The teacher and the student will battle in the AFC Championship Game for a chance to head to another Super Bowl. Luke Jones and Nestor focus on the return of Patrick Mahomes to Baltimore and ways that coaching will make a difference in Sundayโs epic battle of NFL heavyweights.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
ravens, chiefs, kansas city, talking, play, lamar jackson, defense, week, year, patrick, team, super bowl, game, won, lamar, andy reid, baltimore, mentioned, football, offense
SPEAKERS
Nestor J. Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home we are wn st am 1570, Towson, Baltimore and of course Baltimore positive.com Lots of great stuff coming your way this week but nothing better than our crab cake row thatโs going to begin on February 5. Weโve gone to go to plenty a Super Bowl so 28 Super Bowls this year. Iโm taking the week off a Luke will be out in Las Vegas. Itโs anything but off for me. Weโre doing marathon radio. Weโre gonna do live radio for the first time in a long, long time. Iโm a little nervous. I ainโt done live radio in a while. But nine to five everyday weโre going to be begin on Monday at Lexington market families. Tuesday. Weโll be there all day at costus in Dundalk Wednesday. Weโll be going to Cocoโs and Laura Ville then on Thursday. Weโre gonna be over at State Fair, I got my state fair in Catonsville shirt on with the Maryland flag. Shout out the lefty Giselle by the way, I all this football talk. We had the Terps and a little lefty loved I saw Len Elmore Tomic Mellon, two of my favorite people getting together so I got my state fair. Thatโs Thursday, thatโs going to happen. And then on Friday the knife, weโre going to be wrapping things up at Pappas and cockys will all be brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery system. Oh snap on scratch offs. I have a handful of ravens scratch off still giveaway Yes, you can still buy these and when some of the big prizes were gone from a couple months ago we can still win and play and Luke Jones will be hopefully in Las Vegas. Iโm not sure weโre gonna be eating crab soup, Maryland and cream of crab soup for a great great cause itโs a crab cake row we call it a cup or bowl a cup of soup or bowl or a Super Bowl week. Itโs all for the Maryland food bank you come out free soup if you bring something for the Maryland Food Bank very very easy. Weโre going to feature 100 different charities that week and ways that you know loop we would go to all the Super Bowls How many of you do 1012 How many Super Bowls have you done?
Luke Jones 01:52
There was around 10 I think I think two I think the 2011 Super Bowl was my first time on radio row and what I guess up until the pandemic which would have been the Miami here the Ravens lost to the Titans yeah yeah yeah so that your 10 Yeah, I did 10 So yeah, ready to ravens take care of business be heading out to Las Vegas. You
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:16
know, Iโm doing live radio for a week right and itโs like eight hours a day nine to five and a lot of itโs just about the businesses that donโt need to be there at six oโclock in the morning. Weโll have good stuff on the radio all week you and I are going to be if youโre out in Vegas, weโll continue to talk if Iโve been talking if if if since I started this promotion idea back at Thanksgiving telling clients weโre doing something for the Maryland Food Bank and reaching out to doesnโt so far if anybody has a charity that I need to know about that I need to feature this is the week to do that. Because Why are my friends the Maryland lottery winner nation and Jiffy Lube love the idea as well that weโre featuring local charities but look, we we would get a bed at 435 In the morning we would do live radio at six oโclock. Sometimes the phone lines didnโt play nice and convention halls cost 10s of 1000s of dollars to do this. That I passed along to clients and sponsors who Toyota and Coors Light and Lord knows how many people sent us their how our bank one year, the late great Howard bank shout out to Maryanne Scully over at the Loyola as well for her but so all these years, weโve been doing it and I really thought about like the number one thing that happens that we get, you know, Snoop Dogg might combine Adam Sandler, although there was a lot less of that I was in LA two years ago, even in LA, the NFL is made. Itโs so onerous on everyone to have guests to have celebrities, they own all the series, the ESPN people left the building. 15 years ago, NFL Network left the building 10 years ago. I mean, itโs basically sort of akin to the press pass that the Rangers gave me in Arlington, like you get to sit at the kids table with the podcasters and the gambling folks now. So itโs different. But all of these years of doing it live and doing it on tape. And the way we did it for 28 years. The thing at the heart of all of it is every one of these celebrities that would come by Yeah, they would be pimping a jeweler or a website or a thing or talking about an affliction or whatever. 92% of those pieces that we ever did dirt radio row week, had a charity gang, right, like everybody there came for a cause of some kind, right?
