It was ugly a few weeks ago when the Baltimore Ravens were 1-5 and heavily injured. But, three wins in a row has fumigated the terrible start, and Luke Jones and Nestor assess the current reality of a weak schedule and a middling pack of AFC playoff hopefuls that still has Owings Mills believing in a January Super Bowl run.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ current standing and prospects in the AFC playoff race. Despite a 4-5 record, they believe the Ravens are improving, with recent wins against the Bengals and Steelers. They highlighted concerns about the offensive line, pass rush, and red zone efficiency, but noted improvements in first-down play-calling and third-quarter performance. They emphasized the importance of staying healthy, especially with key players like Ronnie Stanley. The conversation also touched on the Ravens’ potential playoff opponents and the need to win the division to avoid tough road games in January.
Ravens’ Current Standing and Recent Performance
- Nestor Aparicio discusses the Ravens’ current standing, noting they feel like they’re in first place but are sub-500.
- Nestor mentions the Ravens’ recent wins against the Bengals and Steelers, suggesting they are better than their record indicates.
- Nestor expresses confidence in the Ravens’ ability to win games in January, mentioning potential matchups against Denver, Indianapolis, and New England.
- Luke Jones acknowledges the Ravens’ improvement but remains cautious, noting deficiencies in the pass rush and first-down efficiency.
Challenges and Improvements in the Ravens’ Game
- Luke Jones highlights the Ravens’ issues with running the ball, especially early in the game, and their struggles in the red zone.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of Lamar Jackson and the offensive line, noting the need for better pass protection and running game consistency.
- Luke mentions the Ravens’ recent improvements in the third quarter, suggesting a change in offensive strategy might be beneficial.
- Nestor emphasizes the need for key players like Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey, and Roquan Smith to stay healthy and perform at a high level.
Offensive Line and Pass Protection Concerns
- Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges faced by the offensive line, particularly in pass protection and running the ball effectively.
- Luke mentions the importance of Ronnie Stanley’s health and the lack of depth on the offensive line, noting the potential issues if Stanley gets injured.
- Nestor highlights the need for better pass protection to avoid putting Lamar Jackson in third-and-long situations.
- Luke suggests that the Ravens might need to change their offensive tendencies, such as throwing more on first down, to improve their performance.
Defensive Line and Pass Rush Issues
- Luke Jones discusses the Ravens’ pass rush, noting it has improved but is still not formidable against top quarterbacks.
- Nestor and Luke talk about the importance of Kyle Hamilton and the defensive line in maintaining pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
- Luke mentions the Ravens’ deficiencies in short-yardage situations and the need to improve their red-zone efficiency.
- Nestor emphasizes the importance of having a strong pass rush to compete against top teams in the AFC.
Health and Injury Concerns
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of staying healthy, noting the Ravens’ current clean injury report as a positive sign.
- Luke mentions the potential impact of injuries on the offensive line and defensive line, highlighting the need for depth.
- Nestor emphasizes the importance of key players like Ronnie Stanley and Marlon Humphrey staying healthy to maintain the team’s momentum.
- Luke notes that the Ravens’ current health is encouraging but acknowledges the potential for injuries to impact their performance.
Playoff Scenarios and Division Standings
- Nestor and Luke discuss the Ravens’ playoff scenarios, noting the importance of winning the division to avoid playing on the road in the wild card round.
- Luke mentions the potential challenges of playing against top teams like Buffalo, Kansas City, and New England in the playoffs.
- Nestor emphasizes the need for the Ravens to win their division to have a better chance of making a deep playoff run.
- Luke highlights the importance of the Ravens’ upcoming games against Pittsburgh and Cleveland in determining their playoff position.
Overall Outlook and Future Prospects
- Nestor and Luke discuss the Ravens’ overall outlook, noting the team’s improvements but acknowledging the need for continued development.
- Luke mentions the importance of the Ravens’ upcoming games against Pittsburgh and Cleveland in determining their playoff position.
- Nestor emphasizes the need for the Ravens to stay healthy and continue improving to have a chance at making a deep playoff run.
- Luke highlights the importance of the Ravens’ upcoming games against Pittsburgh and Cleveland in determining their playoff position.
Community Engagement and Upcoming Events
- Nestor mentions the Maryland crab cake tour, sponsored by the Maryland lottery, and the various events and sponsors involved.
- Nestor discusses the importance of community engagement and the various activities and events the team is involved in.
- Nestor highlights the upcoming turkey trot event and other community activities the team is participating in.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the importance of community engagement and the various ways the team is giving back to the community.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ravens, AFC playoffs, Lamar Jackson, offensive line, pass rush, red zone, injury report, division standings, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, health, playoff scenarios, defensive line, first down efficiency, trade deadline.
