Despite a strong second and third quarter, the Ravensโ defense struggled early and late in what felt like a walkover 41-31 win in Tampa. Luke Jones and Nestor emphasize the need for the defense to be more consistent and dynamic, particularly in forcing (and catching) turnovers. They also address defensive vulnerabilities in the secondary with the loss of Marlon Humphrey, who grabbed two interceptions against the Bucs.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ravens defense, Marlon Humphrey, Cleveland Browns, Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay, injury concerns, offensive coordinator, defensive vulnerability, turnover opportunities, playoff aspirations, Lamar Jackson, Super Bowl, offensive consistency, defensive improvement, upcoming schedule
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive. It is a short business week around here as the Ravens take on the Cleveland Browns. This week, we got World Series action. Luke and I are talking all of these things out at the am 1570 as well as a Baltimore positive big crab cake tour set this Friday for mamas on the half shell in Owings Mills up at Foundry row. The old guys used to call that painters mill, or the sweetheart cup company, where my step brother worked many years ago. Weโre going to be giving away the Ravens scratch offs from the Maryland lottery. Weโre also going to have our friends at Liberty pure solutions, as well as Jiffy Lu put us out on the road for the 26th anniversary we have here of our Maryland oyster tour on a day by day basis. Weโre going to be featuring Ray Bachman a little later on in the week. And Ray is battling cancer. If youโre an old school W NST listener, you want to help Ray out. He has a GoFundMe. You can also help him out with a little love. Send him an email or a note over his email, his old email still works, right? Wnst.net, so you can still find him there. Luke Jones is here. We have a short business week after what was a real bludgeoning of the defense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And, you know, we sit here all day and talk about Lamar, the offense, the offense, the offense. I still feel like, if they donโt win the Super Bowl, the defense is going to be a big, big part of that, and itโs something that weโre not going to talk about when weโre playing Jameis Winston this week or whatever, but Baker Mayfield, if they had added another quarter to the game on Sunday night, you know, he was moving the ball, and they werenโt afraid of moving the ball until goblin got hurt at the end of the game, and that was a factor of them not giving up. But there is something about this defense that if youโre an offensive coordinator in the other room preparing, you feel like thereโs some vulnerability here, especially if Marlin upper is not going to get back out on the field this
Luke Jones 01:57
week. Yeah, and obviously, if thereโs one, I donโt want to say one bad spot, because obviously, the defense didnโt play very well at the beginning of the game. Certainly didnโt play well at the end of the game. But the injury to Marlon Humphrey, and, you know, John Harbaugh was kind of non committal about it, I know Marlon Humphrey did his Instagram Live post game plane thing, so he canโt be in that bad of shape. John Harbaugh said he was walking around he was in good spirits after the game. So, you know, I donโt get the sense that this is any concern, like an ACL or anything crazy like that. But when, when youโre talking about someone who leaves the game in the second quarter and then is ruled out early in the second half, you know, thatโs generally a sign that itโs not nothing either. So, you know, weโll see how this week looks. To your point. I mean, this is a Cleveland Browns team that theyโre going to face, that who knows whoโs going to be a quarterback. Theyโve traded away Amari Cooper. I mean, I the Ravens better not lose the browns. I mean that, and I say that just out of a compliment to the Ravens. And as well, Iโll be talking
Nestor Aparicio 02:59
to Cleveland people all week about whether theyโre trading miles Garrett. Miles Garrett or not. I, you know, giving cap numbers and all the things that go on that bake all this together. We traded for row Claude Smith a couple years ago. So anythingโs possible. I guess, when youโre throwing the towel in and youโre going to have to redo your franchise, which is pretty much where they are, theyโre gonna have to redo their franchise in Cleveland.
