Former Steelers QB Charlie Batch returns in advance of the Ravens return to Pittsburgh in a battle for the AFC North crown to give Nestor insights on the final stand of Aaron Rodgers, the Lamar Jackson injury and ways that the favored Ravens can come to The Confluence and eliminate Mike Tomlin with Derrick Henry pounding the ball and Snoop Huntley playing the quiet reserve role that he once made famous in the Steel City.
Nestor Aparicio and former Steelers QB Charlie Batch discuss the upcoming Ravens-Steelers matchup, highlighting the importance of backup QB Snoop Huntley’s performance and the impact of DK Metcalf’s suspension on the Steelers’ offense. They analyze the challenges both teams face, including Baltimore’s struggles with offensive line and receiver drops, and Pittsburgh’s reliance on a veteran-led team. Batch emphasizes the significance of stopping Derrick Henry and the strategic decisions needed for a win. They also touch on the personal impact of football, with Batch promoting his foundation’s holiday drive to support underprivileged children.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Travel to Pittsburgh on Sunday morning and attend the Sunday night game as planned (drive via Breezewood/Somerset and arrive in Monroeville area), verifying presence at the game.
- [ ] Continue operating and promoting the Best of the Batch Foundation, maintain the foundation website (batchfoundation.org), and prepare outreach plans for serving kids in 2026 (ongoing foundation management and public information upkeep).
Maryland Crab Cake Tour and Playoff Hopes
- Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning the Maryland crab cake tour and the upcoming playoffs.
- Nestor talks about the possibility of playing Houston in the playoffs and the importance of winning the next game.
- Nestor and Charlie Batch discuss the significance of having a backup quarterback in the game, referencing Snoop Huntley’s performance.
- Nestor acknowledges the challenges faced by backup quarterbacks and mentions Joe Flacco and Philip Rivers.
Defining a Yinzer and Backup Quarterback Challenges
- Nestor asks Charlie Batch about what makes someone a “yinzer” from Pittsburgh.
- Charlie Batch explains that being from Pittsburgh or adopting it as home makes one a yinzer.
- Nestor and Charlie discuss the challenges of being a backup quarterback, including the pressure to perform and the impact on future career prospects.
- Charlie praises Huntley’s performance and suggests he has done enough to win the game.
Pittsburgh and Baltimore Drama
- Nestor and Charlie discuss the drama surrounding coaches in both Pittsburgh and Baltimore, including booing and calls for firing.
- Charlie mentions Mike Tomlin’s efforts to ensure players understand the importance of the game.
- Nestor and Charlie talk about the impact of Green Bay’s win on the Steelers’ motivation and performance.
- Charlie highlights the slow start and the difficulty of catching up against Cleveland.
Impact of DK Metcalf’s Suspension
- Nestor and Charlie discuss the impact of DK Metcalf’s suspension on the Steelers’ offense.
- Charlie explains how Metcalf’s absence affected the team’s deep threat and the overall receiver group.
- Nestor mentions the challenges faced by the Ravens, including blowing leads and not running the ball with Derrick Henry.
- Charlie and Nestor discuss the potential narratives if the Steelers win or lose the game.
Ravens’ Offensive Line and Lamar Jackson’s Contract
- Nestor talks about the issues with the Ravens’ offensive line and the receivers dropping passes.
- Nestor mentions a local columnist’s story about the team not taking Lamar Jackson seriously.
- Charlie discusses the challenges of renegotiating Lamar Jackson’s contract and the impact on the team.
- Nestor and Charlie talk about the importance of running the ball and the potential impact of Derrick Henry on the game.
Steelers’ Defense and Running Game
- Nestor and Charlie discuss the Steelers’ defense and the importance of stopping Derrick Henry.
- Charlie explains the strategies for stopping Henry, including getting him running laterally.
- Nestor mentions the Buffalo Bills’ success in running against the Steelers.
- Charlie highlights the importance of the running game and the impact of Derek Henry on the Steelers’ defense.
Aaron Rodgers’ Performance and Leadership
- Nestor praises Aaron Rodgers’ performance and leadership, comparing him to Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
- Charlie discusses Rodgers’ ability to anticipate coverages and make quick decisions.