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones, Speaker 1
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We’re Baltimore positive. We’re doing football around here better than anybody. Ask around the internet will tell you that the AI Gods will tell you that dude, a lot of the AI space had a great conversation with Damian O’Doherty two weeks ago. Also Bill Cole and Todd Schuler joined me at Pizza John’s as part of the Maryland crab cake tour. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I have Raven scratch offs. It’s been a lucky batch. I gave two lucky winners on on the show. I scanned the Cocos last week with Greg Abel, and he and I had a we did a lot of beat them up baseball last week. So this week, you’re lots and lots of conversation about challenging the Baltimore Orioles, challenging their ownership, challenging Mike Elias and Katie Griggs and David Rubenstein, but in the meantime, we got a football team that’s almost it just feels like they’re in first place, but they feel sub 500 but it’s kind of weird, you know, kind of reminds me those years when the New Orleans Saints would win the division at seven and nine or whatever. But I think the ravens are going to be better than that. Rounds up better than that, certainly with the next couple of weeks and beat up all opponents. I we’ve talked about the Bengals, we’ve talked about the Steelers and where all of that is, and certainly for this is not the best version of the Ravens we’ve seen Luke Jones, but good enough to win in Minnesota on Sunday. And I think good enough for you and I, despite I’m reading the AI here about all the negative stuff we say about the ravens, consistently challenging them in a complicated relationship with Chad steel and the Ravens and all that. You know, you always say, call a spade a spade. I, you know, I call it the way I see it, or tell it like it is. The coach would say, back in the day when they were one and five, I was the one still saying they’re probably going to make the playoffs. Now they can’t stub their toe and these kinds of games, and we saw buffalo stub their toe over the weekend. They don’t have that scar tissue room, to quote Kyle Hamilton, but I am a believer that they are the best team in this division, and they’re going to they’re going to, they’re going to have that opportunity to go prove it. I am a believer that they’re rounding more into the shape that we thought they were in in, let’s say June, where we thought they can look like a team that’s going to win three in a row, or go on the road three games in a row and win in November, because they’re built that way, and they’re healthy. So, I mean, I don’t want to turn this one into the negative one, because we did such positive in our first segment, but all of the thumbs are pointing up. But I do look at it and say, it’s still not great, and it’s and I think horrible. It’s not as good as it’s going to be and like and I’ll hear all that, but I am trying to figure out where the ceiling is. And you mentioned Buchanan and a couple of the younger players, where the O line, where the D line is, now that they have a semblance of a pass rush. I do look at them and say, free trade deadline, certainly pre elohiy Gilman, and I know he, you know, got sort of beaten up a little bit on Sunday, but they’re a better football team, obviously, when Lamar is playing them, when scooper Rush is in there, like that was a disaster. But they look capable, capable of winning games in January, certainly against Denver and Indianapolis and New England, the teams that I’m not completely sold on as being inhospitable for Lamar Jackson to get off the bus in January and win a football game with Derrick Henry.
Luke Jones 03:31
Well, I think some of what you said is TBD. I think the Ravens look even their harshest critics. I think would admit that they were better than how they looked roughly a month ago, right? That they had to be better than they were. I mean, go back and look at that Houston game. I mean, guys that were playing, I mean, they had Reuben Lowry starting who was, who was then waived a few days after that, right? I mean, it speaks to where they were from an injury and from a health standpoint, so they were always going to be better. I’m not ready to crown them as being back just because they’ve won three in a row. That said, Do I think they’re a good football team? Yeah, I think they’re a good football team. I think they have some very clear deficiencies. I would push back a little bit on the assumption that they have, they found some semblance of a pass rush. They had an okay. Their pressure rate was better on Sunday. I mean, how many sacks did they have, right? I mean, we’re still not talking about a very formidable pass rush here, and that’s something that I’m going to continue to have concerns about, especially when you are trying to project out going up against the better quarterbacks in the AFC in terms of what you said about, you know, Indianapolis, New England, and Denver, I don’t know. I mean, because that that’s making an assumption that those teams can’t continue to get better, right? I mean, new to your point, you and you talked about this a lot, and. In the previous segment, that New England team, I mean, beat the box, you know, the bucks were regarded as one of the better teams in the NFC. I mean, maybe not over the last couple weeks, you know, but think about how they were perceived a month ago. So it’s a moving target, right? Just like we were talking about how the ravens, how can they get better? They’ve gotten better over the last three weeks, but they’re still having issues running the ball, especially early in the game. They’re still having issues with first down efficiency that’s leading to second and long and third and medium range and third and long range compared to third and short. That’s not ideal. I mean, you mentioned Derrick Henry. They have. They haven’t been very good when Derek Henry runs the football, and I’m not blaming Derrick Henry. I’m not blaming Derrick Henry specifically for that. I think that’s a multi pronged explanation that begins with the offensive line, but they’ve got to figure that out. They’ve got to be better inside the red zone. They’re still not nearly what they need to be in terms of short yardage and goal to go right. And we’ve seen that all season, and that that’s carry that’s continued even with Lamar being back on the field. So that’s that’s a little disconcerting. So they have their issues. You know, we’ve talked about their defensive line and their pass rush, and we’ll continue to talk about that, but acknowledging those issues in the same way that buffalo is talking about their lack of playmakers at the wide receiver position, or Kansas City’s talking about whatever issues plague them,
Nestor Aparicio 06:30
what’s always been the offensive line there, right? I mean, they get rid of Stefan Diggs, and now they don’t have any catch the ball like, Sure. So there’s a little bit of city
Luke Jones 06:37
