As the ceremonies began and old Colts and the founding members of the Baltimore Ravens brought the Lombardi Trophies onto the field as Joe Flacco prepared the Cleveland Browns for battle, all of the purple emotions of 30 seasons took over – and then the game played to three decades of AFC North form. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss another Browns beatdown on Sunday in Baltimore.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Ravens’ 30th anniversary celebration, highlighting the nostalgia and significance of the event. They reflected on the team’s history, including the impact of players like Johnny Unitas and Ray Lewis. The conversation also covered the Ravens’ recent game against the Browns, noting the team’s defensive and special teams’ performance, which led to a 40-25 win despite a lackluster offensive first half. They mentioned the emotional experience of meeting past players and the importance of recognizing different eras and contributions to the team’s success.
Ravens Hero Welcome and 30th Anniversary Celebration
- Nestor Aparicio discusses the Ravens’ hero welcome for their 30th anniversary, mentioning the remnants of the Lucky Sevens and the Raven scratch offs.
- Nestor reflects on the nostalgia of the event, mentioning the big wheel at Union Brewing and the 80s lager.
- Nestor shares his experience at the Colts event, meeting fans and reminiscing about Ted March’s granddaughter.
- Nestor talks about the impact of the Colts’ presence in Baltimore and the emotional experience of the event.
Memories of Past Ravens and Colts Players
- Nestor and Luke Jones reminisce about the past Ravens and Colts players, including Johnny Unitas, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed.
- Nestor shares his personal memories of meeting players like Joe Erman and JC Penney.
- Nestor reflects on the impact of the Colts’ departure on Baltimore and the significance of the Ravens’ history.
- Luke Jones talks about the generational impact of different players and teams on fans.
Recognition of Past Players and Generational Impact
- Nestor and Luke discuss the recognition of past players like Bert Jones and Lydell Mitchell during the 30th anniversary celebration.
- Luke highlights the importance of recognizing different eras and players for younger fans.
- Nestor reflects on the emotional impact of meeting past players and the significance of their contributions.
- Luke mentions the importance of recognizing players like Joe Flacco and their impact on the team.
Challenges of Halftime Ceremonies and Fan Engagement
- Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges of halftime ceremonies in football, comparing them to other sports like baseball and hockey.
- Nestor shares his experience with halftime ceremonies and the difficulty of making them memorable.
- Luke mentions the importance of fan engagement and the role of social media in shaping the fan experience.
- Nestor reflects on the impact of the Colts’ event and the importance of maintaining a connection with fans.
Game Analysis: Ravens vs. Browns
- Luke Jones provides a detailed analysis of the Ravens’ game against the Browns, highlighting the defensive and special teams’ performance.
- Luke discusses the challenges faced by the Ravens’ offense in the first half and the impact of the defense and special teams.
- Nestor and Luke reflect on the significance of the game and the team’s performance in the context of their 30-year history.
- Luke mentions the importance of recognizing the contributions of players like Joe Flacco and the impact of their performance on the team.
Future Outlook and Upcoming Games
- Nestor and Luke discuss the future outlook for the Ravens, including the upcoming game against the Detroit Lions.
- Nestor shares his plans for the week, including events at the Beaumont and interviews with guests.
- Luke reflects on the importance of maintaining momentum and the challenges ahead for the team.
- Nestor and Luke conclude the conversation with a focus on the importance of community and fan engagement.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ravens 30th anniversary, Browns beatdown, Joe Flacco, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Colts event, Union Brewing, Lamar Jackson, defense, special teams, offensive struggles, fan experience, Baltimore sports history, NFL recognition, football legacy.