- Nestor and Charlie talk about the importance of Rodgers’ control at the line of scrimmage.
- Charlie mentions the challenges of playing without a big threat receiver and the need for a strong running game.
Best of the Batch Foundation
- Nestor asks Charlie about his foundation, the Best of the Batch Foundation.
- Charlie explains that the foundation serves over 4000 kids annually in nine counties throughout Southwestern PA.
- Charlie describes the foundation’s holiday drive, which adopted 411 families and collected toys for 1811 kids.
- Charlie invites people to learn more about the foundation and how they can help.
Final Thoughts on the Game
- Nestor and Charlie discuss the significance of the upcoming game and the potential outcomes for both teams.
- Nestor mentions the importance of winning for both coaches, Tomlin and Harbaugh.
- Charlie highlights the rivalry between the Steelers and Ravens and the impact of the game on both fan bases.
- Nestor and Charlie conclude the discussion, looking forward to the game and the potential playoff implications.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Steelers, Ravens, backup quarterback, Snoop Huntley, Aaron Rodgers, Derrick Henry, playoffs, Mike Tomlin, Lamar Jackson, DK Metcalf, NFL, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, football game.
SPEAKERS
Charlie Batch, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 tassel, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. This is a new year with the same old problems. We’re going to Pittsburgh this week. The Maryland crab cake tour is going to get out on the road in January, and of course, a cup of soup or bowl is coming the first week of February. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I have the candy cane cash giveaways. We had a $100 winner at Costas in the Dundalk homeland back before the holidays. So come and see me. Come see me. As they say, might be seeing me into the playoffs for, I don’t know, a home game next week against Houston. Maybe you win that. Go on. I don’t know. We have sugar plums going on here, as maybe they had in Pittsburgh two weeks ago, looks like we’re going to have at least one backup quarterback in this game, especially on our side of the fence. This is a guy who was not a backup quarterbacks, a starter. He played in the league a long, long time. Buddy Pittsburgh, dude who became the most important kind of backup quarterback you can have, which is when they call on you, you go and win a game in week 17 in Lambeau Field, the way Snoop Huntley did the other day, we welcome our defending champion back on. From Are you a yinzer? Officially, Charlie bats, what? What makes one a yinzer? You know, I don’t know. Is it the accent, or is it just being from Pittsburgh?
Charlie Batch 01:14
It’s being from Pittsburgh, or maybe you adopted Pittsburgh as your home, and yinzer nation has a adopted you. But for me, I born and raised here in Pittsburgh. I literally grew up 15 minutes from the stadium, so when I’m say I’m home, I was home.
Nestor Aparicio 01:28
It’s not even a funny accent for you. It’s just home. It’s like me, right? It’s own. But I
Charlie Batch 01:31
lost it a little bit because I spent nine years up in Michigan. So being up in Detroit area, for me, I lost it up there, blending it with the michiganians and then coming back home. So I truly lost that accent.
Nestor Aparicio 01:42
Well, I gave a nod out to what it means to be the understudy, the guy holding the clipboard, the guy in the room, the guy running Scout, whatever, all of that is that when they tap you on the shoulder, and this was the same when you were a starter and had backups behind you, that the ability and the capability to be able to go in and win a big football game. That’s what they’re going to be asking Snoop Huntley to do this week, if he plays and he was good enough last week. It really is. It may be the toughest jobs being the starting quarterback. Maybe even tougher, is having to be somebody that comes in and plays and all hats off to Joe Flacco for all the crap he went through this year and pulled that off. And Philip Rivers, let’s throw in man, because he’s almost your age.
Charlie Batch 02:23
Yeah, a lot of people, they quick to say, hey, the backup quarterback’s the best job in America. Well, it is, until you have to play, and then you get into games like this, you sit around, prepare, waiting on your moment, but yet, when you’re now thrust into action and the games matter, people are like, Okay, let’s see what you can do. And ultimately, you’re proving that number one, you can still do it for your team, but you’re also playing for your career as well, because if you stink up the joint now next year, free agent wise, or whatever, those decisions are looking back at your last game. So these are important games, and Huntley actually played very well to just looking at it in my eyes, did enough to be able to go out there and win. Even though you have the big fella behind you, you still have to go down and make throws, and he was able to do that all right.
