football. Well, Monday night all day. Sunday, one o’clock games, four o’clock games. Sunday night all day. Monday, we’re gonna wait around, get together again, and then we’re gonna play some football. I mean, the lions are fascinating team. I mean, just as a franchise, back to my buddy Schwartz, coach there, the fact that they never win, the fact that they’re finally good, the coach and Campbell having that weird early press conference, and now turning, you know, turning out to be a coach’s coach, right? Like a guy looks like he’s going to keep his job a little while, and a guy that feels like he’s winning with a quarterback that was a little bit cast off to the side, but talent position and talent players, and they get a one one quarterback as well, who has been to Super Bowls, there’s a lot of pressure on them, and playing outside of their dome, playing outside of their conference, and playing on the road, and playing at night, all of that. There’s a lot of reasons to that America would look at this and say, lions are coming to Baltimore. Beat Lamar Jackson. They’re four and a half point dogs.

Luke Jones  24:11

Yeah, and I think that’s fair, and I think a big point. We haven’t talked about it, but it’s a big factor, and it was a big factor for Detroit. And week one, you know, everyone looks at week two and say, Hey, Hung 50 plus points on the bears. Great. Look at how they were completely shut down by the Packers in week one. And I think that’s where you look at the reality that they have two new coordinators. I mean, both their coordinators went on and our head coaches now. So beat one of them last week. Yeah. So, so you know when you’re talking about replacing Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, I mean, John Morton, their offense coordinator, week to look good week one, not so good, right? Their defense coordinator, Kelvin Shepherd, I mean, you know, we’re going to see what it looks like. By the way, the Packers might be really good. Oh yeah. I mean, I, if you want me to kind of handicap who looks the best through two weeks for whatever little. That’s worth right? You know, it’d be tough to argue against the Packers, right? I mean, they completely handled Detroit, their division rival, and handled them pretty emphatically. And I get it both, both games they played were at home, so I think that’s a fair caveat. And then week two, they really smothered the commanders, you know, albeit Thursday night, short week, right? So there are caveats in there, but it

Nestor Aparicio  25:21

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smells good to be two and oh, if you’re the Packers, you play two games, 10 days in tough games, and you’re two and oh, I mean, the Ravens have that going on here this week. Six days Kansas City, they go to one. Oh, in these two games, they’ve done something I mean to me. I mean, I looked at the schedule the beginning, I already lost to the bills, right? So, you know, we talked about how that went and I played the bills for 56 minutes. So you know, I’m not down on the Ravens. I’m down on their ability to finish. And I have question marks about injuries, and have question marks about whatever deficiencies they have, including their ticker in that Ronnie Stanley, Lamar Jackson, Mark, Andrews, Marlon Humphrey, I’ll throw them all in. John, horrible. They have won big games. They don’t win big they win these games. They’ll win

Luke Jones  26:05

big games. They can do it in the regular season, but January, right when they need to, need to have it that I’ve seen