SPEAKERS
Speaker 1, Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W N st am 1570 Tesla, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive into a victorious purple week. No purple therapy around here. You got an extra day and a half before the lions even show up. Around here gives me time to get over to the Beaumont in Catonsville. I have some remnants of the lucky sevens. I also have the pressure locks, Whammy, whammy. Put the whammy on Joe Flacco on Sunday, and I will have the Raven scratch offs as well by Tuesday, so I’ll be holding them up by the time that the Detroit Lions and their bloated 52 points get here. The Ravens had their own bloated offensive efforts here this week, Luke Jones was in the tiny, little Kevin Byrne press box up in the corner the the the stadium where I actually had a shot of like me in the corner of my seats in Section six and Memorial Stadium, very similar to your press box perch, Although the beer was cheaper in Section six in 1996 but 30 years Jo Ray Lewis, I’m like, where’s Ed Reed? And then I realized, Oh, it’s just about, like the 96 thing. I don’t really know what they were doing look, to be honest with you, I’m still in the halo of my blue and white and seeing the big wheel on the stage at Union brewing, when I had a delicious 80s lager, doing the C, he couldn’t, he can’t do both arms. He said, I can only do one arm. So he thinks, C, O, L, T, S, colts and dude, I had no offense to your ravens experience and getting to hang out with Chad Steele and Jerry Coleman and John Harbaugh on a Sunday, I hung out on Saturday, and I didn’t even talk to Bert Jones, because I’m a little intimidated by him, and everybody was trying to get it Burt. And I just wanted to, like, have Joe Erman Give me a hug and and have Renata lynnhart Give me a hug and just those those players, but what a weekend. And to pass the torch to you, I want to give this to you because I went searching through our files over the weekend because they had a lovely young lady come up to me at the Colts event. I had a lot of people come up to me at the Colts event, by the way, by the way, they love our work. Just so you know, they like you more than me. And there was a sign on the way out that says, Luke works. And I took a picture of it, and I’m going to share it with you, and it’s going to become a new meme around here. I think Luke works. It’s, I swear to God, there’s a place called Luke works in the Union brewing. It goes it’s right next to the charmer, right next to the ice cream. Check it out. Take a picture there. It’s funny. I’ll send it to you. But this young lady came up to me about an hour in. By the way, my wife loved the food. She’s like, best effing food ever, ever, ever. Man, my wife is carrying on about that pit beef over there. So, good job, union brewing, that’s all I’m gonna say, Adam, um. She says, I um, I know you from the internet. I’m like, Oh, do you? She’s like, Yeah, I’m Ted March of road, his granddaughter. I’m like, Oh, do tell she’s about your age, dude, and all of her memories, you know, in regard to Ted, are about like her, being a young lady, teenager, coming of age like you. She knew everything about Ted. I told her I was at the hardball game in Pittsburgh where Ted almost went to the Super Bowl with Sarah goose as a cold she said I was there too. And then, of course, a week later, he’s here. I found the whole day of radio I did the day he got hired. 215 96 we didn’t have a name. 215 96 think about the date on that. We didn’t have Ray Lewis. We didn’t have John. We like I found tapes to send her over the weekend, and I’m thinking it was a glorious weekend, and I’m glad that I’m sorry that Joe played so poorly, but, you know, I mean, it was a bit of a laugher, right? And we’ll sit here and talk it blue in the face, but, um, 30 years. Man, you know, I mean, 30 years, as Lydell Mitchell said, 50 years been a long time.
Luke Jones 04:18
Man, it has been. And when you kind of have all that that comes together. I mean, obviously, you think about the really, really good old days with Johnny Unitas and company, and how many of those guys have passed on, not all of them. I mean, you know, we still have plenty more, and there’s so many pleasant memories. And then, as you mentioned, the mid 70s and how unexpected that was, right? I mean, I didn’t live it, but having read it, having read about it, having heard the stories from my grandparents and my father and Bert Jones, being as close to Johnny Unitas as you could be, I suppose, right.