Nestor Aparicio 03:04
What do you want? Pittsburgh drama or Baltimore drama? What drama Do you want? Because there’s certainly plenty on both sides of the fence here. In regard to booing coaches, booing renegade fire the coach. We stink. We can’t win. Like all of that’s happened to coach Tomlin, it’s happened to hardball here in Baltimore. It’s been a tumultuous ride, I think, on both sides of the fence here for thinking like we’re not good enough to hey, we won a couple of games. We’re finding ourselves here. The one thing that’s for certain on your side is there’s a Hall of Fame quarterback here who comes to the line of scrimmage and can put that team into good plays. Now, whether they can execute those plays or not, and down on the goal line, that was an issue, you know, over the weekend and losing that game to Cleveland, but these are tough times when you lose to the Cleveland Browns on the road with the division on the line.
Charlie Batch 03:51
No, you’re absolutely right. And going in the last week, Mike Tomlin said, hey, the reason why I’m bringing my players in on Monday to make sure that they understand the importance of this game. And then ultimately, the questions were asked throughout the course of the week, hey, if green if Green Bay wins, they beat Baltimore, what are you going to do? Are you going to rush your starters on Sunday and my time and try to stay the course and say, No, my guys are playing. But naturally, that what happens is players you’re looking at it to say, Okay, well, if you’re a star and now that game is meaningless. Maybe you don’t play on Sunday. And I think ultimately, when they were watching that game, and this is just my personal opinion, as they were watching that game, they didn’t find out to about 1045 11 o’clock that night, and you had to turn the light switch on and say, Wow, now we have to play this game matters. When you started relaxing and easing your mind that you didn’t necessarily have to play it, they got off to a slow start and just couldn’t catch up when Cleveland had the league
Nestor Aparicio 04:45
at various points. You know, the Steelers have played good football. I think it’s a lot harder with that. TJ watt, I think certainly on the offensive side now, the tight ends out the wide receivers, the DK Metcalf, think, I mean, you played in the league long time. You played. Eight in Detroit. You know, where the incident happened, and what fans say, the kind of emails, but we both have gotten in our lifetime. What do you say about that with DK Metcalf, and especially when it’s kind of the first question for Coach after the game is sort of like, could have used him, and this is the value of what he does and what he represents in the offense. Can’t be understated, when he becomes sort of the only weapon,
Charlie Batch 05:24
yeah, and it’s tough, and it’s unfortunate, fortunate situation, and even watching it and when it happened throughout the course again, like, what would it entice him to leave the sideline, to go over to the stands in the manner that he did? And I think that’s the part that got him the two game suspension. You’re seeking trouble doing that? Sure, right? Yeah, even though, you know there’s history that can that’s happening sometimes, you know, interactions happen pre game, post game, but never doing throughout the course of the game. And I think that overseeded everything else. When the NFL was looking at this to say, you left during the game to go engage with that fan, and that caused the two game now, as you fast forward, did it impact the game against Cleveland? Absolutely it did. Because in the Cleveland’s mind, if you’re a deep defense, there’s nobody in that receiver group that was caused any type of threat deep you are when you’re out, DK Calvin Austin was out, who was the speed guy of this team. And now, essentially, you’re playing with your you know, your third, fourth, fifth, and in some cases, seventh, receiver, because Adam Thielen, we just was here for only a couple of weeks, and yet he’s now thrust into action. So these are things that ultimately are going to hurt this team moving forward, but I think ultimately there’s two narratives that’s going to happen as they come out of this, either they get the victory and are in the playoffs, and then DK has one heck of a playoff run, and Steelers nation forget about that. Or if, for whatever reason, they lose this game on Sunday, people are going to blame him to say you’re the reason why we’re sitting at home. And now he has to carry and listen to that throughout the entire offseason. This is a delicate situation at this particular point, and man, this is one that everybody’s paying attention to. Well, it