Nestor Aparicio  26:11

them boat race the lions before. I’ve seen a boat race the 40 Niners, right like so if they go out and they win 45 to 16 on Monday night, that will not shock me at all, but I but that unto itself, would tell me Ronnie Stanley’s playing well, and he’s healthy. Linder bombs in there, you know, Rosengarten, the offensive lines handling things. Derek Henry’s back to being Derrick Henry and not 11 carries for 23 yards. Lamar is not having to run for his life on every play. They’re not in first and 20 they’re getting off the field on defense. When they get in third and eight, and they make a couple of good plays, and the Lions have a penalty. You get them off the field, you don’t get beaten in the back and let some tight end run wild for you on third and 13, and move sticks on. You get Lamar the ball back. So this is all the things they did two years ago to just retrain the lions and end the game early. They’ve ended a lot of games like this early. I want to see the 2025 team be what all of that was in boat racing teams for years and years and years. They were boat racing the bills pretty good two weeks ago, and then they let it get away. I want to see him finish. I want to see some killer instinct with this team. All these things you talk about in January, they need to win games in January. I’m not looking for style points in September, but I am looking to think that, yeah, this is the best ravens team we’ve seen here in the Lamar era, that that Derek Henry is capable. Ronnie Stanley is young. Roquan Smith is not fat and he’s hungry. Didn’t even Ray Lewis over there, hype man and him all night on television. By the way, the Ravens social media is just like, Oh my God. It’s just on and on and on every day. They try to create these little video miracles and miking Harbaugh and Flacco, and neither one of them wanted to be miked. They’re out of the middle of field. They’re sharing all this stuff. I just I want to see them win and not not on social media six days a week. By what’s said and done, I want you and I to wake up on Tuesday morning and say they beat a Super Bowl contender, and they did it in emphatic fashion, and this team’s as good as any of the Ravens teams we’ve seen. I’m not ready to say that yet. I think potentially, I think in the off season, we talk about flowers and how Bateman can be used. I mean, D Hopkins, my God, two weeks in, he looks like he he can beat you. And we were all concerned, is he old? How are they going to use him? Well, they’re going to use him 1012, plays a game. They’re gonna throw him the ball three or four times, and he’s going to come, he goes up for the ball, he comes down with the ball. You know, that’s something that they didn’t have with Nelson Aguilar, right? You know? I mean, they so I can go through all of this and put my purple glasses on and say, My God, this is the best team that they’ve constructed in lamar’s era. And that would be saying something, because the first team was really good when they had marionda, yeah.

Luke Jones  28:56

I mean, and I think see for me, yeah. I think you look at the offense and acknowledging the relative concern with the offensive line, and again, it’s relative, right? I mean, I mean, I think fans sometimes get caught up in, oh, well, this is a weakness. This is a weakness. And then you look at other teams, it’s like the bills have weaknesses.

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Nestor Aparicio  29:15

It’s only a weakness exploited, right? I mean, but

Luke Jones  29:19

there are no perfect teams. I mean, we know that this isn’t 19, you know, this isn’t pre salary cap era. I mean, every team has some flaws so but I think the offense, what’s exciting about it is, and you just alluded to it a little bit. I mean, you you mentioned, I think you mentioned Bateman in passing too. I mean, they haven’t unlocked Bateman yet. Isaiah likely still hasn’t played. I mean, he might play Monday night. He’s practicing this week. I think he, I think we’ll have a better idea as we get closer to Monday night in terms of look at the injury report. Did he? Did he log a couple full practices? Right? I mean, you know, if you’re still in that limited territory, that’s where you kind of say, okay, hasn’t practiced since late July. If it’s only a couple limited practices, might be one more week, might be, can’t. City, but regardless, I mean, Mark Andrews has done nothing so far, right? I mean, he’s blocked, you know, he couldn’t hold on to a ball in the end zone, but that kind of reminded you of Lee Evans in that Cleveland game. But the point is, they, you know, Keaton Mitchell hasn’t been active through the first two weeks, and I think you’ll see him get some chances at some point, just not right now. So there, for me, what’s really exciting, encouraging for this ravens team is, I feel like there’s still more meat on the bone for the offense, right? There’s still more that you can point to, to deploy, and that that doesn’t necessarily mean, oh, well, then, then I think they’re going to score 50 plus points a game. No, that’s but in terms of diversifying what you do. I mean, you said it, DeAndre Hopkins has given them someone on the outside who can win some 5050, balls. They haven’t had that in a long time. I mean, really long time. And that’s not to say that he’s going to pull in a touchdown every single week, but if you’re in a big spot, if you’re in a big game, a close game, a game you might need to come stage a comeback, because that’s going to happen at some point. Then that’s a nice weapon to still have. And the nice thing, and the beauty about it is, yeah, he’s 33 years old, but you don’t need him to be the guy that’s a 1500 yard receiver like he was in his prime. He can be an eight, you know, I don’t know if he’ll be an 800 yard receiver. I don’t know if he’ll be a five or a 600 yard receiver, whatever it ends up being, but it could end up being seven or eight touchdowns, right? And some of those in some really big moments. So, you know, zay flowers, we barely mentioned, say he’s looked like a legitimate number one wide receiver these first two weeks. I mean, he’s been fantastic,