Nestor Aparicio 04:54
Think about what a seven, eight and nine year old that that’s how it was, seven, eight and nine, what that version of. Me, shaped all of this Earl Campbell, Dan pastor, and everything that’s happened over the last 20 years with you and me, last 40 years on the radio like, you know, and Ted being like and Joe Erman signing an autograph for me, JC Penney in 1975 and just seeing these men up on stage. And, you know, I, um, I it was my wife would take she came in, she said, Are you okay? And I said, I’m just a little overwhelmed. You know what? I mean? Like, I was really overwhelmed. And I She’s like, I haven’t seen you like this. And I’m like, I don’t really want pictures or autographs as much as I’m just trying to, like, go back to this place in time where I’m in this room and the Colts are in Baltimore, and they’re all that matters for the couple of hours. I mean, it sounds silly, but like, I’m telling you, dude, it was, um, it was something on Saturday afternoon, at least it was for me from, you know, thoughts of my father too. And now the cults are gone and never to come back and to the people that matter. They needed a bigger room, by the way,
Luke Jones 06:07
and it’s great to do something like that. And then, you know, as you bring it to the modern day, I mean, I think back to 1996 and I was a month shy of my 13th birthday. What a birthday you got? Aaron, yeah. I mean, when the when the Ravens played their first game? What was it? September 1, 1996 and I wasn’t there that day, but I went to probably three or four games that year. And I think now of a 13 year old, or, you know, 14, 1516, year old, who’s there with their dad, their mom, their grandfather, their uncle, whatever. And I think now the Ravens kind of have some of that going on. In the sense that if you are 15 years old, go and do the Ravens Browns game on Sunday, you have no recollection whatsoever of Ray Lewis as a player, right? You have no recollection whatsoever of Ed Reed as a player and Joe Flacco winning a Super Bowl. You might have been three. You might remember Joe Flacco last couple years when you know things weren’t going great
Nestor Aparicio 07:07
in the way that I remember Johnny and I just not being so good here, right? So, so
Luke Jones 07:11
that’s where I mean, that’s what, that’s part of. What makes sports so fun is that you have different players, different eras, different teams that mean something different. Even though the records are objective, the win loss records objective. Whether they made the playoffs or not, is an objective thing, but you have teams that are carry much different meaning for a lot of people. I mean, we, we’ve talked about this recently with the Orioles, as far as their you know, last 40 years being very little to write home about, save for a handful of seasons. That’s why the buck Showalter era, the Adam Jones era, Orioles, are so revered by younger people. Because, you know, someone younger than me. I mean, I was born to born two weeks before the Orioles last won the World Series. So every, every generation has something different that they kind of latch on to for and it might feel a little bit different. And, you know, I think that’s where it’s important just to recognize that so awesome to see the 1975 celebration. Cool to see the Ravens recognize those guys. Bert Jones got, got a really warm welcome coming out of the tunnel as they announced those guys before they then announced the Ravens. And, you know, I mean, I guess the one thing I was a little, I’d say, surprised, although I get it, it’s an AFC North rival. All that I would like to have seen them do a little more, you know, to recognize Joe Flacco just on the video board. I mean, the Orioles did that with all their players. They traded away here.
Nestor Aparicio 08:38
Didn’t give Joe a moment to have flowers. No, I didn’t.
Luke Jones 08:41
I didn’t see unless I missed it. And I, you know, I’m not sitting there
Nestor Aparicio 08:45
watching the video, bring him back in 20 minutes and try to Ring of Honor him.
Luke Jones 08:50
And the other thing I did notice that they, they did that I did think was really cool. They were very they were very quick to post the post game embrace of him and Lamar, sharing a big hug. I mean, it was not, it was nice. I don’t know if you saw it on social media, but it was cool, and they showed that on the video board. So it’s not as though they completely ignored them, but I thought there’d be, you know, first TV timeout, something like that. But all that said, I mean, it was a, I don’t
Nestor Aparicio 09:19
want to get to the game yet. You know, once we get to the game, it’ll go downhill, right? I mean, because the game wasn’t, I don’t know, man, you know, we’ll get to the game, but, but, yeah, I think
Luke Jones 09:30
you had all these generations of players being recognized. I mean, they brought Eric Weddle and CJ Mosley back. I mean, think about that.
Nestor Aparicio 09:38
Yeah. I mean, I wasn’t at, I don’t know if you heard, I don’t go to the game, so, like, I only get what they give me. I don’t so to do tell because, I mean, obviously I’m extremely it. I mean, I saw pitto wearing the elite shirt, right? I mean, and you know, I see things on their social media, but their social media is just annoying. I. Honestly, you know what I mean? Like, it just filter through some stuff, sure, yeah, just like, like, I don’t know who could take all of that in. I don’t know. I don’t, I don’t know. I mean, no matter how be true to your school you are, I’m information based, and I’m okay with the personality base. But from the gambling down, top down, to the fashion state, I like, it’s just too much, um, but, but that being said, so I miss it all. You know what? I mean, some of it I can’t filter out, so, but the alumni part of this, I am interested. Um, Edward mulltalo sent me a series of texts at 830 on Sunday night that were kind of fun and random. I’m like, Hey, Ed, but I but other than that, I have no touch other than with the cold. Oh, I saw Kyle Richardson and I saw Femi. They were at the Colts event.