Nestor Aparicio 07:04
was delicate around here as well when they’re booing hardball. And we’ve had six losses at home this year here in our stadium this year, and five of them were third quarter. Exodus of fans here. Charlie, I took an older PSL holder, 2627 years I never saw anything like that, even once in most seasons. And that really speaks to how good Brian Billick and and, you know, and John Harbaugh and Ozzy and the drafting, and every year they’ve been good. They haven’t been blown out at home twice in their history in the new stadiums in 27 years. So it’s been troublesome. And then there’s the HAR ball blown lead thing in the second half, he’s got these tacky numbers against everyone. And then not running the ball with Derrick Henry. That was fascinating. On Saturday night, they go to Green Bay, they win with their backup quarterback, Derrick Henry runs the ball more than anybody in the history. Lambeau Field as a visitor, they win the game. And in the post game, people are crushing our ball about well, if you would have run the ball last week. But, you know, and I think it’s a time for both of these coaches, after two decades, that be some really bad times in one of these cities on Monday morning. And I’ve been talking about that all week, and I know Coach T’s had that going on up there, and Boo and Boo and Renegade Charlie batch. I mean, make sense of that for me from the Pittsburgh side, it
Charlie Batch 08:21
definitely was new to me. I’ve been around there now 24 years, and never heard renegade being booed. And that was something that was obviously a month ago that happened as they were getting blown out against buffalo, as they kept running the football, but yet they righted the ship. And I think you know, when you look back any great leader, you now want to see how they step up in the sense of controversy, and Tomlin was able to rebound, and he was able to get the victory, you know, into Baltimore, starting at three game winning streak. And now here you are again. People are upset about it. And on the flip side, you look at what going on in Baltimore, the way that they started the season, where you are, and I think both fan bases, they understand you’re you’re passionate about, you know, what you’re with, the product that’s on the field. You know, kind of what this game means. But again, in some people’s mind, does the message get stale? And I think ultimately, on both fan bases, that’s what you’re starting to hear about. You see it in Baltimore, you see it here in Pittsburgh. But again, the only way to right that ship is to win. And unfortunately, somebody’s going home on Monday, like you mentioned. And for a would be, you know, when you look at it from the Steelers perspective, there’s no way that they want Baltimore to end their season like they did last year. And what better way for Baltimore to turn around and now rub poor rub and pour dirt onto the Steelers by ending their season? So it’s going to be a game, and this is why the game is in prime time, because the rest of the country will be watching the best rivalry in football.
Nestor Aparicio 09:42
Well, it gets quite ugly when you lose to the Browns with the season online and then lose to the Ravens in your home stadium, whatever the DK Metcalf, whatever the cast of characters are, backup quarterback, even worse, got eliminated by a backup quarterback at home like I look at that and. Think that that wouldn’t be good for Coach Mike Tomlin on Monday. And I also look at the Raven side of this and say, all the talent they’ve had, one in five star blowing leads, not running Derek Henry, if somehow it doesn’t go well on this side. But I think there’s a deodorizing part for either franchise, that if you’re hosting a playoff game next weekend based on the season that both of these teams have had, it’s been a successful season. No Lamar around here, if we’re hosting a game, certainly in Pittsburgh, with all the weapons being out, all the injuries, all of that sort of the years of after Roethlisberger to go find a 42 year old Hall of Fame quarterback that can will you to a home playoff game and a chance to win, you’ll be real happy to come on the show next week if you’re hosting the playoff game, because things will be just sort of fixed in Pittsburgh, right?