Luke Jones 04:20
Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, there was always something you know, whether it was sometimes itโd be a products. I remember Dick for meal had his wine for years, even though he never gave us any of it, which is always disappointing. But yeah, thereโs plenty of good causes. And I know youโre gonna be very busy with that over the course of the week and looking forward to it. Hoping for the Ravens sake, Iโll be in Las Vegas, but if not, if they donโt take care of business on Sunday, Iโll certainly be joining you and hear in all the other great fun. Dig
Nestor J. Aparicio 04:51
for me. Oh gave me a little. It wasnโt a business card. It was a laminated thing to put in your wallet to inspire you. And in all of this, they canโt care about you tool they know you care about them, you know, things like that. And all of these teaching axiom of wisdom wouldnโt isms, as I would call them, that, you know, at various points Iโve had plastered up on the walls around my place, but this is going to be an issue week, dude. You know, I felt like the chiefs in the bills on Sunday night was a real heavyweight fight. I didnโt feel like the Ravens were in a heavyweight fight. I feel like the Ravens special teams their way and poor offensive line, picking up blitzes and whatever in the first half in the making that game something right. Like, I donโt feel like the lions are a heavyweight team. I mean, I donโt. And they might beat San Francisco and San Francisco might beat them like a drama. Weโll all be sitting around either crying in our purple beer, or everyone has sex and has free beer, and thereโs free food. And thereโs a two week Bender, and weโre in the middle of I donโt know, like I donโt know whatโs going to happen. Iโm worried about you being in the middle of all this, by the way on so that I donโt know what happens when we go to a Super Bowl in Baltimore. But this is the first chance and really your lifetime and in my existence. Iโve been in a lot of these championship games. I think I told you Iโve been to a dozen of these games in different places where theyโve won at home and thereโs been a party and where people solemnly the drive, walk out of the stadium and be and feel like theyโve seen a ghost Foxborough was that way except for us. It was that way for us on the way back from Pittsburgh. It was that way on the way back from from New England after Lee Evans dropped the ball and conduct Mr. Kick and I should point out hardball choked on the timeout too, by the way, we always blame Cundiff and Evans had was a coaching problem as much as it was anything in that game. But I would say this is the measurement. You know this. Weโve been waiting a long time. Itโs been a long time. Youโve been an AFC Championship Game, certainly one at home. The expectations are through the roof and managing all of that and the emotions of all of it this week. This is going to be a really good football game. This is these are heavy weights. Like I said with the Kansas City Buffalo game. This is the fight everybody wants to see mahomes and Lamar. Yeah,
Luke Jones 07:13
no question about it. I mean, itโs wild. I was thinking about this in the closing moments of that game after buffalo had missed the field goal wide Right. Which my gosh, I mean, just talk about a tormented fan base.