Luke Jones 10:50
Yeah, they the way they now the halftime ceremony. It came across as disjointed. And again, I’m, I’m looking at the game stats like, yeah, I have different objectives than solely just soaking it in like a Ravens fan would. But that part seemed a little disjointed to me. But they had, I thought, you know, kind of right off the bat, I mentioned that they announced the 75 Colts. You know, the plenty of 75 colts came out that was great to see. The legend of the game was Ozzie Newsome. And you know Ozzie well enough to know that that’s not something Ozzie would want to do, generally speaking, but it was cool. They announced Ozzy as a legend of the game. And the legend of the game as you know, they they announced, literally, right before kickoff, that that’s something they do moments before they kick off the game. So Ozzy comes out, and then right behind him was Ray Lewis and Jonathan Ogden, each of them holding a Lombardi trophy. I thought that was cool, you know, for something as far as everything they tried to do with the halftime ceremony, that was the most that that came across as the most authentic, genuine, really cool moment. Because here’s Ozzie Newsome, who I always forget this, and I think so many people forget how young he actually was, as the General Manager of the ravens, you know, even though his official title wasn’t GM yet, but 96 he was running the show. But he was, what, 40 years old. I mean, he was not nearly it’s funny.
Nestor Aparicio 12:19
My universally, universally scoffed at
Speaker 1 12:24
as, Oh, yeah. Like, what’s he doing? Yeah, exactly, yeah.
Nestor Aparicio 12:29
And it’s funny. I even, I had a brief conversation with my mom Sunday night, and she was kind of asking me, you know what you just did, as far as, what was it like and all that. And she asked me, she’s like, you know, How old’s Ozzie Newsome now? Like, is he in his 80s? I’m like, No, I said Ozzy 69 like, people think that he’s, like, this really much older than he actually is. I mean, he took over that, that role when the Browns became the Ravens at a very young age. But, boy, he was really good. But I just thought that moment the legends of the game. The legend of the game moment with Ray Lewis and Jonathan Ogden flanking him, holding the Lombardi’s his first two draft picks to Hall of Fame players, not just Hall of Famers, but like elite of the Hall of Fame players. That was cool. That was cool. You know the halftime thing, it’s always rushed. It was gonna say, like, always rushed. Let me have a minute on this. Because, like, I’ve done a million of these across stadia everywhere, um, across Monday Night Football celebrations for Dan Marino and the driving rain in Miami at halftime. Like I’ve seen all of these Yankee Stadium tributes and all of this baseball does it better? Yeah, hockey does it pretty well, because, like they can do before a game, the spotlights down. You get a moment. Football, no time for it before the game, no no oxygen for anything to have that pre game thing that, like the Orioles had a couple of weeks ago with Ripken, or that in game moment, the halftime thing, dude. I mean, I’ve seen Lawrence Taylor get honored with Bill Parcells at Giants Stadium, and nobody care. I mean, it’s just sort of like halftime. People are pissing, drinking. I was just gonna say, you know, running around and there’s no oxygen for it. So I just think, I mean, I’ll go back to Eagle season ticket. I was Eagle season ticket, older for years. And they bring Chuck bednaric out, they bring it just didn’t matter. And the Colts the same thing. I mean, I think we have Association, you and me, specifically, a bias, because of baseball and how good baseball’s been. When I bring Charles Steinberg on here, we talk about the last game at Memorial Stadium, or, you know, any of the 2131 stuff, or the way John Miller used to hold court with the celebration type of things, football, it just the halftime thing doesn’t lend itself to being memorable. It’s the ball is never full. You can never really hear it real well, it’s rushed. It’s just never great. And I think that that’s unfortunate, you know, they’ll put Flacco into the ring of this, or the Hall of that, or they’ll do their three minutes, nobody will be paying attention. And to your point, the 15 year olds will be 22 then, and they don’t remember Joe Flacco, yeah. I mean, any more than some people were there, like, Eddie Murray, who’s that, you know? Like, okay, you know, yeah.