Nestor Aparicio  31:38

and they’re great at creating mismatches for him too, right? I mean,

Luke Jones  31:41

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and he just, he beats people too, like he met, he matched up. You know, look at how benford’s a good corner for for Buffalo. Look what say flowers did against him. I mean, he didn’t have any issues getting open against him. So point is, I’m in agreement with you. On paper, this looks like it has the chance to be the most balanced, explosive, diversified, you know, multifaceted offense that they’ve had. And that’s saying a heck of a lot, because last year’s was fantastic. 2019 was fantastic in a different way. Two years ago, it was very, very efficient, even if it maybe wasn’t quite as explosive.

Nestor Aparicio  32:18

So Well, they know what they want to do with monk, and he’s been here really high ball, yeah. And now they put players into those positions. They’ve identified what they feel like monk and wants to mix into the offense, starting with Lamar, obviously, but really starting with Derrick Henry. I mean, the minute they picked Eric Henry up, things changed around here in regard to what kind of lunch pail you’re going to have to pack that to stop a running game.

Luke Jones  32:45

And I’ll still push back on that. They had fantastic running games, but it’s a different one in the sense that it’s not heavy as it’s not as Lamar centric, whereas they’re at a point now where, yeah, they still run some design runs for Lamar, and they should like that would be idiotic not to still lean into that when you need to. You just don’t have to rely on that part quite as much. Lamar is rushing yardage at this point is much more driven by some scrambles, and now we’re seeing more and more even opportunities where he has to scramble. He’s moving around and then he’s throwing the ball downfield. So I mean, it’s just it’s a fire drill for these defenses when Lamar gets out in space. But to your point, yeah, you can hand the ball to Derrick Henry 20 plus times a game and feel great about that, and Lamar can just kind of hand it off a little bit more and chill and and that keeps him fresher for the fourth quarter.

Nestor Aparicio  33:34

Running was their best play by far. Now it’s for years and years and years. Now it’s a play and it’s a play you have, but they’ve they

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Luke Jones  33:44

duality. Yeah, it’s the duality. I mean, they’re

Nestor Aparicio  33:47

best, and you hope that’s a difference maker. In the end, if they win your playoff games in January, that would be the differentiator, because there’s not much they can do to boat race the Detroit Lions on Monday night to impress us. You know, we’re not going to wake up Tuesday morning and say they’re winning the Super Bowl because they boat race the lions on Monday night, but they better boat race the lions on Monday night. They, they, you know, they