running backs been talked about. I mean, that, you know, there was talk about whether they would acquire a running back. I mean, you know one thing, one thing that I know I wrote about this. I don’t know if you and I talked about it, as far as the trade deadline residue. How many deals did Kansas City make at the trade deadline? How many deals did buffalo make at the trade deadline? You know what I mean, like, they didn’t get better. So that’s not to say that the Ravens should be doing cartwheels because they got Draymond Jones, who I think is a solid player, but I don’t think he transforms their pass rush into anything that teams are going to fear, but I think he can help but, but it speaks to the the challenge of trying to do it at the trade deadline, right? I mean, you don’t want to overpay. There’s only so many players that are out there. In some cases, you have teams that you know, and I think this is a dinosaur way of thinking a lot of times, but teams that don’t want to deal a player within the division, you know, even if that ends up being the best trade offer that you get. But my point is, all these teams have question marks, and if you’re the Ravens that doesn’t, that doesn’t default the ravens to the front of the line, but it doesn’t mean they can’t get closer to the front of the line as the year goes on. And in their case, look, are they going to be the number one seed? Of course not, right? I mean, you’d have to have multiple teams collapse, and the Ravens would have to run the table here to be the number one seed. I’m not betting on that, but I do look at the state of the division, and I look at the rest of the conference, and you know, I don’t see any perfect teams. I don’t see any teams that look completely elite at this point in time. So if you’re John Harbaugh on the ravens, just keep getting better. Just try to find more consistency with your red zone play calling, with what you’re doing on first down, having looked, you know, as you and I were kind of, you know, in between segments, and I was looking at this where, you know, I I look at their first down play calling. And so many people have, you know, especially early in the year, you know, give the ball to Derek Henry, feed Derrick Henry, feed Derrick Henry, well, they’re doing that a lot, and it’s putting them in second and long quite a bit. So that’s not to say that I am at all suggesting don’t give the ball to Derrick Henry, but it might need to be that you change tendencies and you come out throwing on first down a little bit more. And I know that sounds scary to you, know, traditional thinking, because, well, if you throw an incomplete on first down, then it’s second and long. Well, if you get stuffed on first down, it’s second and long anyway. So you kind of have to look at what’s working. So there’s definitely some of that that needs to be at work. I’d like to see Keaton Mitchell involved a little more. I’ll continue to go back to the idea of trying to run from being a little more spread out with formations and maybe lighter personnel on the field, and that gets teams out of heavier boxes where you’re talking about eight guys being at the line of scrimmage or close to the line of scrimmage. So it’s not just one thing. It’s not just one simplistic answer. I’m not going to sit here and try to make football, you know, there’s so simplistic when it’s oftentimes way more complicated than fans or media want it to be, but these are things they have to get better with. There’s no question about that. And you know, on Sunday, as much as it was a nice win and one to feel good about, and that’s absolutely. True. It also was a game where they had to kick short field goals. They had to kick field goals inside the red zone. And you can get away with that when you’re playing JJ McCarthy or maybe Gabriel in Cleveland on Sunday or Justin fields. But you know that’s not going to play when you’re playing teams that have more formidable offenses and more formidable quarterbacks. So they’ve got to, they’ve got to keep searching for those answers. And that’s not to say they won’t be able to discover them, but you know, before, before we even start thinking about January, because it’s still so far away. I mean, we’re still two months out until the start of the playoffs, these are the types of things that they have to find, not that they’re going to find all the answers, but you want to try to find as many answers as you can. And yeah, it’s tough, because I don’t love this offensive line, and I think it’s quite evident at this point in time that the coaching staff doesn’t love the depth on this offensive line, because we haven’t seen them shuffle the lineup. You know, do we see Emory Jones at some point, maybe, but not necessarily, holding my breath for that. So you know, it is a case of now past the trade deadline, your personnel is the personnel that you have the rest of the way, right, assuming you don’t have injuries. So now it’s a matter of trying to find a few more answers, continuing to try to get better. I have really liked, you know, as much as I haven’t liked how the offense has looked in the first half these last couple of weeks, I have liked how they’ve come out in the third quarter. And we saw it once again. You know, you saw them come out, throwing a little bit more in that third quarter, and it worked out better than it was working in the first half. So doesn’t mean you abandon the run entirely in early down situations, but you know, you do have to look at it and say, maybe we do need to change tendency a little more and throw on first down and and set up Derek Henry on second and three and then run the ball in that situation. That’s actually the more analytical way of thinking about offense in the National Football League, but you have to do what is best for your football team. And this is an offensive line that right now hasn’t been able to run the ball as consistently as you’d like. It’s had its moments, but still not what you’d like it to be on a Down by Down, consistent basis. And we also know that. What their past protection when you want to stay out of the most obvious third and long situations, which is true for anybody. You know that that’s not, it’s not a knock on the Ravens. That’s just a general statement about offense in the NFL, no one wants to be in third and long. Patrick mahomes would tell you you’re crazy if, if you think he likes being in third and long, but you have an offensive line that pass protection still leaves a lot to be desired, and the biking the Vikings Blitz the daylights out of Lamar, as many of us anticipated, they probably would, and Lamar, to his credit, did a great job of taking care of the ball, and they took one sack, threw the ball away a few times. And
Nestor Aparicio 13:03