Nestor J. Aparicio 07:25
Fashion when Apple started the sale to the right, yeah, I was outlet and was like, Oh, my No, not not these poor people not receive not might not my friends. Yeah. Yeah,
Luke Jones 07:35
I mean, all the going through tables and all that. But I was thinking though, after that happened was Wow. Thinking back to all the conversations you and I have had and look, I mean, anyone you know, any Ravens fan talking with fellow friends or fellow fans? How much time has been spent talking about the standard of, of this current Lamar Jackson era, talking about getting over the hump against Kansas City Beat in Kansas City. And obviously, they played them in 18. You know, it was actually Lamar is first loss as a starting quarterback in the NFL, when they went out there and lost in overtime, you know, a really good football game, they lost in 19. They lost in 20. They beat them in 21. But weโve spent so much time whenever you have those big picture conversations over the course of the season. And obviously so many of them over the course of the offseason, so much time has been spent talking about what itโs going to take to beat Kansas City to get past Kansas City, that itโs itโs kind of wild that itโs taken this long to play them in the playoffs, you know, considering all those conversations over the better part of the last four or five years. So itโs a lot of excitement on that front. But thereโs also an acknowledgement of be careful what you wish for, not that the Ravens arenโt favored and shouldnโt be favored. And not that Iโm not, you know, not that I wonโt pick the ravens to win this football game because Iโm gonna pick the ravens to win this football game. But it is Patrick mahomes. It is Andy Reid. It is the team. Thatโs been the standard since Tom Brady went down to Tampa Bay. And weโve seen whatโs happened to the Patriots since then who no longer have Bill Belichick as head coach. So this is the team that I said it in our previous conversation. I wrote it at Baltimore positive.com I posted on social media. It was inevitable. Not to say that Josh Allen versus levar Jackson wouldnโt have been great fun because it would have been but this is the team you have to beat in the same way that Joe Flacco had to get through Peyton Manning and then Tom Brady. Itโs Patrick mahomes. And itโs the chiefs and give them credit. They have risen to the occasion, the last couple of weeks as much as there were people believing them for dead. I mean, everyone saw how they played on Christmas Day. I mean that was ugly as ugly can be you know, to lose that game to the raiders in the way they did. But theyโve played better. Theyโre still figuring out there red zone offense. Thereโs no question about that. And I think if youโre the Ravens defense, youโre looking at that and saying, all right, weโll bend. But if they canโt score in the red zone, and we have a really great red zone, offense or defense, then yeah, theyโre gonna be in trouble most likely because theyโre going to need to score touchdowns. I think thatโs going to be the key for this game is scoring touchdowns and not field goals, especially on the Kansas City side. So you have that. But, I mean, this is the way it needed to be right. You know, if youโre writing the story book of the Baltimore Ravens getting to a Super Bowl, Lamar Jackson fulfilling the vow that he made the night he was drafted 32nd Overall, back in 2018. It was always going to be getting through Kansas City because Bradyโs no longer there. Yeah, theyโre, theyโre the new patriots. And they have been theyโve made three Super Bowls in the last four years, theyโve won two of them. Theyโre the standard. So itโs fitting, itโs appropriate. Thereโs no reason to hide from it. Thereโs no reason to be scared about it, that theyโre facing the Kansas City Chiefs with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. And the good thing is, and this is what makes it so exciting, as you were alluding to get to play this game at home. And I mean, thatโs, thatโs uncharted territory. You know, Joe Flacco never played a home AFC Championship game. The Ravens have never played when John Harbaugh has never played in one in his 15 year tenure. So theyโre 16 years. So this is this is. To your point, I think you said it before. This is why you lift all those weights. This is why you go through the offseason and OTAs and all the meetings and training camp and this opportunity, especially to play it at home. I mean, it doesnโt get any better than this. As far as your home stadium, and you said it, that itโs going to be the difference of thereโs going to be confetti falling, or itโll be very quiet right around at 615. On Sunday, so
Nestor J. Aparicio 11:51
well, you suck that energy in this weekend right at halftime. Yeah, you felt that energy of it gets very, very nervous. And, and I text you in the middle of the buffalo cheese game. Iโm like, I have no idea whoโs gonna win this game. Like you get to that third quarter, and itโs 2420 2370 Whatever. Itโs because this isnโt going to be 34 to seven at halftime. I just I donโt think so. Yeah, I see this is looking back and forth. And much like that. The Mile High miracle game rules, touchdown, Touchdown, touchdown, Touchdown, touchdown, punt punt, punt, you know, I donโt, I donโt see teams scoring two and three in a row. In this one, I see this as a punch, Counter Punch, I see important third and fourth downs, I see field goals. Yeah, this, this is a great football game, this is the ravens are finally going to get a team of their ilk to me, and it might not even be of their ilk. But I think this is, to your point, this is the ultimate challenge for them. And I even spoke about this earlier, and thereโll be blasphemy around here next week when theyโre playing the lions. And tickets are $14,000 to get in. And like all of that, if that were to happen. Weโll look what we did to the lions last time. Look what we did to San Francisco on Christmas night. Itโs easy. Itโs never easy with the chiefs. Right? Youโll have a perception that youโre going to win the Super Bowl if you get there. I donโt know, this week, the perception is even the line to three and a half that itโs hard to bet against Patrick mahomes. And oh, he had never won on the rubber. Well, he just won again. And And honestly, the kid doesnโt fumble the ball down at the one yard line. That game is uglier than it was. I mean, he was. They were they were markedly better than the bills on Sunday night. I thought, Oh, yeah.