Luke Jones  34:07

don’t. They don’t. I’ll just, I mean, they don’t need to boat boat race. Me be impressed by that. But are we going to sit here and say it wasn’t impressive if they’d win 27 to 24 on a Tyler loop field goal at the end? I mean, like that, that’s a good win. The Lions are really good. But I understand the point you’re making. And look with this offense again, I’m not going to sit here other than, as I mentioned, the guard play, there’s not a whole lot I point to that. I that I’m going to poke holes in that isn’t just the same things that we will continue to talk about until they get to January, which is the situational crunch time got to have it highest leverage. And for me, and we talked about this a lot, you know, with what happened in Buffalo, for me, it’s, how do you respond when it goes sideways, right? How do you respond when the other team punches you in the mouth? Management, yeah, exactly so. But you know, you asked me about like and you mentioned, is this the greatest iteration of the Ravens under Lamar? Well, on paper, the offense, I’ll say it looks like it has every potential to be that. And that’s a high bar offensive line. The defense job, though, right for me, that for me, the defense is still more of a question. And again, relative, I think this when, when when it’s all said and done, I think this is going to be a good defense. Is it going to be a special defense? Well, what’s Jair Alexander looking like? What’s Mike Green look like with the pass rush, especially now without Kyle van Noy these next few weeks? How do o way and Mike Green and tavius Robinson and David ajabo, you made the team? They didn’t cut you at the end of the offseason or at the end of the preseason, you’re, I think you’re going to get a chance to play. Hey, go make a play. Go show everyone your was the best player on the field last week. Yeah, he was, but he wasn’t very good the week before. So now, so like to me the litmus test again, and I mentioned this, but I want to drill down a little more on the edge guys and their linebackers. You know, the lions Gibbs is an argument for maybe the best running back behind saquon Barkley. I mean, Derrick Henry isn’t the receiving threat, right? But in terms of like all purpose backs, Gibbs is right there, you know, say Quan you know, he’s fantastic. And David Montgomery is isn’t a slouch, you know, he and he brings a little more of a physicality. But those two guys, your Detroit runs a lot of outside zone. I think they’re going to test these edge guys, because you have young edge guys who are going to want to do what they want to get to the quarterback, right? But if you run draws and counters and misdirection, things of that nature, those guys, they if they cheat, and they’re getting up field and they’re not keeping their rush lanes and what they’re supposed to do with their run fits, then you could have some issues running, stopping the run. So I want to see that, and specifically to roquan Smith and I assume Teddy Buchanan, because we saw him play most of the snaps at the Will linebacker. Spot Gibbs is going to test those guys. You know, Sam Laporta, their tight ends going to test those guys. So roquan was fantastic, absolutely fantastic in week two. But we also remember him getting a stiff arm from James Cook on a big play in week one. Right? We also saw their linebackers not play so well in week one. So this is a step up in competition. As far as all right defense, you had a good opponent to rebound against. You’re playing at home. This is a way better Detroit offense than what Cleveland has. That that’s the captain obvious statement. So for me, in a big picture sense, I want to see this defense. They’re not going to shut them down. You know, I’m not, not going to sit here and be unrealistic and say, oh, hold that. Hold the lions at 10 points or 13 points. I mean, if they do great, I’m not expecting that. But can you get some stops and can you finish in the fourth quarter? Right? I mean, we talked about it, you said it. They they were controlling the bills until they weren’t anymore, and the defense was the biggest culprit, but they had breakdowns in all three phases, but this defense, and like I said, the injury report looms here a little bit. I mean, even Marlon Humphrey, who practicing fully, but he did have a groin issue in the fourth quarter in week two. That’s still something you want to you know, you can’t have him pulling up lame on the eighth play of the game, or st Brown, they could have their issues. There’s no doubt, because that guy’s a phenomenal player working out of the slot. So they’re gonna have their hands full. So for me, in a big you know, to bring it back to 30,000 feet with, with this ravens team, plenty of talent, right? I mean, obviously, a lot of people think they’re the best roster on paper in the NFL. The offense I feel great about, even with my relative concern about the offensive line, specifically at guard, but a defense. Hey, there was a lot of hype about the secondary. Josh Allen and the bills embarrassed them in week one. Okay, I’m here. Jair Alexander wasn’t ready to play, but yada yada yada, you need to rebound, because this is a big test, right? You You don’t want to be in a position. You know, you made the comment about, you know, if they boat race them, if they blow them out, then you’re really, really impressive. And not agree. But I also don’t want this to be another game where it’s 4140, and you know, the bills have a chance, or bills, excuse me, the Lions have a chance to kick a field goal at the gun and knock you off. And you were leading by seven points or 10 points or whatever, right? So I want to see the defense play cleaner, but they are dealing with a few health things. And, you know, again, as we get closer to Monday night, well, you know, injury report, W NSC, Baltimore, positive tech service, all that. So have a better idea. But you know, they do have a few guys here and there that are banged up that, you know you’re talking about Wiggins, you’re talking about Marlon, Humphrey, Kyle van noise out. Now to BK was banged up this week a little bit as well. You know, they’re pretty important players right there, so, but at the same time, the lions, after the injuries they had with their defense last year, they’re certainly not going to feel sorry for the ravens, nor should

Nestor Aparicio  39:56

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anyone else. Well, what do you think of Dan Campbell? You know, I’ve talked to the. Right people that that first press conference was so weird, so awesome, right now, he feels like the right guy in that job, which they haven’t had in a long time, for some success. Um, he, he’s been, he’s an interesting coach. He’s different than all the rest of them in some way, right?