that’s really saying something. With the offensive line being what it is, that’s what, that’s what, I mean that there’s a level of efficiency of Blitz and Blitz and Blitz, and which was the Flores prescription that sort of rocked their world a couple of years ago and made them go back into the laboratory and say, you know, we better get a left hook. We better figure something else out. We better get a new punch. We better get we better get something else. I think the something else for this team continues to be, and I keep going back to this, Lamar still their best option on any given play ever and more of that, or the threat of that, or the reality of that. And when’s the last time Lamar broke an ankle and went 38 yards on a run and did the Trail of Tears for the for, you know, leaving three guys in their wake? Did I see flowers that somebody did that in the game where there were three defenders that couldn’t bring them? And maybe it was flowers somebody down the left side? Down the left side. I saw it. I’m like, How many guys missed that guy? And I also saw that with the Ravens getting left in the in the lurch early in the game too, with a couple of guys, Marlon Humphrey missed a tackle that created nail or play early on. Right exactly. Yeah. So I mean you, but you remember those kinds of plays? Lamar made memorable running plays that made him Lamar. I’d like to see that again at some point, because that’s certainly without the threat of that they are more pedestrian, and they don’t run the ball as well, and they don’t pass block as well, and the line is it is good. Now I’ll give you all the skill position players. I’ll give you Lamar as fast as he’s ever been. But I know, I know what it’s like to get a little older and half a step to him is a lot of step when you’re the fastest guy on Earth and you’re just not anymore, now you’re just a fast guy. And the Keaton Mitchell thing was interesting as well, because speed, whether it’s flowers, whether it’s Mitchell, what the the. That’s it feels to me like they can tackle Derrick Henry, and when he doesn’t get six yards and space between you and him to run you over stiff arm, you and we saw a little bit of that too, but I don’t see enough of all of it. I know it’s in there. And I know it’s in there because you and I spent eight months of the offseason saying Super Bowl, Super Bowl. Now we’re four and five, and I still not saying they’re going to the Super Bowl, but they’re going to the playoffs. I mean, you know, I’ll say that. I mean, they’re four and five, they I probably would have said that when they were one and five. I said they’d be seven and seven. I figured some of these other teams would trip up. I figured Pittsburgh wasn’t as good as maybe we thought they were really I like the Ravens a lot more, just based on how much I don’t like the rest of this mess like. And I think the beginning of that was, well, if you get Kansas City and Buffalo and make them ordinary, and you look at the Colts and the Broncos and the Patriots as being upstart or soft schedule double digit wins while the rest of the big boys slug it out. And they’re going to get to 10 or 11, and those other teams are going to get to 12 or 13, based on playing Jacksonville too much, or Tennessee too much, or whatever it would be. I I’m a believer that this is a playoff team, and I’m a believer that they’re going to get better. Mostly, I’m not. I’m not a believer in Ronnie Stanley or Marlon Humphrey roquan You can speak to me about but the guys that looked old and fat and tired and beaten up and like all that, the first six weeks that got him into trouble, that are all making 20 plus million dollars. No offense, guys, you’re making $20 million a year, right? Like all of you, they have to be great, or someone else has to step up and be great in their stead. And I don’t think that’s anybody on the offensive line. I don’t think that’s note, boom. I don’t think that mccary’s coming back in, or they’re going to buy Bryant McKinney for the stretch run. Like if this team’s going to be what we think it’s going to be, Marlon Humphrey has to be better. Ronnie Stanley has to be completely physically healthy and a plus player. And the Rogue One Buchanan thing defensively. I’ll give you some oxygen on that, because I know you love talking about that, but the agent players here, the part where you look fat and old and Mark Andrews looks like he’s not so good, or Hopkins looks like he can’t do it anymore. I don’t feel like I believe any of that. I just need to see it for the next 12 weeks. I need to see all of them look like they’re still in somewhat of the prime of their career, and not broken down and just getting there, because they were really important guys, all of them. It’s
Luke Jones 17:44
interesting to hear you say you’re not a believer in Ronnie Stanley. Then I, I mean, if he can’t, if he can’t do it, then yeah, I don’t like their chances in January whatsoever. I reason why I bring that up? And I, you know, because I just wanted to note that. But an interesting development that didn’t play out because there wasn’t an injury on Sunday, but no, boom, was a healthy scratch on Sunday. Yeah, they saw that. Carson Vincent, the fifth round rookie, you know, from an HBCU and, you know, nice story, but certainly someone who has a long way to go, at least, was perceived that way in training camp. You know, he was, he was the active third tackle.
Nestor Aparicio 18:20
So is he better in past blocking or perceived as being because here’s my Vinson, yes, yes. Well, here’s more. Who knows? I don’t know. I don’t really know if he’s good in anything time to be I am. We’re playing on that garbage turf out in Minnesota where every time, I mean, you saw Derek, Henry couldn’t get his cleats in the ground right like and slid like an ice skater with a sea of rubber flying up in the in the air, which, you know, not cancer causing or anything like that. I thought they would think in that case, if we lose Ronnie Stanley, if Ronnie can’t go, if Ronnie gets hurt, if Ron whatever, we’re going to be losing. And we’re going to need past protect, you know, we’re going to need somebody that backpedals
Luke Jones 19:09
if, if, if we’re hurt,
Nestor Aparicio 19:12
because if we’re hurt, we might be behind, and if we’re behind, we’re going to be passing, and if we’re passing, we don’t want that guy. And I don’t know you tell me, because we’re talking we’re splitting hairs or a backup. I think we’re all in agreement, if Ronnie Stanley’s not there, they’re not they’re not going to be good enough. I mean, they’re barely good enough as it is. It’s all points in the third quarter. I mean, like when they need to run the ball, they can’t right now, in the way that all of us envisioned it being. And some of that might be scheme, some of that might be not wanting to run Lamar, lamar’s hamstring, or Derrick Henry or whatever, but Ronnie Stanley is the straw that stirs the drink to some degree, to some degree, above and beyond Lamar and all that, in the same way that when Kyle Hamilton’s right on defense and they can line him up, you got bigger concerns. You know what I mean? Bad, less. Bad things will happen to your defense because of the disruption that will happen there. I think the Ronnie Stanley thing’s important, really, really important, and it’s important that he be protected and loved and cherished and healthy.