Charlie Batch 10:50
And that’s where you are with it. And you know, when you look at what’s at stake, you know nothing. You know rice, this shit by winning, and if you’re able to host it, if you’re Pittsburgh, that’s great. Okay, now, but again, you want to now be able to do damage while you’re in there. But again, it’s tough if you’re a Steelers fan, because you led the division from the beginning, and here you are, essentially at the last week of the season. If you don’t win, it’s all for not and that is even tougher when you’re losing it against the division foe, and that’s the part that is challenging around here. But again, it makes for good TV this. Again, you have to credit the NFL schedule makers, because they predicted and they wanted this game. This is why they put it the last game of the year, because they felt that it was going to matter when they released this schedule in May. And sure enough, we are here right now. So again, there’s two narratives that are happening on both cities, and this is one of the games that everybody will know by midnight. Maybe a little it would probably be before midnight, because the way the ravens are gonna run the ball probably be a pretty fast game. But ultimately we’re gonna know before midnight which city is smiling and which one’s not. So you’ve
Nestor Aparicio 11:54
already given the Raven success run on the ball. I don’t know. You know. I mean, this has been on again off again. We’ve talked about how bad the offensive line is here most of the season. We’ve talked about the receivers dropping balls. We’ve talked about Lamar not having time, Lamar not being healthy, Lamar not being healthy, Lamar not practicing on Wednesday, offense looking disjointed on Sunday, maybe because Lamar hasn’t been practicing as much. And then last week, local columnist writes the story that comes from the team perspective of we’re not taking this about Lamar. We’re not taking that about Lamar and whatever that is, or sources, or whether it’s made up out of the sky, they’re going to have to renegotiate with Lamar and his mother in the offseason. This the biggest contract again, in the history of the team, coming off a year where if he doesn’t play on Sunday, and they don’t play next weekend, and they’re not here. This is a really bad, underwhelming, massively disappointing season. In the middle of Lamar is prime having a running back like Derek. They brought D hop in here. They can’t get him the ball, but you throw the ball anywhere within 50 feet of him, he goes up in the air and gets the ball. There’s a lot of Marlon Humphreys and Ronnie Stanley’s and Mark Andrews and roquan Smith’s that have been a part of a lot of disappointment here. You know, through these times, I think for and that same for the Steelers. And I want to ask you this, because Tomlin walked off the field in Baltimore, and the last couple of weeks Detroit as well. He had Aaron Rodgers on one side of him. He had cam Hayward on the other. He’s blowing kisses on the way out when they were winning these games. And I’m thinking it’s kind of a forward front to have leaders of that magnitude going into this kind of game. And I know we always used to get off the bus with Ray Lewis in your place, and you get off the bus with Heinz Ward and just these warrior leader, Harrison, these kind of people, Woodson, back in the day, for crying out loud, on both sides, having that sort of front this week to have a word, to have Aaron Rodgers, to have a guy that is going to take 40, 5060, snaps this week and be calm during all of them. And I think that’s the thing I see with Aaron Rodgers, even running that two minute at the end where they almost won the game, if not for the plays in the back of the end zone. There was a calm about it that I would think in the building in Pittsburgh where, yeah, backs against the wall, but it’s a home game, and yeah, we’re missing receivers, but in Baltimore, they’re playing backup quarterback. You know, the offensive line has been troublesome running the football Steelers had trouble stopping Derek Henry, so there’s all of that storyline, but to me that the Steelers sort of last go for Tomlin with these veteran players, that the concern for me on your end is you lose you got to find a quarterback. You have to think about rebuilding part of the defense, which was real expensive and leaky at various points, but there is something about getting off the bus and waking up on Sunday morning with Hayward and Aaron Rodgers and a coach that’s that’s won Super Bowls.