Luke Jones 03:18
Yeah, yeah. But you know? I mean, clearly the focus for the Ravens is how to get this defense playing at a more consistent level. I mean, they came out opening drive, Tampa Bay moves right down the field, scores a touchdown, second drive, field goal. So at least the defense was able to tighten up inside the red zone on that front and then, as we talked about in our previous segment, the real turning point was Tampa Bayโs third drive where Mike Evans drops a touchdown, hurts his hamstring in the process, and you could kind of tell, even on his first touchdown catch that he wasnโt right. That was an issue for him throughout the week. So canโt say I was shocked that the hamstring issue popped up during the game, but between that drop and then Mayfield throwing the pick to finish that drive, even though he had had Irving, the Bucky Irving, open for a touchdown at the beginning of that play, and he didnโt, didnโt see him, and then he tries to force one into the corner, and Marlon Humphrey gets that pick. I mean, it completely changed the game. The game really flipped from that point in time. But you know, you look at this defense and the mid the second and third quarter, they played pretty well. I mean, you look at how the drives just went for Tampa Bay, first two drives, touchdown, field goal, then after that, interception, interception, end of half. Donโt really count that. That was just a kneel down. But then they come out in the second half, Tampa moves the ball, but they hold him to a long field goal, try, 55 yarder, no good. And then punt, punt. I mean, I get it the fourth quarter. Iโd like to see them not give up three touchdowns, but we also know that game was basically over, right? And, I mean, I hear what youโre saying. If, if. The game goes another quarter. But on the flip side of that, if the game goes another quarter, well, theyโve got to stop Lamar Jackson and this ravens offense multiple times, and they werenโt able to do that. So So yeah, Iโd love, Iโd love to see this defense find more consistency. I think thereโs still the makings of a solid defense in there somewhere. I donโt think this can. This secondary is completely devoid of talent or a completely lost cause by any stretch of the imagination, but at some point in time, you got to start doing it. And yeah, they just they all year long, they have not been able to make a play a complete 60 minutes other than the Buffalo game, right? So one out of seven, the other six, theyโve had at least a bad quarter or two where itโs really impacted their numbers, the statistics, the flow of the game, whatever. So theyโve got to figure that out. They know that. I mean even hearing and reading some of Kyle Hamiltonโs post game comments. He was asked about Humphrey coming away with those two picks and how important they were. He said, Well, heck, we could have five. You know, if you go look, we dropped a couple others, and weโve talked about that so but, but to be positive, to look for a positive here, I said this to you going into Monday nightโs game, if this defense can at least find a way to be more dynamic, be a little more variant in the way of forcing a couple more turnovers along the way, getting an extra possession for your offense, taking away a possession that is so incredibly valuable for the opposition when youโre trying to keep up with this ravens offense. If they can do a little more of that. I can live with this not being your typical top 10 or top five kind of ravens defense, if they can do more of that, and they were able to do that on Monday night,
Nestor Aparicio 06:52
in the back of the end zone like that, really changed things. From a from a was going to be seven. Turns out to be nothing. Should have at least been three, and it was a really sloppy interception. Mean, great play by Humphrey. We pointed that out. I mean, he he peeled back into the corner of the end zone. Mayfield didnโt see him, but, you know, they were on their heels again. You know, to make a big play in that circumstance really changed the game. Yeah.