Luke Jones 13:33
I mean, I donโt know if the final score starts getting lopsided or anything like that. But look at it in turn. I mean, the chiefs average 7.7 yards per play, you know, really what kept that game where it was. And look, I mean, well, letโs be clear. Itโs not like the bills were awful in this game by any means. But I mean, look at the time of possession. I thought that was interesting. And you made mention of not feeling like this is going to be a shootout. And I think whatโs interesting about this game is I think both teams are going to have to look at their running game. I mean, Kansas City, Isaiah Pacheco, good. Itโs a good back and look what he did had almost 100 rushing yards against the bills on Sunday. I think Kansas City, more so than in the past has relied more on its running game, not more than its passing game, but more than they have in the past where we can think of years where they were so one dimensional offensively and they were okay with that because you have the best quarterback on the planet. But just look at Sundayโs game will be Patrick mahomes had what 23 pass attempts and I believe they had 24 Rushing attempts. So I think you see a more balanced Kansas City team. And as we talked about this ravens defense, relatively speaking, its weakness has been stopping the run. And I think this is a Kansas City running game that poses more problems, certainly than Houston did this past week. So So you have that factor. And then on the flip side, you look at the problems that Kansas City had slowing down on Josh Allen running the football. Now James Cook didnโt have monster numbers running the ball. But buffalo ran the ball effectively against them. And I think the ravens are gonna look at this and say, Hey, Kansas City has a good defense, good front. They are better stopping the past than theyโve been against the run. So I think while Iโm not saying the ravens are gonna revert to Greg Romans offense, certainly, I think what Lamar is willingness to run this past week, and for the ravens to have design runs built into their game plan, I think youโre gonna see much of the same because Kansas City really struggled to stop Josh Allen, in that regard. So from that standpoint, when weโre talking about the run game, when weโre talking about both teams wanting to lean on their defense, or needing to lean on their defense to play at a high level to win this ballgame. Yeah, that lends itself to it being not saying 1310, letโs be clear about that. But lower scoring, then, as you alluded to the last time these teams played where both of them were scoring in the 30s on Sunday night football in week, two, two years ago, so itโs gonna be interesting to see how it plays out. And like that doesnโt mean that Patrick mahomes isnโt going to pose the typical problems that he poses anytime you face him, because we did see kind of a rejuvenated Travis Kelce. On Sunday night, they have received Rice, who has been the guy thatโs emerged as their top wide receiver. They donโt have a whole lot else to write home about, and Iโll say this much they should put McCole Hardman on the bench, considering he touched the ball twice and bumbled twice. So I would completely take him out of the picture. But, you know, theyโve got theyโve got some guys that you know that theyโre still searching. Theyโre still not a typical chiefs offense, but theyโve certainly moved the ball better these last couple of weeks. But at the same time, Buffaloโs defense, isnโt the Ravens defense, Miamiโs defense at this point where they were in the wild card round with all their injuries, not even close to where the Ravens defense is. So itโs gonna be a major test for Kansas City as much as weโre going to talk about the chiefs and give them their respect. As as theyโve earned, you know, theyโve, theyโve learned that at the same time, they need to be ready because theyโre coming into a buzzsaw in this ravens defense, that has been the best in football and just prove that again on Saturday night,
Nestor J. Aparicio 17:15
when you start to think about this, when this week will break down a little bit more what other than the homes, what has you most concerned, I mean, just tactically in this game in this matchup, having watched the Chiefs chiefs are a better defensive team than theyโve been. And I think that that part of it concerns me is that theyโve tried, theyโve tried to tighten up the defense. While the offense is, you know, theyโre dealing with some of the things that Flacco dealt with in regard to salary cap and regard to weapons with regard to drop balls, all of those things that that really plagued them and haunted them during the year. I mean, wouldnโt shock me to see the Chiefs drop four passes on Sunday and lose 28 to 16, to the Ravens because of it, that would have been where they were all year. Thatโs why theyโre on the road, quite frankly, because they dropped passes. But there is a pedigree about all of this that we should be concerned itโd be a whole lot more fun to be seeing the dolphins this week, I think or even the bills to some degree.