Charlie Batch 14:49
Yeah, absolutely in this image that you see when you see him walking off with Cam Hayward and Aaron Rodgers, Tomlin has been doing that his entire career. We just you used to seeing it. Ben Roethlisberger was standing next to him as their. Were walking off the field, and maybe whoever that other leader was on the defensive side were walking off. So it’s not an uncommon or unusual to see that up here in Pittsburgh, but a lot of you know, let me back up just a point. You know, when you look back and things on, well, you know, everything that’s going on with Baltimore, yeah, the contract extension is going to take care of itself, and it kind of reminds me of what he was going through it originally, because I think he was battling an injury and then didn’t play, and then you had the pain, if I’m not mistaken,
Nestor Aparicio 15:25
it was the snoop on Lee playing in Cincinnati and almost winning a playoff game, and Lamar wasn’t even on the sideline. He didn’t make the trip with the team, and it he held up a sign on national TV after a win that said, pay me, literally like it was contentious, and he doesn’t have an agent, which is the most unique thing ever that like, after a story like last week would get written that was about you or about Ben, your agent will get involved and say, Hold on here. You know what? Let me give you my side of the story with Lamar. There’s they. He hasn’t been able to tell his story for being the influential human he is, for being what he is. He hasn’t had a story told. Well, I say that as a guy who’s been here eight years waiting to kind of hear it told. To some degree, it is a very unique I call it Michael Jackson, or Jackson Five is really what I call it. It’s sort of like he’s a different kind of sequestered young star, $50 million a year. Just a different we’re in a different world where, if he doesn’t want to be here, if he really wants to be the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, this is his chance to do it. But I don’t know who he would even have orchestrating it without an agent, right? Like the NBA guys are all handled when they say, I want to go somewhere. Lamar could do that easily, because I sense that it’s not kumbaya here. That that much, I know I sense it’s not Kumbaya. Yeah.
Charlie Batch 16:46
And I think when you get to this point, ultimately the ravens are going to have to look at it to say, Hey, do we have you? Do have your quarterback now? Are we willing to make another long term commitment to him? If you’re Lamar on the other side, you’re saying, hey, if I do want to get out, I cannot sign the contract extension, because it could be a little tougher to get out of that deal from a sign and trade type of perspective. So those things will play itself out. But I think ultimately, when you look at it, it’s hard to find a quarterback, and I know Lamar plays differently, but this guy is very talented, and he fits what that scheme looks like. I as I put my crystal ball on, I think they figure out a way to make it work moving forward. But when you mentioned about the running game and what was going on, and I gave the Reverend ravens credit, it’s because Steelers nation had to absorb this visual of what happened in the playoff game when the Ravens ran for 297 yards. That’s the visual that we had that ended our season, which prompted us to now make a first round selected selection in Derek Harmon. Now he was up and down throughout the course of the year, but when he did play, he has played phenomenal, and that helped over the last two weeks with the running game, even though the Steelers didn’t get the win, but it helped him in Detroit, holding that one two tandem up there with the lions, and then holding the Browns to the very limited rushing yards throughout the course of the game. That is who you brought in here to help with this running game. So this is why this game matters here in Pittsburgh, and why that whole type of mentality, that visual that we have moving forward is the fact of, will Derek hammer, will that ravens offense run for 297 yards when we just seen this guy rush for 200 yards on Saturday night? Does it give Steelers nation a little ease when that happens? No, by no means it doesn’t. It’s still the fact of you just hope that they’re playing at home. Yes, there’s a backup quarterback. But when you know these rivalries, you can’t turn around and say, Well, it’s an automatic win, because they’re 15 years ago. People still remember that or 13 years ago. People still remember that Steelers team that went into Baltimore that beat them at home with a backup quarterback and some dude now by the name of Charlie batch was playing that you cannot underestimate that particular element of it. Huntley, he put on he has film right now that shows that he could push the ball down the field. You cannot take that for granted.
Nestor Aparicio 19:09
Charlie batch is our guest. He once won a big game around here. He was the villain wearing the black hat and the the gold Cape up there with the yens in that we got a big game in Pittsburgh this week. It’s always great talk to Charlie. We’ll talk about his foundation in a minute, stopping Derek Henry and I mean, you watch the game on Saturday that the whole world was watching, Matt Lafleur comes out at halftime and says, We got big boy. Didn’t like, I’m like, I often wonder why they even do those interviews. They’re all awful. They’re terrible. I know the league’s all leaning into the getting the player in the locker room before the game, or on the field before the game, and like, and it’s always terrible. But Matt lafour said we got big boy. And I’m like, oh, boy, I haven’t heard that. And you know that they’re at home, they’re Lambo field. It’s a Hall of Fame running back. And then he went out in the second half, got big boy even further. You know, through it, once it starts to get big boy. It’s tough to do, and I know without TJ watt this week, some thoughts on how you do stop it, other than maybe just forcing them to fumble once or twice, which would change the game, for sure. But how do you stop Derek Henry on Sunday night? Because that’s the story in Pittsburgh. That’s the story how you save your season, right?