Luke Jones 20:14
Oh, and it’s good, been good to see him be healthy coming out of the bye week. I mean, he’s played all but what the final series against Miami, which, you know, they just took him out at that point in time they were up. They wanted to keep him out of harm’s way, but he played every snap on Sunday to sit here and say that this is anything about Carson Vincent. I think this is way more damning for note boom, who first game when he filled in for Stan Lee was fine, I suppose, after that was bad, like not not good enough. So the fact that he’s now a healthy scrap, my $50 million quarterback killed right literally, and Vincent is the swing tackle. I’m sure I will buy. And look, we don’t get to watch practice to any meaningful extent in the regular season to see if Vincent is suddenly making these big strides. I would look, I’m not going to sit here and say he hasn’t gotten better. I assume he has. But I think that’s way more about No, boom and yeah, it’s, it’s not even for me that Ronnie Stanley needs to play Pete Ronnie Stanley football. Just be available and be effective. And if you have that, then your offensive line, you feel a lot better about other than your guards, right? But if Stanley’s not upright and healthy, and now you’re talking about, I don’t know if it would be Vincent going to left tackle, or maybe it would be a situation where rosengarden would go to the left side and Vincent would play right tackle, right? I mean, I don’t know these. None of these are good. These are not things that anyone listening the day after the game feel good about hearing, right? We’re not. This isn’t doom and gloom, but when they make a change like that on their inactive list, it at least, you know, raised my eyebrow for five minutes as I just pondered that. But it speaks to you don’t have Patrick McCary as I mean, McCary was never a great option at left tackle. Let’s be clear. Let’s let’s be realistic about what he was, but a higher floor option filling in for Ronnie Stanley than no boom has looked or Alejandro Villanueva a couple years ago, right? So, yeah. I mean, it’s that’s why it’s so important for the ravens to keep Stanley healthy. That’s why it has been encouraging out of the buy to see him healthy and not have to leave a game. I mean, what? He had three straight games where he either left with an injury early or left early on or was inactive going into the bye week, so that that was not an encouraging trend. And yeah, you figured the bye week would help. And okay, we’re a couple games into that so far, so good, but you still have two more months to go to get to January, and that’s that’s still such a big part of this, as much as we talk about the pass rush or the offensive line play collectively, or red zone or short yardage situations, or defensive tackle or it’s simplistic, because it applies for any team, but when you’re four and five, and That feels so much better than one in five. Obviously, you still are a team that’s not operating with a ton of margin for error. As ugly as Buffalo’s loss was on Sunday to Miami, and as much as that that that market’s going to be reeling talking about that game, the bills are still six and three, right? That was still only their third loss, if the ravens, for example, you know whether we’re talking about laying an egg in Cleveland, which I don’t think is going to happen, but hey, it’s happened in the past. You need to be ready for it, but they’ve got to stay healthy, right? They are so healthy right now, they have had a completely clean injury report. They did not even have anyone listed on their injury report until Ronnie Stanley had a vet day and Marlon Humphrey was added with, you know, he’s got a finger issue, which we’re gonna have to see what, how that plays out here, at least for the short term. But they didn’t even have anyone listed like they’re literally a blank injury report this past Wednesday and Thursday in my 15 years covering the ravens, I don’t, I certainly can’t remember back to back weeks where they didn’t have a single player even listed questionable, like, that’s, that’s wild, right? I mean, that’s really, really good health on the on the looking at the backdrop of what they were early in the season, right? Here we
Nestor Aparicio 24:36
went one in five being unhealthy,
Luke Jones 24:38
right? Literally. And that wasn’t the only issue, but it was a major issue, right? Just like we talked about it with the Orioles for six months, that no injuries didn’t solely explain why they were in last place, but it was a big part of it. There’s no doubt about that. You know, injuries or availability is important. You know, no duh, not having Lamar Jackson or whoever you’re talking about on. Field means you’re going to have lesser players out there replacing them in 95% of examples. So yeah, it makes a difference, but they just because they’re really healthy now doesn’t mean that that’s guaranteed to continue. So you do need to stay healthy. And yeah, you’re going to have some injuries. And yeah, you’re going to have probably lose a couple guys to long term injuries still as the year goes on, so But same thing holds true in Buffalo. I mean, Ed Oliver’s on IR right now, that defense is not the same at all without that guy,
Nestor Aparicio 25:34
right? And to your point, they didn’t make a big push to deal for Sherman Williams either.