Luke Jones  40:17

He is, but it’s funny, because they’ve also, you know, they’ve also been a team that’s gone for it and done some things that you know, you would say were analytically sound or analytically influenced. So, so, you know, he’s not an old school coach in the way that, oh, you know, punting on fourth and one from your opponent’s 41 yard line, in the way that you know, you would think of an old school coach might handle things, things that Mike Tomlin, quite frankly, has done where, you know, I’ve taken issue at various times over the last four or five years, but Dan Campbell, he’s the throwback in the way that he’s blue collar. I think it’s I’ve never stepped foot in Detroit, so I don’t want to talk too much out of turn here, but the reputation that a city like Detroit has, you know, blue collar, uh, football team has had next to no success, you know, for decades upon decades. I mean, you kind of think about Barry Sanders and a whole lot of

Nestor Aparicio  41:12

just, I think George Plimpton, for crying out. Yeah, right,

Luke Jones  41:15

so, so. So, I think he’s been great in that way. But I think this is a really pivotal year for him and for them, because he was regarded as having these two great coordinators. And look, John Harbaugh’s heard this for years, right? Oh, well, you know, you’ve had such great coordinators, or blah, blah, blah, or at times you’ve had bad coordinators, right? I mean, it’s the same low hanging fruit, lowest common denominator arguments that all sports fans and media make in all markets, right? When things are going well, you love the coaches. When things are going poorly, you hate the coaches, and in between, you’re still complaining about something. But when you lose both your coordinators and you have a team that’s had as much regular season successes Detroit has had the last couple of years, yeah, there’s going to be a spotlight on Dan Campbell in terms of all right, how is John Morton going to do, you know? How is Kelvin Shepard going to do as your coordinators? You know? Did you take a major step down or and we’ve also seen this happen in New England’s a great example of this for years with Belichick, where you think you have these genius coordinators, and then they go become a head coach somewhere, and, oh, it’s not as easy when Tom Brady is in your quarterback, or it’s not as easy when you don’t have Bill Belichick. You know that that’s overseeing the thing. I mean, we’ve seen this with, you know, with the different times, with the ravens, you know, guys that become a coordinator elsewhere, you know that some of their defensive coaches and maybe it doesn’t work out quite as well. And that’s not really a not, but it’s it speaks to if you have a good system in place. And I think that’s that, for me, is where Detroit now. Dan Campbell, now, this is your opportunity to show that you have a really good system and culture in place that’s sustainable, because if you’re good, you’re going to lose coordinators. I mean, look how many coordinators the Ravens have lost in John Harbaugh’s tenure. You know, to become head coaches and promote, you know, all that well, maybe Dan Campbell

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Nestor Aparicio  43:05

to be the village idiot and the tough guy and the lunch pail guy to come in. They have two of his coordinators picked to get jobs already. That speaks for itself. It speaks for the success that they’ve had there.

Luke Jones  43:16

It does but, but you also do need to replace them, right? I mean, you can’t have it fall apart, because then everyone starts to look at and say, well, well, I guess Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn. I guess they were the, you know, and I don’t, I say this and flippantly, I guess they were the true brains of the operation. If there’s some drop off when we know that, you know, there’s more nuance there.

Nestor Aparicio  43:36

We’re still questioning the defense around here, since McDonald left. Well, and

Luke Jones  43:40

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that’s the thing. I mean, Zach, Zach, or everyone said was a genius at the end of last year, and then all of a sudden he’s an idiot again after week one, right? And, you know, not me saying that, but just talking about what the complaint is. It’s a week to week League, right? And that’s why I kind of said, Okay, both these teams lost in week one. Both these teams had some clear warts exposed in week one. Both these teams rebounded emphatically against the division opponent in week two.