Charlie Batch 20:15
It is, and you really have to get him running laterally before he gets downhill. That’s the only way that you can do it, or at least some of them defensive tackles twist that can disrupt the Powell and making him now get off balance and not put his foot in the ground and get started, because once he gets started, he is very tough to bring down. He’s unique. That’s why he has the most 200 yards rushing games in the history of the league. And he’s mentioned with the best. And because he spent his years in Tennessee. You’re like, sometimes, you know, it’s like a sneaky stat that kind of comes up, and you’re like, we didn’t realize he was that good, or he had that much yardage. It reminds me of a Frank Gore, right? You would, you think about, like, wow, Frank Gore stayed around so long. This guy’s a top five rusher. You would have, you would not put, put that on your bingo card to think that Frank Gore will be in the top five rushing. Derek Henry is that way, but because he’s that big, you would not think that he has that speed, but he’s done so over the course of his career, and he’s highlighting it now still playing at an elite level when he with the when he with the ravens, I think it’s a perfect fit for him to continue to do that. That is the part that frustrates me. All you know is, what you’re going to get is that heavy dose of Derrick, Henry, and I think ultimately, two weeks ago, when he did not hand the ball off to him, that’s coaches getting in their own way. Somebody ego. Somebody had an ego, regardless of maybe a conversation or something. I had it on that had they had on the sideline, they say you want to, we’re not going to play Henry this week, and it cost you a loss, and now you see what they did last week as they tried to write the ship. And of course, you’re still going to get that here this weekend in Pittsburgh. I’m not going to sit here and say that I’m writing it off. All I know is the last team that really came in and wanted to run heavy in Atkins, sure Stadium, the Buffalo Bills did that in the matter of over 200 yards. So again, they have to write that ship.
Nestor Aparicio 22:00
Aaron Rodgers, any thoughts on where he is at this point in his life? I’m sure you know, at your age now, and watching even more football you do. You see the game better than maybe you even did as a 35 year old quarterback when you beat us here many I mean, it would seem to me, the longer you do it and study it, and I hear Tom Brady becoming a better broadcaster every week, and I hear Romo get himself back into the huddle when that clock’s down to 876, and they’re changing plays, and you’re doing hand signals and all of that. Seeing Aaron Rodgers do this over the last couple of weeks, and I’ve been paying attention, there is a maestro level, maybe beyond Peyton Manning and Brady at the end of all of that in this offense, to say, go out and run. You know, he saw he had a matchup. They had him, Mike two weeks ago, go out to the right and just run a fly. Boom, I hit you. It’s a touchdown. And most quarterbacks don’t have the ability to do that. After a decade in the sport, Aaron Rodgers is doing it at a different level. And I think that that would frighten me if I’m roquan Smith, or if I’m calling defenses out in the middle, knowing how much disguise is going to need to be used in the in this game, especially with the late mind game, with this quarterback on Sunday night at home, where he can operate,
Charlie Batch 23:13
yeah, and there’s not much at his age that he hasn’t seen. So you know, you go, you could pretty much predict and people look at coverages, but when you get up there and experience you can look at defensive fronts and almost anticipate the coverage that you’re going to get behind it. That’s where you are and where he is, and that’s his point of career. So I think those are things that I’m sure conversations are going to start throughout the course of the week, and give him more control at the line of scrimmage, not to say he didn’t have it, but again, let him change those plays to get the offense where they need to get to. But unfortunately, when you don’t have the big threat or the D thread that they typically would have, things become a little bit more challenging. And that’s what’s happening here, and that’s why the Steelers are going to have to get that running game going. But I think when you look back and you asked about Aaron Roger, this guy had fun this year. He really did. He came back. He wanted to play meaningful games in December, hopefully now into January. That’s why he wanted to come to Pittsburgh. Now it’s a matter of now giving the securing the win to now say this justifies you getting in a tournament and then seeing what happens at that particular point, but if, for whatever reason, they don’t get the win, this is obviously going to be a disappointing season, and it’ll probably be a lot of change here in Pittsburgh.