Luke Jones 07:18
I mean, from that point on, it was all ravens until so late in the game where you knew practically speaking, letโs face it, even when they recovered the onside kick, were you worried that? I still wasnโt worried. It was looking at the defense and saying, Oh, youโd like, you need to finish better than this. But at no point in that fourth quarter did I think that this game was in jeopardy. So yeah, that completely turned the game. I mean, it really did. So if you can at least do more of that as a defense, as a pass defense, become a little more dynamic in that way, be a little more high variant, where you can force a few more takeaways, get a couple more sacks and some key spots, and make things a little bit better on that front, even if the passing yardage and the total yardage and the big plays are still too many, and youโre still chasing that and they still are. I mean, you could tell reading some of the comments and hearing some of the post game comments. I mean, that was a defense that was happy to win, but they knew that it was way more the offense doing what they did that resulted in that outcome. And these guys, thatโs a prideful group. I mean, this is a group that was the best defense in football last year in terms of scoring defense, turnovers and sacks. I mean, that that triple crown defense that they had last year, we know itโs diminished in terms of some of the coaching and jadavion Clowney and Geno stone and some other depth pieces here and there, but by and large, this is still a really talented group, and thatโs why Iโm not giving up hope on that group. But you kind of figure this out. I mean, you do, because you donโt want to be in a position on a day where, letโs face it, at some point in time, and when I say this, it doesnโt mean theyโre going to stink, but at some point in time between now and whenever the season ends, hopefully, you know, hopefully, for the Ravenโs sake, in New Orleans in February, but theyโre going to have a couple games where the offense isnโt clicking to this degree, to this magnitude. And when that happens, youโre going to need your your defense to pick it up some. And thatโs where you look at this thing and say, okay, good second quarter, good third quarter, fourth quarter, stunk and was sloppy and had Ed Reed basically tell saying on the Manning cast that they still have to learn how to finish. They still have to learn itโs a 60 minute game. They theyโre still not a championship team in that way. And thatโs certainly much more on the defensive side. But even the offense, you know, like we talked about that, that lateral play that you just look at that itโs just like, one donโt really love the call in that spot, you know, throw in a backwards pass, knowing that a backwards pass, if it hits the ground, itโs a live football, you know, if itโs a forward pass, it hits the ground, no problem. No more. No foul. So they still are chasing those elements. But seven weeks into the season, if thatโs the worst you can say about a football team, youโre doing a lot of things right, and youโre winning a lot of football games. And you know, this team went on the road against a team that fancied itself as a legitimate contender in the NFC I think, now, with the injuries to Mike Evans and and especially Chris Godwin being out for the year, that certainly throws a, you know, as a fly in their ointment as it pertains to that. But, I mean, give the Ravens credit across the board, but still work to do on this defense. And yeah, Iโm not, really. Iโm non plus, Iโm unfazed by the fact that Tampa ran the ball on them more than what weโve seen until I see teams start doing that consistently. Still think itโs a great itโs a great run defense, so they at least have that going for them, and thatโs something that should help their past defense as the year goes on. In terms of your teams are going to be behind a lot. Teams canโt run the ball on you consistently. So you should have a good idea what theyโre trying to do against you, right? You should know, hey, theyโre probably going to throw it 40 plus times again. You got to defend it and but thatโs my point. Yeah, you got to go out and do it so, so you might have the advantage of the the opposition being a little more predictable than your typical matchup, but you still have to go out there and make plays, and theyโre still chasing that. I mean, they really are. So you know, again, there were good things from their defense over the course of that game, but itโs just not nearly complete enough at this point in time. And thatโs where you look at and you hear the comments from Kyle Hamilton or roquan Smith on a weekly basis, and theyโre still chasing that. So thereโs that. And again, fingers crossed on Marlon Humphrey that you know certainly that youโre hoping that this isnโt a lengthy absence. You know, if he misses a game or two, thatโs thatโs not the end of the world. I mean, Arthur millets on the verge of coming back. Ardarius Washington, again, had another chance catch the football man. I mean, heโs there to make plays. You got to make them though. I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 12:08
heโs doing everything Geno Stone did last year, so catching the ball, yeah, right, exactly. So.