Luke Jones 25:38
Right? Sure, exactly. I mean, they didn’t do it, right? I mean, regardless of any teams that, whether you made a push or not, did you get it done, right? Jarrah, Jared, I forget who it was I I’m trying to think who it was over the weekend that made the comment that they were talking about the trade deadline. It might have been Vrabel, actually, they were talking about the trade deadline as far as like coming close to a deal. He said, coming close to a trade is like saying someone’s close to being pregnant like you either are. You either did it or it doesn’t matter, right? You know, you’re either pregnant or you’re not so but you know it’s, yeah, they’ve got to stay healthy. I mean, that’s the O line. I mean, look, there’s already so much concern about the guards. Rose and garden hasn’t had this the kind of sophomore year that anyone would have hoped, right? I mean, he certainly hasn’t taken the step that I would have thought. But what does it say about their depth or lack thereof, if they haven’t even tried some of these other guys? So if you get an injury there, or you get another injury on your defensive line, or you have roquan Smith on the shelf again. Or, to your point, Kyle Hamilton a couple minutes ago. I mean, knowing what kind of force multiplier he is, you know these are, and obviously begins with the quarterback, right? Any team that has a franchise quarterback, you lose that guy, you’re done. I mean, you just are, if it doesn’t matter that much, and that guy wasn’t that good, and you’re not that good. So, yeah, I mean, a big part of this, no matter how we try to look at the schedule, or, you know, who’s playing whom, and all of that kind of stuff. You know, how healthy Can you stay the rest of the way? And the ravens are quite healthy coming out of the, you know, now a few games removed from the buy, that’s great, but that needs to continue. And, you know, they’re certainly, they have depth at certain spots to endure an injury or two, but they have plenty of positions that they they can’t afford that. So that that’s going to be a big part of the narrative. Think that’s going to be a big storyline for the rest of the this AFC, I mean, to the point that we keep going back to who exactly, I’ll give you good teams in the AFC, but like, who’s truly great? I mean, we thought buffalo. I don’t think buffalo is great. They’re not right now Kansas City. I actually, I’ll continue to say I’ve liked the chiefs from an eyeball test more so than maybe they’ve been the last couple years, but they’re five and four like, they’ve, you know, they’ve lost some, they’ve lost some close games, which is all they did last year was win one score games. They were like, it was uncanny, how well, this is where,
Nestor Aparicio 28:10
you know, by the way, Luke Jones is here Baltimore, Luke, you could follow him out, knowing schools, by the way, any breaking news, anything weird happens, injury wise, Orioles, make a trade, you’ll get it first in the wnsd tech service. It’s all brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordian energy. Bill. Cole came out and hung out with us for an hour on Friday with Todd Schuler. It’s great conversation about AI and youth sports. Bill’s a youth coach at Maryvale, so all of that’s in there. I just want to say this to you on that side of looking at the field and looking at all of these other teams and saying how good they’re going to be and where they are, the part that I look at and say, Can they make the playoffs couple weeks ago? Yes, can they write the ship, get Lamar back? Yes, all these things we’ve been can they win two games in four days? Can they win three in a row on the road? Can, you know, can they round in all of these questions we would have, I look at all at the field and say about the field, like you said, Where’s the super team here? There’s no saying that the Ravens won’t be the team that’s eight and two the rest of the way, or nine and one. And here’s the other thing, a sixth loss for them. It’s inevitable. I think they’ll lose another game here at some point to someone. You hope it’s not that the browns or the jets or the Bengals, anytime at home, anytime soon, the next couple of weeks, you see this as the winnable part of this, but they’ll lose a sixth game at some point. They get to play New England. They get played the Packers. They get played Steelers twice in their own division. You’re worried about Cleveland this week. But the bigger picture, to me is they’re not walking on to any field or getting off of any bus or any plane in any weather, in Indianapolis, where it would be inside, in Denver, where it could be god awful in in LA in Southern California with his brother, where. Be in a blimp in sunshine in January that I look at this team and say, what are the three games in a row you’re going to need to win in January? Well, if you win the division, you’re home for the first one. So let’s start there. So then you got buffalo or Kansas City, or some and not all of these teams can make the playoffs, right? If Indianapolis, Denver and New England are in who’s not in? Better make sure it’s not you. You better make sure you handle your business against the Steelers. But there’s none of these places that I look at and say that’s the big bad wolf of Patrick mahomes At Arrowhead, Josh Allen at Buffalo, what Drake may in New England, I don’t see Tom Brady coming out on the field. Belichick is not coming out in the hoodie, you know, so, and they have no history with it. There’s nobody that’s going to walk in that stadium that was there at anything. I mean, Lamar was in middle school when Billy Cundiff was missing kicks. So, you know, like, so there’s no association to any of that for any of those places that would be unsacred on the third week of January to think that, Oh, boo hoo, the Ravens only went 10 and seven. We got to play them this week, and they’re healthy, and they’re coming to town to play a playoff game against Bo Nix. Okay, I’ll take dude. Sign me up. Sign me up. The Ravens will be a four and a half point favorite in those games on the road, if they, if they’re a 10 or 11 win, 10 win team, 1111, I think I just, I’m being pie in the sky, and I just segment, but it’s turning into the positive segment, because this is how I feel. I feel like, on paper, any week they get off the bus, they can beat anybody, Nestor.