Nestor Aparicio  44:04

So and no one would be shocked to see these teams played at Santa Clara, if that’s sure.

Luke Jones  44:09

I mean, I don’t think there’s any question about that. I think both these both these teams, are fully expected to be second weekend of the playoffs at a minimum, right? I think that would be a colossal disappointment for either of these teams if they’re not in the Final Four of the conference, correct? But that said, I think especially in Detroit’s case, Green Bay looks really good, whereas the Ravens right now, Joe burrow might be out for the years, at least out until mid December. So where is Cincinnati going to be Pittsburgh, for all the talk about Aaron Rodgers, their Pittsburgh defense stinks through two weeks. They’ve been terrible. And the Browns are the browns. So you kind of look at the ravens, AFC, North path, you look at Detroit, hey, Green Bay, you know the I think people are certainly not as high on the bears. Or the Vikings, quite frankly. You know, with the Vikings, issues at quarterback, with McCarthy not looking great. Now, hurt so. But I think. Both these teams are high expectations, right? These are two teams that have been regular season darlings in recent years. It’s time to break through. So is week three going to prove anything? Not really, but should be a lot of fun. And whoever’s coming out of this one, the winner, is feeling quite good about themselves going into week four, as we’re you know, as this, the 2025 season starts to take a little more shape, and you start to have a better idea of just who all these team, what all these teams are about through

Nestor Aparicio  45:27

three weeks. Well, the bills won’t have to worry about it. They’re already three. You know, you know, my wife and I were at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night. It was, you know, 530 and I’m on a junket because of Janet Marie, she loves me, and I’m sitting there eating some food, looking up and there’s football on. It’s five o’clock on a Thursday afternoon. There’s football on, and I’m on the West Coast, and I’m like, look at that. That’s real football. Now I look up and the bills have already won. So, right? So when you talk about fulfilling your destiny, the bills who were behind to the Ravens by a couple touchdowns at home, they wake up their three and oh, the Ravens have the lions and the end and the Chiefs coming down the pike here. Gotta make sure you’re three and one and not one and three here in eight days, nine days, whatever it is,

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Luke Jones  46:09

no question. I mean, I mean, this is a big stretch, I mean, and it’s not to say that I think they’re going to go one and three, because, you know, I mean, I’m, I’m picking them on Monday night, you know, I’ll give you that right now. You can check out my, you know, 12 thoughts and prediction at Baltimore positive.com as we get closer to kickoff. But you look at the bills, you know, week one was their huge early season test, and they passed it with their amazing final eight minutes and the Ravens disastrous eight minutes. But they’ve already played the Jets. They handled them, handled Miami Thursday night. I mean, at least the dolphins showed half a pulse, but, man, they’re oh and three, and McDaniel being fired. Watches on at this point. I mean, they looked better, but you’re on three, but you look at the bills their next four games, home against New Orleans, home against New England, at Atlanta. All right, falcons defense has been a little more impressive than medics. Is good too. I like it, yeah. I mean, I, you know, that’s, that’s not a layup, but still a game that you would expect those are going to be favored, you know, they’re, I think they’re going to be favored in that game. And then at Carolina. I mean, their next truly tough game that you would look at, really tough game on paper that you would look at is Kansas City coming to Orchard Park on November 2. So the point with that is,

Nestor Aparicio  47:23

there’s seven and oh and you’re four and three. You might feel okay about being four and three, but they were going to be seven and oh, well, that that’s if that plays out the tiebreaker against you, right? I was

Luke Jones  47:33

just going to say, if that plays out, that’s just like the Ravens in Kansas City last year, right? Where Kansas City got off to this, got on a roll winning all these one score games. Yeah, it wasn’t like impressive, like they were winning by four touchdowns, but you looked up and they were eight No, or whatever they were at that point in time, and the Ravens were, you know, already kind of sort of out of the number one seed.