Luke Jones 12:13
So again, you can look at elements of this defense and look at it as half full in certain ways, right? I mean, itโs not,
Nestor Aparicio 12:22
well, you can let him throw the ball around 40 times. If you pick three or four of them, you win the game Exactly. Especially if you pick it in the end zone. Let him go 80 yards and pick it in the end zone, you frustrate the hell Adam, take points off the board and cut their hearts out. Um, but at some point you gotta, you gotta catch the ball and you gotta make the sack, and youโve gotta get the punt team on the field, or bring them to their knees on fourth down and to your point when theyโre behind. And what youโre going to be playing fourth downs, youโre going to be playing to your knees like so all of thatโs going to be the case when you are winning by two or three touchdowns in the SEC. And they will be this week against Cleveland. They will be against Denver two weeks, you know, they have another structure. They have short resting in Cincinnati. Theyโre going to see Pittsburgh, and then theyโre going to see the Chargers. So, you know, the November part of the schedule, after this next week or two, theyโre going to have a couple of serious division games and games where maybe theyโre in a little bit of peril. I felt like they were in peril losing 10 to nothing on Monday night. I felt like, well, at some point, 22 and one against the NFC and all that that goes on, um, I felt like I said this to my wife, like, literally, weโre making food before we had some leftover pizza Johnโs. We made some pizza before the game on Monday, because pizza Johns isnโt open on Monday. So if you want pizza Johnโs on Monday Night Football, you gotta go on Sunday. You know this, youโre wearing that. Um, but we I said to her, Iโm like, you know, tonightโs a weird games, like 730 and I said, I donโt know that Iโm in the mood even watch football tonight. Like I watched it all day Saturday, all day. Say, Iโm like, hey, you know these Monday night games play these things on Sunday drive me crazy. But I said to her, Iโm like, theyโre a little bit apparel tonight. This is a weird game. They are real quarterback on the other side. Thereโs some championship pedigree there. Itโs a road game, itโs, itโs sleepy, and then they went out and theyโre losing early in the game. And Iโm like, Hmm, well, they answered that. I mean that that that was the best part of Monday night for me, is watching everything not go right. And in the end, theyโre winning by three touchdowns.
Luke Jones 14:20
Yeah. I mean, and again, I mean, the final score I get, it ends up being a 10 point game, even with the defense getting as sloppy as it got in the final quarter, I never felt like it was a two
Nestor Aparicio 14:30
quarter game. The second and third quarter was the only time they really played football.
Luke Jones 14:34
Yeah, yeah. I mean, sure, sure. And thatโs what was amazing about this game. I mean, over 500 yards of offense and 41 points and go look at their first quarter. I mean, if not for the Charlie Kohler play, I mean, their yardage would have been nothing in that first quarter, just about.
Nestor Aparicio 14:52
So halftime was all about how Derek Henry had gotten touched the ball, right? Sure,
Luke Jones 14:55
yeah. I mean, before Derrick Henry had his 81 yarder, he had 34 rushing yards. I mean, that was with. What four or five minutes to go in the third quarter? I mean, Derrick Henry, he was a factor in finishing the football game, but he wasnโt a factor in how the Ravens built this lead. I mean, it was actually kind of amusing to hear the broadcast speculate about an injury for Derrick Henry. Well, they clearly didnโt do their homework, because justice hills on the field, when they go into two minute and they go into little more up tempo and a little more pass heavy. I mean, because heโs better in pass protection and he gives you more as a receiver out of the backfield. So yeah, the game flow dictated a lot of that. I mean, you fell behind 10 nothing, right? Not that youโre going to panic, but youโre also not going to show a lack of urgency, either. So, I mean, that was the thing. I mean, Tampa Bay was going to play a certain way. I mean, going into the game, I mentioned how they like to stack the box, and they like the Blitz, and they play a lot of zone defense, and you do those things. I I thought that that was a recipe for Lamar Jackson to have another big night. You know, he came up a little short on having, uh, his third straight 300 yard passing game, which would have been the first time heโs ever done that. But hey, five touchdown passes. I mean, speaks for itself. And how about the fact that he did it again on Monday Night Football, and his career high in passing yardage, which was against Indy back in 2021 Monday Night Football. I mean, weโll talk about January legacy Super Bowl, all that, you know, weโll talk about that plenty between now
Nestor Aparicio 16:22
prime time, reckless better than anybody in the history of the game, right? Yeah.