Luke Jones 31:46
I mean, like I I hear your general point, and I’m not even saying I completely disagree with it or anything like that. But what are these teams going to be by the end of the year? I mean, you keep talking about Denver. Have you seen Denver’s defense? Yeah. I mean, are the Ravens gonna handle their their defensive front? Probably not. I mean, that’s just kind of my point. And I’m not saying they won’t, but my bigger point here is, I mean, just let this thing breathe for a while, right? I mean, they, the ravens, have oxygen now they can. They’re at the point now, just win, right? Just keep getting better. They’re not even at a point where they need the scoreboard. I mean, they’re one game behind Pittsburgh, right? They don’t even need the
Nestor Aparicio 32:29
scoreboard watch. They don’t need stop with speeding Cleveland in the jazz they
Luke Jones 32:33
don’t just win. Just win. But, but, yeah, as as the rest of this thing develops, and let’s be clear, even if buffalo is a wild card, even if Kansas City is a wild card, if they’re coming into Baltimore. I mean, let me be clear. I’m not saying game over or anything like that. But, you know, everyone needs to remember two years ago when Kansas City was completely written off, and we saw what they did coming into Baltimore. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 33:02
Kansas City’s pathway would be not when the division go into the playoffs, go and win in Indianapolis, and you wind up seeing them instead. You know here maybe, you know, if you’re a division winner and those teams get knocked out. I mean, I know I’m playing January math here, but that really is, dude, they make the playoffs and they lose the first week at home, we’re back to square one. That better not happen, you know? I mean, I guess in the grand scheme of what they’re trying to do here, which is not get to the AFC Championship Game and lose it, the expectations are still winning the Super Bowl here, dude, even in four and five. And that’s where I’m going at it, because that’s the way they talk about it out knowings Mills, when I’m out there with Joe, a lot of work to you know,
Luke Jones 33:46
until I start believing that they’re going to win three straight games in January, let’s just put
Nestor Aparicio 33:50
it that well, they got to win three games in a row, sure. And that’s kind of a nine and a half point favorite, by the way, this week,
Luke Jones 33:55
that makes that sounds about right, right? Although nine and a half, because I saw, I think I saw eight and
Nestor Aparicio 34:01
a half. What’s nine and a half on my line. I’ll take it. I’ll sign up ratings. Will Win by 10 in Cleveland. I I’m in on that already. I’ll go early in a week with
Luke Jones 34:10
that. They should, they should, but I think this
Nestor Aparicio 34:14
is the point where they start to play better, and this is where hardball is pedigree, and where these veteran guys, and even the young guys like Kyle Hamilton, that feels more like a veteran, start to talk that scar tissue and start to talk the same talk you and I are talking. We’re game out of first place, we’re right where we need to be, and we’re fine. And it won’t matter if we’re 10 and seven and going to Indianapolis or Denver or wherever we have to go won’t be buffalo or game. I mean,
Luke Jones 34:38
if they’re thinking about the playoffs in there, then they’re not fine. If they’re thinking about any of that stuff, they’re not fine. They need to be thinking about Cleveland, and that’s it. I mean, because to Hamilton’s point, four and five, you know? I mean, I’m not crowning them just because they beat the bears, the dolphins and the Vikings. I’m not. But do I feel way better about where this football team is? Yeah, of course. Yes, of course, they’re healthier. They’ve got number eight at quarterback.
Nestor Aparicio 35:03
I mean, chastising me for being too positive about I mean,
Speaker 1 35:06
I just Well, I mean, I really think. I mean, I guess, but I guess, if we’re talking in these terms,
Luke Jones 35:11
and then, you know, we’ll just hit repeat every week, then, right? I mean, they’ve got to get there, right? I mean, they still have work to do, and they still have some major flaws that you still look at that December schedule where you have division road games, you’ve got New England coming into town, who is looking much more formidable, whether you buy them as the number one or number two team in the AFC. They’re in that space right now, and they’ve got a, to your point, a head coach who has some, some Moxie and some, you know, some, some credibility, even coming into Baltimore and beating it a Ravens team in January, let alone mid December. But they go to Green Bay, they go to Pittsburgh to close the season. I mean, this is why I’ve said this stretch, this current stretch, that are that they’re on, was always going to be the stretch where they really needed to get on a roll. Because, you know, that doesn’t you look at that December and I’m not gonna the Ravens if they beat Cincinnati on Thanksgiving, regardless of what they’re right, let’s, let’s assume that they win these next few and they’re at that point, they’d be, what, seven in five coming out of Thanksgiving, right? Thanksgiving weekend, as they Thanksgiving
Nestor Aparicio 36:33
leftovers, and in first place at that point. My No, yeah, oh yeah, I would wholeheartedly agree with that, but that’s a nice black friday meal there to wake up on last Friday and be in first place at seven and five. I mean, then you’re talking about home play. That’s what we’re talking about. Am I talk about it then or no? I mean, my point
Luke Jones 36:53
is, then you need to look at December pits, home against Pittsburgh, at Cincinnati, home against New England, that’s not a layup. And then you have two road games to close. I mean, that December slash early January schedule to close the regular season, that’s that is not, you know, that that’s not what November is. Let’s put it that way. So that’s why, yes, it is so important for this team to be where they are now, and presumably they take care of business these next few weeks to get back over 500 because, you know, you don’t want to be in a position where you have to win five of those games, right? I mean, that, you know, they dropped two of those five games. They go three and two. I mean, right off the bat, we’re talking about at best. They’re 10 and seven. So, you know. Now I will say this, as unimpressive as Pittsburgh has looked for the last month, I don’t know, nine and eight might win the division. Yeah, divisions all that
Nestor Aparicio 37:48
matters to me. I don’t care what their record is. I mean, I really don’t. I mean, they just got to win the division. That’s the man I just want.