Luke Jones 15:18
I mean, and that, that kind of goes to what I said though about the generational thing. I mean, let’s face it, Let’s call a spade a spade. And I say this with no disrespect to the 75 colts, because I have a lot of respect for the 75 colts, just because I love Baltimore sports history. I mean, I didn’t live that era, but let’s face it, most people that are attending a Ravens game in 2025 don’t have many members.
Nestor Aparicio 15:42
They have no idea who George coons is. Yeah. I mean, they might not even know who George he’s a borderline Hall of Famer. So they should have been, and that’s more than that.
Luke Jones 15:51
So that’s where you saw. I mean, Bert Jones was kind of the exception. Light Mitchell, the exception. But the others who got the warmest welcome, Bruce Laird and Stan White, who clearly have younger generations, know a little more from a broadcasting standpoint, you know, not just as a player. So having, having done work, you know, covering the Ravens over the years, so, so, and it’s fine, right? I mean, it doesn’t have to be a home run, you know. And to your point, I mean, it’s tough to do it at halftime. I mean, as I just or as you just said, I mean, that was the first thing that came to mind. That’s what people are wanting to use the restroom, especially if you were tailgating before the game, and you’ve been at it for a few hours at that point in time. You know, breaking the seahor, whatever, but, but it was still cool. And I mean, it’s regardless of how it comes across, regardless of how many people sit and stay in their seats at halftime, it’s just special to think and that’s where I had some memories of when I was 10 or 11 years old, which colts history was all I had at that point in time as a young Baltimore sports fan, as far as football went, you know, that’s all you had. You had memories, and were you a fan of a team when you were Yeah, I mean, I
Nestor Aparicio 17:07
40 Niners, but like my kid, I
Luke Jones 17:10
like the 40 Niners for a couple years. I mean, I like, I liked Joe Montana. I love Jerry Rice. I mean, I did. And i i Even when Montana was traded to the chiefs, you know, when he ended up in Kansas City, I like them for five minutes because I just like Joe Montana, I mean, but that said it’s not
Nestor Aparicio 17:28
like I so Jake Montana was your first superhero quarterback, yeah, I suppose. I mean, and, yeah. I mean, that was common for somebody exactly.
Luke Jones 17:37
I mean, that’s the thing, that it’s very unoriginal, right? I mean, there’s nothing.
Nestor Aparicio 17:40
My kid was of the 40 Niners, bills era, where, like, you know, as long as it wasn’t the Redskins or the Giants or the Cowboys, I was cool with it, you know what I mean. And I think back,
Luke Jones 17:50
I think back to my closest friends when I in 1993 couple of us like Joe, Montana. So at that point, it was the chiefs. But, you know, the 40 Niners before that, one was a big Dan Marino guy, so he liked the dolphins, and another was a Troy Aikman guy, like the Cowboys, right? I mean, I mean, that’s kind of all you really had. I mean, there weren’t, you know, especially at that point we were living in Southern PA, you didn’t know any Redskins fan I mean, you knew a couple here and there. But, I mean, that wasn’t, that wasn’t a Baltimore thing. I mean, as much as, as much as Washington tried to, you know, Jack Kent Cooke tried to ram that down Baltimore Ian’s throats. I mean, we weren’t having that. So, yeah, it was, it was a strange time. But I just thought back to as I see that history, and I’m just like, wow, there’s 30 years of this franchise now, and
Nestor Aparicio 18:41
30 really good years, yeah, I mean, 32 two championing up against anybody but the Patriots over the last 30 years, right?