Luke Jones 16:25
I mean his money and his Monday night, specifically Monday night. I mean, heโs just put up some unbelievable games on Monday night. I mean, and look at the end of the day we get it. And Lamar be the first to tell you, heโs thinking about Super Bowl. Heโs thinking about winning a championship. But this isnโt an entertainment driven business, at the end of the day, itโs entertainment, right? I mean, inherently, a bunch of grown men playing a playing a game is not valuable unless people are supremely entertained watching it. Lamar Jackson is supremely entertaining, and he was once again on Monday night. But you know, going back to the defense, they donโt have to do a whole lot. I mean, thatโs just the truth. They donโt need this to be the 2000 Ravens. You know, they donโt need this to be the 2006 Ravens. Or take your pick of any number of great defenses theyโve had over the last quarter century. They donโt need that with this offense. But can you take the ball away a little more? Can you clean up the pass defense some? You know, you donโt have to be, you donโt have to be top five or even top 10. Just donโt be 31st right? You know, donโt be at the very bottom. You know, move. Can you move a little bit closer to the middle of the pack and get a few more takeaways in the process you do that, good luck trying to beat this team. I mean, you know, you mentioned what their upcoming schedule? I mean, letโs, Iโm not saying this to even, you know, to boast or anything like that. Is there another game left on the schedule where the Ravens arenโt going to be favored? I mean, letโs just putting aside injuries, which can apply to any team, any at any point, right?
Nestor Aparicio 18:06
Well, Houston and the Chargers are the two games that you look at and say, you know, theyโre troublesome, theyโre road game, you know, whatever, but theyโll be favored on the road. Thereโs no issue with the
Luke Jones 18:16
Ravens. I mean, maybe Houston, maybe. I mean, and again, a lot of that, how healthy is each team? All of that, but the rest of these games, I mean, theyโre gonna be favored. Now, that doesnโt mean anything, right? I mean, they were heavily favored against the Raiders, and itโs amazing that game was a little over a month ago. And it becomes more and more perplexing every week, how in the world, did they lose to the Raiders? I mean, itโs just what
Nestor Aparicio 18:42
was their defense? Because
Luke Jones 18:44
the well, their offense dropped the ball at, you know, the proverbial dropped the ball at a couple points in that game too. They they could have put the ball away or put the game away with their offense in that game, and they didnโt. But itโs inexplicable, because itโs not only that, you know, at the time, we thought, Oh, the Raiders, maybe theyโre maybe theyโre decent, maybe theyโll be a wild card contender. Theyโre awful. I mean, theyโre one of the worst teams in football. And itโs just incredible to think that the Ravens lost that game, you know, five weeks later, because of how great the Ravens have been and how lousy the Raiders have been. But weโre
Nestor Aparicio 19:17
still talking about the offensive line, then weโre still talking about that gelling Max COVID. He was great.
Luke Jones 19:21
Yeah, he was great in that game. Hey, and you know what? If youโre John Harbaugh, you love the fact that youโve won five games in a row, but youโre going to continue to point back to that game to for your team, not to be overconfident. If youโre John Harbaugh, youโre going to play that clip from Ed Reed. Of all people, John, they donโt care what media guys say? Right? They donโt even care what former plays players in other markets, or talking heads on ESPN say John Harbaugh is going to play that clip of Ed Reed on the Manning cast saying gameโs over. In their minds, they donโt understand the other side of finishing and being a championship team right now. And look, who am I to? Sit here and say Ed Reedโs wrong or anything like that. Iโm not, but thatโs thatโs the kind of ammunition that a coach loves having in the process of being five and two, that youโre not going to get overconfident. And of course, their defense. Thereโs no reason for their defense to be overconfident right now, although
Nestor Aparicio 20:15
theyโve lost to Kansas City enough to know like none of this matters. They can be 15 and two, you know, whatever the much theyโre going to be. I mean, as I look at it now, thinking about the beginning of the year and the loss and where they are, the notion that theyโre going to have to go out to Kansas City, that would be the one thing that much like when Flacco went to New England and won, because weโre always on the road during that period of time. Thatโs the one thing Lamar hasnโt done, is going on the road when playoff games, you know, like that would be the next thing you think, we canโt beat them. We can beat them there. Theyโre going to, I mean, theyโre almost going to have to beat them there because of the early losses. Because it doesnโt feel like