Nestor Aparicio  47:54

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The Ravens better win this division by two or three games at this point, like, to me. So, yeah, I don’t think Cincinnati can’t get the double digits. If Pittsburgh can, it’s probably just 10, and the Ravens better get to 13 or 14. And, you know, I don’t think the ravens are going to win. Better not be 11 and 611 and six will still win their division, though, I’m convinced. I mean, and I think,

Luke Jones  48:17

I think it’s tough to just kind of say, oh, you know, they’re going to win 14 games. I think I had them at 12 and five, you know.

Nestor Aparicio  48:24

But you think into them as a three seater or four seater on one seed, because that also depends except January, right, like nothing, except January, and their health in January, and whether they’re playing at home or on the road and right now.

Luke Jones  48:36

But they’ve also been at they’ve also had the number one seed twice and lost in January. So I still like that better. Oh, sure. No question. And look, I mean, buffalo, you look at their schedule, I mean, now they do have some tougher games as the year goes on. But, you know, you kind of look at that division. I mean, the Jets, I think people

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Nestor Aparicio  48:56

thought you said that it’s over. They’re three, you know, in the season, nobody can catch them? Yeah. I mean, Josh Allen has failed. I mean, there’s a lot that has to go, right, but I mean, I mean, just playing this out as the chalk, I’m trying to figure out a pathway for the ravens, given their schedule and given haven’t already lost the buffalo, it looms large, and it looms even larger when they’ve already won on Thursday night, and you’ve got two tough games coming up that you’re really trying to keep pace with the bills here. I’m not thinking about the Bengals and the Steelers anymore. I’m thinking about the bills. I’m not even thinking about the chiefs, but you better beat them next

Luke Jones  49:28

week. Well, I was just going to say, you have an opportunity to put the and of course, we’re doing a little assuming here. I mean, they’ve got to go to the Giants and win, but assuming that happens. And you know, if someone’s listening to this and that game’s already taken place and didn’t happen, then, Hey, Luke was wrong, but assuming they win. I mean, you’ve got a chance to make the Chiefs one and three. I mean, think about that. You’ve got a chance to make them one in three. So, and obviously buffalo would love that. But, you know, they’re still the chiefs, and I still think the chiefs are going to be. Be there in some capacity. I mean, they’re not, obviously, they’re not going to go 15 and two like they did last year, but they are still the chiefs, right? They’re still the the champs in the AFC, and have been for a long time now. So, yeah, it’s a great opportunity. But yeah, I mean, we talked about it leading into week one, I said to you, I don’t care about the revenge thing or, like, you know, that’s all fun week one narrative because, like, you just, you know everything’s the biggest thing that you know everything that’s right in front of you is the biggest thing, because it’s recency bias, bias and all that. But that game was really, really important as it pertained to the number one seed, right? I mean, a head to head tie breaker. Doesn’t mean the Ravens can’t get the number one seed. And to your point, if, if Josh Allen, in week six, turns his ankle and has a five, you know, he’s out four games, then that completely changes things. But same holds true with something happens to Lamar Cincinnati, their season. You know, if it’s not over, it kind of feels like it, right? I mean, and Browning is a decent backup, but he’s not Joe burrow, right? So you know what? It can change just like that. That’s why, you know, maybe it goes back to the beginning of our conversation of like to see the Ravens offensive line play a little bit better, certainly, than they did against Cleveland, because you want to keep Lamar Jackson healthy and

Nestor Aparicio  51:14

upright all year. Luke Jones can be found at Baltimore. Luke. He’s also at Owings Mills all weekend long. We’re still watching some Orioles baseball. I watched the Dodgers and the giants on Thursday night. I will be back this weekend in time for Sunday one o’clock. We’ll be ready for football on Monday night as well. We’ll have you covered on Tuesday morning. We’re getting the Maryland crab cake tour back out on the road. We had a great, great stop this week over at the Beaumont sat in the window there, gave out some some tickets. I even had a cop and coach, Larry Stewart, former NBA or stop by and said hello. You’ll hear all of that out at Baltimore positive. I am Nestor. We are W N, S T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, getting you ready for Monday night. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.