Luke Jones 18:09
I mean, I think the bills because they were so banged up. And that really, you know, that really showed up as their defense was just ravaged by injuries at the end. And that really cost them as I mentioned, Kansas City, look at what they average on yards per play. And, you know, they won the game despite a pretty lopsided time of possession deficit. But I think what, beyond mahomes I mean, and look that you can kind of say Patrick mahomes and let it rest if you really wanted to, because youโre talking about a guy who has already won two Super Bowls. So already won multiple MVPs. As much as we love Lamar Jackson here, and Lamar deserves all of his flowers for doing what he did Saturday night. mahomes has been doing this from the beginning, right? I mean, he did he sat for one year, Lamar sat for half a year. mahomes sat for a year, but he came right in and you know, his very first year law got to the AFC Championship game and as a game, the chiefs easily could have won that the Patriots, you know, edged him out and barely won, but with all this guyโs done has been in the AFC Championship. So thatโs a big one. Right? I mean, thatโs stating Thatโs Captain Obvious right there. You donโt need Luke, the analyst to tell you that. But I already mentioned it before their running game. Pacheco is a tough runner. Weโve seen the Ravens have their issues stopping the run against better running games teams like Houston, weโre never gonna run the ball effectively against them. But it is a pretty good running game. Thereโs no doubt about that. And theyโve needed to needed it to be because they havenโt been as proficient as efficient throwing the football and weโve been Travis Kelce hasnโt been the same guy that he had been in the past. Although we had a big night against buffalo. But youโre on the flip side. I think you look at their defense, Steve Spagnola Are you someone thatโs not going to be afraid to try to deceive and do some things pre snap that way, but itโs got a good pass rush. Chris Jones is a terrific defensive tackle, you know, certainly poses problems there. And they do have a secondary that doesnโt necessarily have a ton of big names that are that are guys that have been household names for years. But Trent McDuffie is really good. You know, theyโve got other good players in that secondary, theyโve been really good against the past this year. So you know, their weakness is more so stopping the run, which lends itself very well to the Ravens kit when you have Lamar Jackson a quarterback So, but you know, that all that said, on paper, if you knew nothing about the history of the Kansas City Chiefs, you look at this game, the Ravens still have more advantages here, the ravens are the better team on paper, just talking about it strictly looking at these rosters looking at the strengths and weaknesses of these two teams. But you canโt ignore that pedigree. And thatโs why I think anyone thatโs going to be overconfident this week, you know, and Iโm even speaking to fans. Normally, Iโm not the guy that does this, because, hey, weโre talking about the the teams on the field. But, you know, this is one of those where you donโt want to upset the powers that be as it pertains to football and the other people will say donโt upset the football gods by disrespecting Kansas City. Thatโs not to say the Ravens
Nestor J. Aparicio 21:18
locker room have a built bulletin board material. I heard Mike Tirico say bulletin board material. And I feel like thatโs such a 1970. No, right, right, like bulletin board material in the air of Twitter. You know, I
Luke Jones 21:31
mean, thereโs, I mean, thereโs, maybe youโd say whiteboard material, because they still do. Theyโll use the whiteboards with the dry erase markers. And yeah, theyโll use some of that stuff. So I mean, itโs not all video and all virtual at this point. But yeah, I mean, the bulletin board materials funny, but I think as the Ravens respect the chiefs, and they should, but at the same time, thereโs no need to be afraid of them. You know, I think weโve talked about it. Yeah, it is Patrick mahomes. Yes, it is Andy Reid, thereโs no doubt about that. And theyโre gonna pose, theyโre gonna be ready, theyโre gonna give you their absolute best effort. But Iโll say this much. If the Ravens give the Chiefs their absolute best effort, and they play their best football game, ravens go in this football game, and the Ravens are going to Super Bowl then. So thereโs no reason to be afraid. You just, you know, you respect your opponent. And from a fan standpoint, you want you acknowledge that? Look, we just the fact that the chiefs are here, after