Luke Jones 18:48
Or the Chiefs the last five, right? I mean, it’s, that’s special, I mean, and that is so regardless of how much you actually soak in the literal ceremony they have, like, just that you can do that. That’s pretty special, because, again, sitting here, and, you know, we just celebrated the 30th anniversary of 2131 and what it was a month later, or two months later, when we found out that the Browns were coming to Baltimore. But, you know, just thinking what that was, I mean, at that point in my life, there was very much a thought of, it’s kind of just baseball, and I like football, like for what it is, but it’s not something I’m incredibly passionate about. So to see a 30 year history that that then, you know, having the intersection of the Colts being the 75 colts being there on Sunday, that
Nestor Aparicio 19:35
was pretty special. Well, yeah, I would just say this, and this would be for anybody who’s your age or younger, because you didn’t even bring it up, and maybe it’s lost upon you. And some people came up to me at the Colts event told me that they read Purple Rain one, and it’s the first page, you know, chapter one. I wrote it in 2001 the whole thing’s a miracle, like the fact that we ever got a team when the red. Ravens didn’t want us in the league. The NFL didn’t want us in the league. Owners didn’t want us in the league. They didn’t see it as a revenue source. They didn’t see it as a growth strategy. They saw it as a nuisance. Be like putting another baseball team in New York, yeah, we need one on Long Island. Okay? You know, I mean, like, fine, but we don’t. It’s like putting the chargers in. La didn’t need to do that, yeah, but the fact that the Ravens exist was miraculous, miraculous. And because I worked at the paper, I worked next to the reporters that flew around with the league, we were not, in any way, anyone’s favorite. We lost the expansion, I mean all of that. So the fact that the team’s been here 30 years, miraculous, the fact that they’ve been really good at drafting football players, miraculous. Sure. Fact that the league itself has stabilized and grown across the world, across the globe, has allowed the ravens to become a global grand and and that sucks for East Baltimore, and it sucks when Justin Tucker’s out, you know, serially doing whatever he was doing to the young ladies in Baltimore and getting away with it, that their badge is so significant that the owner doesn’t have to answer questions. Because 30 years into this, I think about what what their promise was, and what they’ve delivered on the field, off the field, including Ray Lewis in a jumpsuit. Jamal Lewis having time, you know, all the things that have gone on. Jurisprudence wise. Ray Rice, whatever Justin Tucker did, although he did nothing because of the football decision. Wink, wink. You know, so all the good, the bad and the ugly. But John Moog, Governor Schaefer, the legislature in Annapolis, the gumption of some Baltimore executives to say, we’re not adopting the Redskins. We’re not putting the Redskins in Laurel. I’m not giving you roads. We’re not going to build a super stadium, you know, at Bowie racetrack, we’re not doing any of that, all of that happened to pave the way that the Ravens could ever exist, so that Steve big shoddy shots could buy them and own them and run off on a yacht making billions of dollars and Not having to answer questions. That’s not what I stood up and fought for with the PSL money and local and Baltimore and hanging at the barn and bringing people, it’s a different business. And 30 years into that, let me say, accept that. I i realized that, but I also realize, as we talk about baseball, they have to figure out how to be local, because they can’t be anything other than local. Meanwhile, the Ravens have transcended that, because the league has transcended that, and the sport has transcended that in a lot of ways. And you know that little bull roast with the Colts? You know what it felt like to me, Luke, it felt like the CFL colts when I was in Vancouver, like little tiny club of people that like, you know, the team, but everything the Colts left behind are the grandchildren and your niece, you know, whose grandfather loved the Colts. And you know, that’s what makes the Ravens what it is, and that, I think that’s what makes Joe Flacco coming back such a big story. Until the game started, yeah, and it went okay for a while, you know, I mean, for the browns, I mean, it was a game, and certainly defensively, Schwartz felt like he drew it up. But the Flacco pick, it was all over after that. I mean, as I that was the end. What Flacco throwing off balance down the side? Like, can’t do it. Ross Tucker’s crushing him on the air. I got my head in my hand. Joe’s wife’s probably like, no. Joe’s sons are probably like, Dad, it wasn’t good.