the chiefs are going to sub their toe a whole lot here along the way, either, and theyโve got a two game lead and the tie breaker. So the Chiefs have to lose three more games than the Ravens along the way. I donโt know I and I know that Utah playing the raiders and the division that theyโre in. For me, the notion that theyโre gonna have to go out to Kansas City and do it still looms kind of large, way, way down the line, three months, oh sure, from now, whatever, and all the things that have to go right and wrong, but thatโs, thatโs a shame part of it, but itโs also, uh, yeah, we didnโt beat him here. Weโll beat him there, you know. And I remember the Ravens mindset about the Billy condiff game. And there were 365, days that, you know, you covered the team that at that point, through that period of time where they had to own it. And every time I hear Joe Bucha talk about, well, we sat with Lamar last night, all he talks about is losing that game. And you know that three runs and they didnโt win and they couldnโt beat the chiefs, and yeah, Lamar feels like the kind of guy thatโs going to be obsessed about that. And I donโt, I donโt mind that, but the fact that they lost the first game does bring me a little bit of theyโre going to have to go out there. And thatโs the part that worries me for the whole operation, is that itโs not level playing field because how they played the first two weeks. Well,
Luke Jones 22:15
look the Ravens. There are two Super Bowls. They were road warriors. I mean, youโre not wrong, and thatโs why I said it to you know, when we had our first segment talking about this team, they had the best quarterback in football right now with an asterisk, knowing that itโs October and January and February is what matters. They have the best, and for my money, the best team in football right now in terms of not record, because Kansas City has that, but in terms of how it looks across the board. Now, the defense isnโt the best in the NFL. We know that, but the offense overwhelmingly the best. So even if we donโt want to say the best team, you know, if you want to push back on that, find they have the best offense in the NFL right now with an asterisk. I mean, itโs all pending January. And to your point about Lamar and the way that heโs talked, the way that heโs playing right now. I mean, heโs playing smart football. Heโs playing spectacular football. You know, didnโt like the helmet. The helmet hit. He took that. I mean, that was terrifying for a moment there. I mean, that was a brutal hit, and itโs again, a reminder that this can all be so fragile for anyone from Kansas City on down, right? If you lose your quarterback or you lose a critical player at another spot, look
Nestor Aparicio 23:36
at what happened to Tampa goblin at the end of the game. Yeah, right. Look at the air and the energy of the whole operation, where they entered the game four and two feeling good about themselves, had a 10 point lead at home, you know, I lost a Lamar, but, you know, okay, and then, yeah, playing around last 45 seconds of the game, they they really have cost themselves, you know, a key, key player, a key player Like we wouldnโt want to lose Derek Henry like that. Sure, sure,
Luke Jones 24:03
itโs unfortunate, but, I mean, go back and look at the Ravens. Three years ago, they lost Marcus, Peters and Gus Edwards within five minutes in a practice, right? Itโs this brutal sport. I mean, it really is. Thatโs why you donโt take any of this for granted. Thatโs why for anyone you know, for any Ravens fans that have tried, and there arenโt many of them, but youโll find a certain segment of it on social media that will try to brush off what happened in 2019 why? Because, well, theyโre ahead of schedule. And Lamar is only at that point he was, what, 22 years old, 23 years old, whatever he was. And you know, even last year, itโs like, well, their windows still wide open. And I donโt disagree with that, but at the same time, none of this is guaranteed, right? I mean, weโre going to talk about this Cleveland game in a very different light than weโve talked about the last few weeks, right? Because the Browns stink and theyโre a team thatโs going nowhere. Their central focus at this point is, what the heck are they going to do at the quarterback position? How? Heck are they going to finish out the season? Whatโs that going to mean for Kevin Stefanski, even though he just got a contract extension, but if that team completely quits on him, is Jimmy Haslam going to see the course or is he just going to blow everything up, including that quarterback contract that two more years still owed to Deshaun Watson? So itโs going to be a very different tone in how we talk about that, but you and I both know that anything could happen out there on the field on Sunday, and I donโt mean in terms of a win or a loss, anything can happen that can be catastrophic to your team, Super Bowl aspirations at any on any given play. So
Nestor Aparicio 25:33
Well, Joe burrows healthy, and Lamar is not in week 12.