the way they looked a month ago, speaks to everything you need to know about that, that teamโs championship pedigree, you know that not even close to being the best chiefs team weโve seen here recently. But theyโre here, and theyโre still capable. And Iโll say this for the ravens, theyโve got to play a more complete 60 minutes than they played against Houston to win the football game. Because if you play that way, offensively in the first half again, guessing itโs not going to be 1010, Iโm guessing youโre probably going to be playing from behind in that scenario. So again, nothing to be scared of. Itโs not a matter of being scared and just saying Woe is me. We canโt beat the chiefs. I donโt think itโs anything like that. But at the same time, I donโt think itโs as simple as well, the Ravens were better. They were 13 and four, and the Chiefs werenโt. So you just roll the ball out, and youโre gonna beat them because they arenโt as good as theyโve been. And still Patrick mahomes. Itโs still Andy Reed. I think what is interesting, as I mentioned that Kansas City defense, they havenโt seen Lamar Jackson in a couple years. And we talked about that factor all the time. Right, with the NFC stuff, right. Those teams that donโt see Lamar every year. Itโs been a minute, you know, itโs been over two years since Kansas City has seen Lamar Jackson, they havenโt seen a Todd Monken ravens offense. So that factor will be a little more interesting. Compared to you know, Houston had seen you know, Lamar Jackson, if weโre talking about the Super Bowl, even San Francisco saw Lamar Jackson recently. Detroit saw him earlier this year, and it did not
Nestor J. Aparicio 24:04
chase him. Yeah, exactly. But not go well for them.
Luke Jones 24:09
At least San Francisco competed for a half Detroit. Mazel not even gotten off the bus. It was that ugly. So, but yeah, so So from from that standpoint, itโs gonna be really interesting, but got some really good coaches in this matchup. I mean, we havenโt even mentioned
Nestor J. Aparicio 24:24
I was gonna I was gonna say, Andy Reid and spangle. Well, thatโs where I was going with it. Look, Joe is here. By the way, let me reset here because weโre doing a special special radio row. Itโs so special. Weโre not even leaving the city for it because weโre gonna feature 100 charities here. Itโs my little Jerry Lewis telethon thing. Weโre calling it a cup of soup or bowl. And it is crabcake row. Itโs going to be beginning of February 5 in the morning on Monday, 9am. Weโre going live all week, nine to five. Weโre going to be down to faith knees in Lexington market Tuesday. Weโre going to be a Costas and Dundalk Wednesday. Weโre going to be a Cocoโs and Laura Ville Thursday weโre going to be at state be fair I got my state fair shirt on here. Iโm Jonah some of that. Cream crab soup over there. A little corn in there and a chowder. Itโs delightful. Itโs velvety. Get on over check that out the crab and corn. They would call it soup. They call it chowder there. Thatโs a Thursday. Thatโs a fair then on Friday, weโre gonna be up at Pappas having big old crab cakes and cream, a crab soup, and Maryland crab soup on behalf of the Maryland food bank. So what weโre asking folks, itโs very simple, free soup if you come by and see the show. If you have a charity you want to promote, please let me know ahead of time Iโm slotting things right now nests at Baltimore positive.com three, so for anybody that comes by if you bring some canned goods and some non perishables for our friends at the Maryland Food Bank, itโs the coldest week of the year donโt need to tell you how cold it was last week. A lot of folks are donโt have food like the rest of us. My dad always talked about that. And Iโm doing this really to honor my father. My fatherโs birthday is March 5, my father spent a year of his life in soup lines back in 1929 1930. Up in Pennsylvania, Scranton, Pennsylvania as a young boy, heโs 10 years old. He always told me about that. Luckily for me, Iโve never spent a night in my life. Iโve gone to bed hungry because like I didnโt have I ran out of ice cream or something like that, but Iโve never gone to bed hungry. So just keep that in mind as weโre going through this. Weโre gonna have 100 other charities, all sorts of charities and all sorts of ways, all of them local. And weโre going to be featuring them all week long as part of our live conversation. Weโre inviting our community come out. And Iโm hoping, hoping hoping, Lucas that the Ravens can figure Steve spagnolo out and that Andy Reid doesnโt have some voodoo doll of John horrible but you know if I were writing Purple Rain three and I would