Nestor Aparicio 24:21
Tell Arthur Smith and coach G Don’t be subbing in on Aaron Rodgers the last two minutes when he’s trying to run. Hurry up, right? Like you just see him in the field, and it’s like, let him do whatever he wants to do. It’s a it’s a different kind of world, right? Maybe it’s a world that that Tomlin remembers pretty well with Roethlisberger, because that’s kind of the way Ben ran things at the end, when he was good, absolutely.
Charlie Batch 24:40
But at the beginning, it was kind of the same thing when you’re kind of learning who that player is, and you kind of step on the toes and Ben’s like, I got this. And once Holman figures, yep, he has it, there’s no reason to really question anything else. And I think that’s kind of still the learning curve that’s happening between Arthur and Aaron. But to your point, when he got pissed, when he’s sitting back trying to trying. Sub, and he, you know, is very good at that 12th man type of quick to the huddle and being able to get a free play. And that almost cost him that, because he was trying to make a sub, and then he was able to get to the line of scrimmage. So again, those are things that Baltimore has to prepare for, but Aaron is one of the best, and he was doing that throughout the course of his career well before he got to
Nestor Aparicio 25:19
Pittsburgh as the savvy veteran quarterback, the best plays are the free plays, right? Absolutely. Charlie badger, let’s have a foundation real quick here, because it’s the holidays and you’re doing good stuff. So inspirational with you know your tragedy with your sister, many, many years ago. Go ahead, man, give me your elevators feature in Baltimore. Tell them that they can help you. Yeah.
Charlie Batch 25:40
So literally, best of the batch Foundation. We just celebrated 26 years of our foundation, and it’s exciting. We service, we’re an educational foundation, and we service over 4000 kids annually in nine counties throughout Southwestern pa so during the holiday season, we actually between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving, we adopted 200 families with turkeys and the fixings. And then ultimately, when we came into the holiday season with our holiday drive, actually, we adopted 411 families this year. It was 18 111 kids. So what we had, what we do is collect toys unwrapped. Then we allow people to follow the journey of their presence, and we have a big wrapping party that happens. And then ultimately, which that takes over 1700 volunteers to help make this happen. So we’ve been rapping since December 2, and then ultimately, the week of Christmas, we go out and deliver, and we have a fantastic team that may have that makes this happen. And we are just truly grateful for everybody who truly believes in the mission and vision of what our foundation is trying to do. So again, people who wants to to learn more about what we do, and we love collaborating with people, because we don’t do all things well, they can go to batch foundation.org, you’ll be able to see everything that we do throughout a calendar year. So it’s just been an awesome 2025 year, and we are looking forward to what’s next in serving these kids in 2026
Nestor Aparicio 26:58
Well, the best part about having friends in Pittsburgh is when we have to fire up the family roadster, Luke and I on Sunday morning, head on up through breeze wood and Somerset past the 911 Memorial, and get on up there to Monroeville and maybe get ourselves nice little Sunday brunch somewhere. Go Come see Mr. Mr. Rooney for his roast. And it’s some cookies, you know. So it’s a big game. And I, I mean, in the annals of Baltimore, Pittsburgh, this one feels like it’s going to have for the loser, some bad things are going to happen and and it’s been a really weird season. And I hope to see you on Sunday night Pittsburgh, Charlie, it’s always a pleasure. Man.
Charlie Batch 27:34
Hey, sounds good. I appreciate you having me as always. Look at that smile working
Nestor Aparicio 27:37
on the best of batch found day 26 years of doing the work up there, and anytime I think, well, maybe this is the one we get even with a backup quarterback and go and take Pittsburgh’s lunch money, and maybe I get some of those sandwiches with the French fries on top. We’re headed to Pittsburgh this week. Luke is at knowings mills. 25 is going to become 26 and we’re headed into the new year with a big, big football game at the confluence on Sunday night. I am Nestor. We are W NST AM, 1570 Towson, Baltimore, we never stopped talking Baltimore positive.