Luke Jones 37:54
I just want to see a team that that continues to make improvements, and they have made improvements, or defense is playing much better than it did a month ago, even with my concerns about the pass rush. You know, offensively, you know, they still have work to do. I mean, there’s no doubt about that. The red zone, they’re short yardage running the football. You know, in more game neutral situations, their first down efficiency, you know, these are all things that they need to get better with. I mean, there’s no question. I mean, they’re as positive as the victory was on Sunday, and it was, and I want to make clear, like, you know, as I’m speaking here, I’m not trying to be gloom and doom. I’m trying to be realistic about where they are. Are they better than one where they were when they were one in five, of course, are they do? I think they’re on the verge of being the juggernaut that they were, you know, looking at it at times last year, or certainly two years ago, or go back to 2019 even though it was a, you know, a structure, a different structure, to that team. No, I don’t think they’re at that level, because, you know, they’re not blowing teams out. I mean that maybe they’ll blow out the browns on Sunday. But, you know, they’ve got, they’ve got work to do. They have weaknesses. But that’s a reminder that everyone in the AFC has something that you’re saying a Yale, but you know the NFC right now, which, you know, it doesn’t matter for the ravens, until you know, you know, if they do make up a magic carpet ride to to the Super Bowl, you know, I look at the NFC, I see some teams that look like some significant heavyweights or the potential to be really significant heavy weights. I think, I think the rams have looked really good. I think Seattle, oh my goodness. I mean, yeah, that thing’s rounded together, and that’s been really good September, either, right? Yeah, yeah. So, you know, but we do this all the time, like, and when I say we, I’m me, I do this as much as anyone. We do this thing where, just because a team’s really good in September, oh, what does that mean for January, just because a team’s really bad in October, oh, what does that mean for January, right? It’s, we’re still a couple. Of weeks out from Thanksgiving, and the Ravens are in a way, better spot. There’s no question about that. But you know, in terms of trying to project this thing out and Okay, yeah, if you ask me now, do I think they’re going to win the division, yeah, do I like where they are as a football team right now in terms of their chances of making a deep January run? No, I don’t right now, and that’s because of the deficiencies that they have and but the good news is they have two months to continue to work on those, and there’s two months to continue to see what the rest of the conference is going to look like, and which teams will get better, which teams will get worse, which teams will have a slew of injuries, which teams will be really healthy, right? I mean, it’s, it really is a week to week League, and Sunday was just such a reminder with that Buffalo game, which was just so like, they didn’t just lose. They lost by three scores, right? I mean, they lost by
Nestor Aparicio 40:55
17. Pittsburgh, same thing, dude. I mean, Pittsburgh’s two, two of the next two of the most important games left on your calendar. And if they’re diminished, good for you. If Aaron Rodgers is old by the time he gets here, you know that that is a major benefit as to who’s left on their calendar. And to your point, New England and Green Bay in that period of time, this needs to be a much better football team than it was in Minnesota in order to win those games, and whether they need to win them or not, whether they need to get the nine wins, 10 wins, 11 wins, they need to win the division. They’re not gonna be a wild card. They need to win the division. And Pittsburgh’s the one in the way, and that’s the one that was illuminating to me on Sunday night. Yeah, yeah.
Luke Jones 41:35
I mean no question. I mean that Pittsburgh team for a month now. I mean they, and I get it, they beat Indy. Bravo. They beat in you beat them by seven points and you got Six turnovers. I mean, like that, that right there alone is just kind of like, whoa. You turn the ball over six times, or you turn a team over six times, you should probably win by more than seven points. But I digress. But long way to go. It’s, let me be clear, I’d much rather have this conversation than had the Ravens lost two of these last three, which no Lamar against the bears going to Minnesota. That was plausible. It wasn’t necessarily what I would have predicted, but that was plausible, that scenario, and if that were the case, be talking about a team that’s two and seven right now. You know what we’d be looking at draft scenarios and where this team might finish with the draft pick. I mean, you know. So you’ll gladly take this even with some of their deficiencies, even with some questions, even with an acknowledgement of, okay, it hasn’t been a the toughest schedule the last few weeks. You know, they also had arguably the most difficult schedule in the league over the first four or five weeks. So, you know, this is the other side of that, and they’re healthier, and they’re feeling better about themselves, and they just need to keep getting better. I mean, it really is that simple, and if, if they keep winning games as they are, it’ll all take care of itself. You know, whatever their seed is going to be, they’ll they’ll find themselves in that space and and then we’ll continue to assess that as we get closer and closer to January, as all these teams ultimately seek their level.
Nestor Aparicio 43:12
Hey, is Luke Jones, I am Nestor. We together are Baltimore positive at W NSTA and 1570 appreciate you listening out on the radio dial. We’re doing a lot of cool stuff around here, but doing the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by the Maryland lottery. Ever even scratch offs lucky batch? Did you see the video the lady winning 20 bucks at Cocos? She came up behind me and Greg Abel, and she won. She thought she had won, and handed it to me, and I used my scanner, and she won 20 bucks, and then her girlfriend gave me another one, and she won five bucks. So it was I felt like Oprah over Coco’s last week. So we were Coco’s last week. We’re at Pizza John’s on Friday. Luke is still swallowing some of that pizza, along with his brother and family that I sent him home with. Get over to Pizza John celebrate with them. All of our sponsors have been fantastic with us for many, many, many years. I want to give them love and come on out and visit us. When I give these away, we’re going to be doing some new places through the holidays, some and going back to some old friends as well. Dan Rogers and I trying to put something together over at Gertrude, at the Museum of Art. So a lot of things happening. Holidays are up. Ravens are back. Very much in the thick of things. This week, we’re gonna talk some Cleveland football as well. We talked AI this week. I got some political stuff in. I had some marketing stuff in. We’ve done a whole bunch of cool stuff. The Y has the turkey trot coming up on Thanksgiving too. So we have a lot of things going on in the community. You can always send me an email, Nestor, Baltimore, positive.com and Luke is a very available individual. Luke at W nst.net I am Nestor. He is Luke. We are W NST. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, we never stopped talking Baltimore positive. We.