encourage anyone in our community to write that see Jerry Coleman has a nice seat at the Games maybe he can write Purple Rain three. If youโre writing Purple Rain three. This is the road you want to go on right part of the funnel writing Purple Rain to was beat the Colts at home beat Peyton Manning won in the Mile High had a miracle went to New England and did what they couldnโt do the year before. And then every and Jacoby Jones went home and dance down Bourbon Street and Ray Lewis is I mean, like itโs storybook stuff. Part of this is Taylor Swift coming to town, the chiefs of all these pelts. The Chiefs have never played one of these on the road, right? Like, like all of these things that conspire and all of this. And then thereโs the pressure on Lamar if theyโre losing 13 to 10 at halftime, right like because Lamar clearly from this past week when it was 10 to 10. This is across the barrel for him because he came out of the chute with Goodell saying believe that weโre having a Super Bowl, and hereโs the day itโs all going to happen. And it gets heavy in the air gets thick. And I think the weatherโs gonna be decent, it may rain but itโs not going to be 15 degrees this week. So theyโre going to have that going on. The coaching matchup to me is going to be as interesting as any of the players on the field because we have championship coaches on one side. And then hardball. Scott, Monken and McDonald a bunch of guys he believes in and heโs the right guy, and they have the right personnel and theyโre bringing Kyle van Noy and theyโre bringing a couple of guys in, have seen this kind of football before. But this is the biggest game a lot of these guys have played and weโll get the Marlin Humphrey and some of these guys whether theyโre gonna get there or not, and get on to the field. But the gameโs gonna feel big at three oโclock on Sunday bigger than anything that theyโve ever done, but not bigger than anything that Patrick mahomes has done a handful of times.
Luke Jones 28:25
Yeah, Iโll also be remiss not to mention John Harbaugh has played in these games before too. So you know, heโs coached in these games. So that certainly helps. But I mean, you look at it, I mean, with Andy Reid. Look, heโs seen it all at this point in time. I think itโs gonna be fascinating seeing what he and Patrick mahomes and the Kansas City offense that is not the explosive offense that weโve seen in prior seasons. I mean, I even if you paid a quarter of attention to all the talk about Kansas City this year, you know, that wide receivers been an issue for them, although Rishi rice has really emerged for them to be their number one guy and heโs been good. Heโs been really good. Problem is after him, you kind of shrug your shoulders and say, well, Canarias, Tony, we people have laughed at him. Valdez scantling his is dropped passes and hasnโt been good enough because
Nestor J. Aparicio 29:18
you donโt want on your fantasy team as opposed to other years. You just picked up three points just for having you pick Kelsey up. You win. Yeah, period. Right.
Luke Jones 29:25
Well, Kelsey, I mean, Kelsey is, you know, even down Travis Kelce is still certainly a great player. But, you know, even he hasnโt been as good. But yeah, I mean, other than Rishi rice. I mean, Valdez scantling. Everyone remembers him drop in the past. What was that in the Philadelphia game? I think it was Canarias Tony. I mean, Sky Moore who was on IR I think heโs, you know, working his way back, but he was a guy that they had high hopes for. So theyโve had their issues. So itโs been much more of a grind for them. Thatโs why I mentioned that Isaiah Pacheco, you know, Edwards Hilaire to a lesser extent but really, Pacheco has been so key for them, you know, running the football and having that kind of an identity. Itโs been much more of a run the ball and play defense kind of team than itโs been in past years. So that said, itโs still mahomes. Itโs going to be fascinating. You know, you mentioned Steve Spagnola. Youโve mentioned, you know, the Ravens going up against that coaching staff. I mean, Kansas City hasnโt seen Mike McDonald and this ravens defense and the pre snap disguise. And letโs face it, the chiefs they had their way with the wink defenses for the most part, you know, there were 2018 to an extent. You know, the second half of that 21 game, they did get some key stops late in that game. But by and large, Kansas City had their way against the wink Martindale defenses here in Baltimore,
Nestor J. Aparicio 30:47
youโre always trying to get to mahomes. You couldnโt get to him, right? Like that was part of the gig, and he would get rid of the ball.