Luke Jones 25:38
Theyโre a better team, period, right? Or in January, if Lamar is not healthy, or Patrick mahomes isnโt healthy, or, you know, whatever team Josh Allen, I mean, the same thing applies. So I donโt say that, that you play scared. You canโt do that either, and Iโll hear the Godwin thing at the same time. When do you take your foot off the gas? Right? I mean, at some point. I mean, they could have, they could have, they could have quit at the beginning of the fourth quarter, if they wanted to, I guess, but he could have got hurt at the end of the third quarter, right? I mean, so yeah, I hear the second guessing on that, and itโs not you specifically. I saw lots of people on social media with that, but itโs just it can happen on any given play, and thatโs where you have to have the proper amount of humility and urgency to recognize what you have and to seize the opportunity. Thatโs why 2019 was so crushing. Go back to 2006 how crushing that was for the ravens and what opportunity they had that year, right? I mean, they could have hosted the A, F, C championship game that year, the following week after the the Patriots had beaten the Chargers. So when you have these teams that you can tell during the season that itโs a special team, right? I mean, you could tell 2012 you at this point, you couldnโt tell if that was a special team, and that thatโs kind of what made that story so special, because of what happened in 2011 and the fact that they didnโt really look like a championship caliber team, really at any point, neither did the Chiefs last year. Sure Exactly, exactly so. So what I mean by that is not that youโre dismissive of anything, or that you play scared or but there is a certain amount of humility that you have to have knowing that on any given play that can all get wrecked, you know, on and why you have to seize the opportunity when itโs presented to you. Thatโs why it was so heartbreaking last January, because the Ravens absolutely had the better team than the Chiefs over the course of the 2023 season. Donโt think thereโs any way to dispute that, but they werenโt better than them at the most important point in the season, in that AFC title game, and thatโs why the Chiefs had another trophy, and why the Ravens were sitting at home watching them. So that same principle is still going to apply. And look how many more games are the ravens are the Chiefs going to lose? You know, are the Chiefs going to lose three more than the Ravens the rest of the way? I have no idea. I mean, who knows, right? Itโs certainly not a Kansas City team thatโs blowing people out on a weekly basis. So if youโre going to sit here right now and look into the crystal ball and tell me that the chiefs are going to have a stretch where they lose four out of five at some point, I probably would say, Well, the way their offense is playing that wouldnโt completely stun me. Now, their defense is playing at a high level. But again, itโs all about when you get to that stage. And this ravens team looks very well equipped offensively, but they still have some work to do with their defense. But again, it can all be so very fragile, and thatโs just a reminder thatโs in the back of your mind at any point to not get too high, because you just donโt know. And on the flip side, if youโre Kansas City, who, by the way, and Iโve made reference to this, even going back to the end of last year, the chiefs have still not lost a football game Nestor since that Christmas Day debacle they had against the Raiders, where, what the Raiders had two pick sixes. And remember the Ravens had their amazing performance in San Francisco that night. You think about where those two teams were at that point in time, and the perception at that point in time, and then realize the Chiefs have not lost a football game. Iโm not, you know, preseason, whatever, they havenโt lost a real football game since then. And it just speaks to one, how great theyโve been, and two, how crazy this league is and how much things can flip. And we all remember Joe Flacco planking 12 years ago and mid December of that Super Bowl year, and then what happened five weeks later in Denver. So you know, itโs a itโs kind of a long winded, roundabout way of reminding ourselves that, still a little over a month ago, until Thanksgiving, this team looks fantastic, especially on offense. I mean, this team right now, Iโm not sure whoโs stopping them, right? I The ravens are the ones stopping the ravens, more than anything, to this point in the season. But look. Like, just because youโre playing a certain way now doesnโt mean that thatโs going to continue into November and December and January, and on the flip side, even if you do hit a bump in the road. And thatโs why I keep, you know, trying to point out the things about this defense that I still do. Like, you know, I I donโt think theyโre devoid of talent, but they do need to put it together. They do need to be a more complete defense. Because, man, if you just get this, I got a message from one of my just Ravens fan friends that I follow on Twitter, Jamie. He said, Just imagine if Zach or can get this team to even just mediocre defensively, get this defense to play mediocre, average middle of the road football, youโre not able to beat them. And itโs very tough to disagree with that at this point in time, itโs itโs going to take a Herculean effort to beat this ravens team with the way that itโs playing offense at this point, not in week one and week two, what theyโre playing now. And if you can put a little more productivity out of your defense, you know, force a couple more turnovers, get a couple more stops, play, even if itโs not 60 minutes, can you play 50 minutes of good football more consistently as a defense? You know, you do those things, good luck. I mean, really, it truly is, good luck trying to beat this team, unless they beat themselves and they turn the ball over and they commit penalties and they do silly things and they make bad play calls and all that. So I mean, thatโs itโs a pretty good space to be in when five weeks ago, we were talking about this team being, oh and two. And even if I was far from thinking they were on the brink or panicking or anything like that. Certainly, when youโre owing to youโre not feeling great about things, and five weeks later, theyโre theyโre on top of the world in terms of how theyโre feeling right now, even if, no, they donโt have the best record in the NFL, like Kansas City has right now.