Luke Jones 23:45
It wasn’t and, I mean, it was great for the ravens, right? I mean, so look, I mean, this is a very interesting game, and as I wrote a Baltimore positive.com you look at the final score, and if you didn’t watch the game, you look at the final score, you look at the box score quickly and you say, Oh, hey, the Ravens scored 40 plus points again, and Lamar Jackson threw four touchdowns again. Oh, their offense was great. That’s not really what the game was about. If you look at that game in the first half, my goodness. I mean, the Ravens had it was 81 yards at halftime. I mean, they were 81 yards on 27 plays. You look for the game. Nestor, I went back and looked at this because I I looked at the final numbers, and I saw the final yard. It’s ravens had 242 net yards. That is the fewest number of total yards they’ve had in a game since we in a game Lamar started. So exclude the end of 21 the end of 22 the the 2023
Nestor Aparicio 24:49
Snoop games. Yes, yeah,
Luke Jones 24:50
throw out all those. That is the that’s the few the lowest total yardage they’ve had since that Kansas City Monday night game in Baltimore. Back in 2000 20 that game where the Chiefs just came into town, empty stadium, right? It was a covid year, and really, really beat the you know, what out of them, that was their lowest rushing total they’ve ever had with Lamar Jackson at quarterback. That was Derrick Henry’s lowest rushing total since his final month with the Titans two years ago. So it speaks to this was not about the offense. This was about the defense and the special teams rebounding, and at a time where the offense was really sputtering in that first half. I mean, they were having trouble getting anything going, you know, sustaining anything, Lamar was off. They weren’t protecting, well, they weren’t run blocking at all. The defense and the special teams led the way, and that was the exact opposite of what we saw in Buffalo, right? I mean, the offense until the last couple drives was phenomenal. The defense was horrible in the fourth quarter, not great before that, and the special teams sprinkled in some missteps and bad plays throughout the evening. So, I mean, it was
Nestor Aparicio 26:02
skeleton browns are going to survive the block punt. I mean, you know, I mean, even, even the kid could come back out and punt the rest of the game was, you know, certainly didn’t feel that way in the in the moments after that, and falling on the ball and scoring the touchdown. And not, you know, like it was really a wacky game in that way. I mean, it was really a disjointed and, and I don’t know, on television, and maybe it was just the mics sounded really quiet. It was really strange on television that it never got loud.
Luke Jones 26:32
Yeah, I It’s hard for me to say. I mean, obviously sitting in the press box, you’re behind glass, and that was the case even with the old press box, but now being in the corner the way that we are, I have a much more difficult time gaging that but, but like I just said, though you had an offense that did next to nothing in that first half, right, even in the third coming off the field at one point, yeah, but think about even the third quarter, where, right off the bat, the long completion to Hopkins to the one yard line, and then they go backwards, and they have to settle for a field goal. Then Wiggins has the interception in the long return. I mean, goal to go from the five yard line, they had to they had to take it to fourth and goal to score, right? So John Harbaugh said it after the game. And normally when you hear a coach say this when it’s a 24 point victory. He said it, this was a grind, like the final score. Don’t let that fool you. Like that was a grind. And, I mean, the Browns defense was really, really good. I mean, it was, I mean, the Ravens took advantage of the fact that the Browns were really susceptible and vulnerable with their slot they lost their slot corner in the preseason. What Emerson, so that was the thing that the Ravens were able to take advantage. And I mean, devontes Walker catches two touchdowns. Didn’t even play an offensive snap last week. So how random is that? And you know, tylen Wallace had the big sequence. He recovers the fumble and then catches the touchdown on the next play. So it was even though you look at the final score, you look at the fact that Lamar threw four touchdowns. And don’t get me wrong, the offense got going in the second half. I mean, that’s obvious, but it was the defense giving them short fields. It was a special teams doing what they did. I mean, the Ravens had two drives the entire game that were longer than 36 yards. I mean, just put that into perspective. When you score 41 points, that tells you man the defense and the special teams did some very serious lifting in that football game. But it’s a good thing. If we’ve learned one thing from these first two weeks for a team that everyone touted as a Super Bowl favorite, we have at the very least week one collapse acknowledged, we’ve seen the immense upside that this team has if they can put all three phases together at once, right? And we understand over 17 games, you’re not going to do that every week, and you’re going to have just like they did in week one, where the defense stunk. In week two, the offense didn’t stink. I mean, that’d be crazy to say that, but they struggled in the first half. There’s no question about that. I mean, like I said, statistically, it’s one of the worst statistical games they’ve had offensively, like in terms of yards that they’ve had when Lamar has been quarterback. Which one speaks to how high that bar is, but two, again, it speaks to the way that the Browns competed against them. So, I mean, it came down to this, that Brown’s offense just and how much of it is a 40 year old Joe Flacco. I mean, it’s 40 years old if there’s any threat of pressure whatsoever, Joe can’t move at this point in time. And maybe that’s the difference between him now and where he was two years ago when he came into Cleveland and they had that magic carpet ride to the playoffs. But you know that their tackles could not deal with the Ravens edge guys, which, you know, it’s not like the ravens are lining up Lawrence Taylor and Terrell Suggs in his prime, right? So, so there was that, you know they it tells you their lack of playmakers that quinshawn Judkins, who do. Just signed return to the practice field for the first time since June, because of his off field and all of that. Yet, look how much he played. I mean, that speaks to how desperate they are for playmaking ability. So kind
Nestor Aparicio 30:13
of reminds me, didn’t the Ravens bring in the veteran, the six foot four running back, latavious?