Luke Jones 30:52
Well, and really, we know when club the Blitz, and the one thing that you typically know, maybe a little bit different this year. But historically, you donโt put Patrick mahomes Because he just kills you. And the Ravens learn that year after year after year. Itโs on I donโt want to say itโs one of the reasons wink isnโt here anymore. But that mindset needed to shift in the organizationโs mind. And Mike McDonald does much more of a variety of things, and a lot of pre snap disguise and simulated pressures, things like that. Heโs just taken to another level. So thatโs going to be a fascinating matchup. But on the flip side, I mean, Steve Spagnola, as I mentioned, donโt say itโs a Kansas City defense, that isnโt great stop in the run. So thatโs a big edge for the Ravens. I mean, theyโre gonna have to figure out the best way to not let Lamar kill you running the football. But at the same time, how do you do that? Without compromising your past defense. And again, thatโs something thatโs just the, the catch 22 That youโre the stress that youโre constantly in to try to slow this ravens offense, when itโs really humming and firing on all cylinders. Itโs almost impossible. So really, itโs going to be for me, itโs going to come down to Kansas Cityโs offense, trying to run the ball trying to sustain drives and kind of trying to do what the ravens and other teams have tried to do against them for years, which is keep them off the field, you know, keep their offense off the field. I think Kansas City is really going to try to do that as much as they can so shorten the game
Nestor J. Aparicio 32:22
on the road, right? Yeah.
Luke Jones 32:23
I mean, I think theyโre gonna try to do that now. Will they time will tell but boy, you got a lot of really talented coaches in this matchup. I mean, itโs just, itโs fun. And you know, we havenโt even mentioned I mean, John Harbaugh, Andy Reidโs pupil, is Andy Reed mentored him all those years in Philadelphia, I mean, itโs, uh, you know, thatโs a long time ago at this point in time, but Andy Reed, what I think five, I want to say five and two, in his coaching career against John Harbaugh, two of those games, of course, when Reed was still in Philadelphia, but four and one since he became Kansas Cityโs head coach. So the Ravens won the most recent one, you know, two years ago, but Andy Reid has had that edge. And in fairness, Andy Reed typically has had better teams. So over that period of time than John Harbaugh in general. So donโt think itโs an indictment. Itโs just the reality of where Kansas City has been and where the Ravens have been trying to get for a long time, as far as being the best. So looking forward to this, I gotta be fascinated to see what both of these teams come up with from a coaching standpoint, but I think both teams are going to try to run the football. I think thatโs key. And you kind of look at the weaknesses of each of those defenses. And I think both teams are going to try to confuse the other quarterback knowing that thatโs easier said than done when youโre talking about mahomes Whoโs the standard and Lamar who has been the best this season? So canโt ask for any better than that. So I mean, like I said, the Ravens our favorite they should be favored. Iโm picking the Ravens Iโm not going to shy away from that. But at the same time, that doesnโt mean that theyโre not gonna have a heck of a of a challenge on their hands come Sunday afternoon. To
Nestor J. Aparicio 34:02
quote our Paul Stanley Gene Simmons, you want it the best you got the best? Yeah, well, aside from where it is, right, right. Letโs die. It looks good to me. I know it smells all week. Iโm gonna be around all week. We have an unbelievable richness of guests all week long. Youโre gonna hear from Brian Billick and Marvin Lewis and Brandon Stokely and Kim herring from the original Super Bowl team. Youโre going to hear from Joe Flacco. Weโre going to hear from Peter King this week. Lots and lots of great guests. Dan Pompe is coming on he spent some time with ro Quan Smith last week out Nolanโs mill so a lots and lots to get you ready and I havenโt even gone out to Kansas City and got my Kansas City people together. Lukeโs gonna be at Owings Mills all week. Any breaking news you can first and WNS D tech service. We are doing crabcake row a cup of soup or bowl beginning on February 5 downtown. All the information will be up at Baltimore positive later on in the week. I am Esther, heโs Luke. Stay with us. Itโs championship week here. Iโve never said that before. We are wn SCA in 1570 Towson Baltimore and we never stop talking Super Bowl a cup of Super Bowl and Baltimore positive stay with us