Nestor Aparicio 31:53
He is Baltimore, Luke. Heโs Luke Jones. You can find his work out on social media. Weโre trying to make heads or tails of Cleveland week. It is a short week here. Weโre talking World Series. Luke and I had a long chat about the Orioles offseason. Yes, there is such a thing. Thereโs a real off season for the Orioles this year. So weโre going to be monitoring that probably a lot more closely than we have given new ownership, and what we hope is a new philosophy in some way here for the off season for the Orioles. In the meantime, the Ravens have kept things very, very interesting. In the week before Halloween, all of our work is up at Baltimore positive.com, our Maryland crab cake tours back after it on Friday, weโre gonna be at mamaโs on the half shell in Owings Mills. Say the kids call it foundry row. Itโs like Baltimore Peninsula. Itโll always be port Covington. To me, itโll always be Tannerโs mill. To me, out there in Owings Mills will be there on Friday from one before weโll have Raven scratch offs to get away from the Maryland lottery. Our friends at Jiffy Lube MultiCare putting Luke out on the road, as well as our friends at Royal farms. Real fresh, real fast, had some ROFO chicken over the weekend. I donโt put pictures up on social media every time I get get a two piece with, uh, Western fries. Sometimes I put the Western fries up just to piss off Max Weiss because she doesnโt like Western fries, because she doesnโt know whatโs good. Gotta get the right catch up with those as well. But also our friends at Liberty, pure solutions, as well as curio wellness, putting us out on the road for the Maryland oyster torch, our 26th anniversary, 26 years of doing this, 26 oysters in 26 days in 26 ways. Weโre up to about day seven or eight. Ray Bachman is going to be honored this week. He is battling cancer. Right now, down in Anne Arundel County, thereโs a GoFundMe page set up if you were a fan of Ray, his trivia nights, if you love ray, ray is easy to find out on social media. Itโs very easy to find the GoFundMe page to help him and his family. He and I have been texting. He has a throat issue where he canโt speak, but he can text, and heโs giving me good text. So Rayโs hanging in there. Rayโs battle. In the battle, people are asking me about Ray. I want to make sure that we are keeping people up to date on whatโs going on there. Meantime, weโre having oysters. I had some oysters with Ray down at Mikeโs and and Reva, Maryland a couple of weeks ago. The oyster tour brought to you by curio wellness and foreign daughter and liberty pure solutions. They keep my well water clean. They can keep your well water clean as well as take care of all of your plumbing needs. One 800 clean water. Luke and are going to continue on with NFL conversation World Series, Dodgers and Yankees. You know, itโs crazy. Lukeโs been on the planet like 4142 years. Has never seen the Yankees and the Dodgers in the World Series, and it feels like they play every year, but they donโt, and they havenโt since 1981 so Iโll be watching Chavez Ravine and the Bronx all weekend long, because I like baseball. So does Luke. So do you we are wnst am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, we never stop talking the magic of Lamar Jackson and Baltimore. Positive. You.