Luke Jones 30:17
Tavious Murray? Oh yeah, that was brought him in. That was when they lost running the ball Sunday, right? Yeah, yeah, him and Devonte Freeman.
Nestor Aparicio 30:24
I mean, even, like, Billick, had that happened for a minute, like Terry Allen 100 years ago to where, like, beginning of the season. But I, I’ve rarely seen that in the game of football, where somebody walks into a building and, I mean, he had 10 carries, I’m just thinking just risk of the ball, giving the ball to a running backs, different to giving an assignment to a safety to some degree. So Luke, I want to break on this, because I want to come back and break down off as well as you know Schwartz, that front four was Schwartz, and that their ability to stop the run like, if I could have just snapshot Derrick Henry’s day, and sent that over and said, This is what you’re going to do to Derrick Henry, I think, like, well, at least we were within a touchdown of winning the game, and it just wasn’t mistakes, mistakes, mistakes. When you’re a bad team, the thing that makes you bad isn’t just the fact that you’re bad, it’s you make mistakes. So nonetheless, Luke and I are going to continue the conversation. We had a beautiful chat about corral in the Colts. I put some pictures up of uh, Bert Jones. I did not talk to Bert, but I did talk to George Coons, who told me he’s going to come on and talk about his McDonald’s, uh, entrepreneurial ship. He is the the French fry king of Las Vegas, of McDonald’s. George Coons, I did not know this seems my dad’s favorite player. So I’m looking forward to that Joe Herman and I, which was the highlight of Saturday for me. I want that March abroad his niece was the highlight, and seeing her smile and making me cry. But Joe Herman, man, I saw Joe Herman, and he recognized me. He like lit up and he gave it was like the sack pack was coming in on me, him and Dutton and Fred cook. Fred cook couldn’t be there, but John Dutton was there as well, I said to my wife, because, oh, by the way, dude, we brought beanie Bob. Beanie Bob had a beer. SIG loved that, because SIG made beanie Bob. So beanie Bob got a beer. He was a big hit. You know, amongst the amongst the fans, everybody wanted a picture with Bob, you know, as they always do, but I brought Bob over and just, you know, sitting there, and Joe, Herman’s there and, but seeing that smile from Joe, where he came after me, like this, I said to my wife, see John Dutton over there. John’s having some pit beef. I said he was the first one that told her say, Up yours buddy. Get me out of here. I’m going to Dallas. So I said, you probably like beanie Bob the best. Luke Jones is our reporter, even after blowout wins that weren’t so blow outie, I guess we have plenty of work to do this week, but they get an extra day, and the Detroit Lions come in on Monday night, so we’re gonna be around all week. I’m gonna be at the Beaumont on Tuesday. Councilman Pat Young is gonna join me. My pal Chad cause is gonna come on and talk about democracy and civics and seventh grade social studies. And I have a few other guests that are gonna come by, and I’m gonna have the lamb chops. We’re counting down the tastiness 27th anniversary, all brought to you by our friends at curio wellness. We’re down to number four, number three, number two, number one. This week. I’m slow playing it a little bit this week because we got a little extra oxygen now, and at some point, we’re going to watch a little baseball before the week is over as well. So Luke and I are going to come back. We’re going to break apart the game. We’re going to talk about the post game. Luke was at the game. We did a lot about pregame, a lot about the 1996 ravens, which is always fun for me. I am Nestor. P is Luke? More football ahead. We’re W, N, S, T, AM, 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stopped talking Baltimore. Positive. You.
