The rivalry is real. The stakes are high. Luke Jones and Nestor get Ravens fans ready for (another) Pittsburgh Week and a real Steelersโ threat to the purple kingdom and a first-place AFC North showdown at the Confluence.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pittsburgh Week, Ravens threat, Steelers rivalry, Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, deep ball, defensive issues, trade deadline, Mike Williams, Tredavious White, Kyle Hamilton, pass defense, offensive balance, playoff position, legacy rivalry
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:02
Wait a mo, we are W N, S T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive. Iโm gonna say weโre powered up by Royal farms coffee this morning, because I do feel a little caffeinated this morning. But we have the oyster tour, and I keep presenting these oyster tour dates out with our friends at Liberty. Pure solutions. Iโm wearing my liberty shirt. I have my half drinking, drunken, drank, drink, Liberty pure one 800 clean waters. The way to make it happen. Also our friends a curio wellness, and foreign daughter doing 26 oyster. 26 days. Now that weโre into another month with ours of November, we also have the Maryland crab cakes were presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I have Raven scratch also be giving those away through the holidays. I have a whole litany of dates beginning really, Cocos on December 4, but weโre gonna be hitting it hot and hard, lots of crab cakes around here. Fadelies, weโre doing that on the 12th. Weโre going to be down to Costas. I think Gina shocks going to come out. Itโs going to be a rock and roll Christmas, just like Bruce Springsteen parading through Canada, and Iโm trying to avoid the post election stuff, but at some point Iโm going to come up for some air and be talking about that here this week. But we got football. It is old fashioned. Itโs Pittsburgh week here. At some point Iโm going to break out. I do have a Terrible Towel that I use regularly, and maybe I should feature all of the towels Iโve picked up at every sporting event of my lifetime in press boxes and all along lifeโs highway. I do have a pink, Terrible Towel. So I may bust it out this week, because it is Pittsburgh week, there in first place, weโre banging on the door, and Luke and I are trying to figure out football all weekend long as Luke spent a holiday away and had a great Sunday, I was on the couch watching, of all things, Pittsburgh versus Washington in a meaningful game. Was 300 bucks to get in down there. Iโm watching from the comfort of my couch. My cat made her way up onto my lap. And I mean, I had some ROFO chicken. We went to Pizza Johnโs on Sunday, three out of four Sundays, Lucas, no ravens, football. What do we do? Itโs almost like the Colts left town or something. But itโs not because Lamar still really the toast of the town. You and I are talking Tucker this, and Purple Helmets that, and goes, god awful Texans things they pee on Sunday night. I donโt said they were like radioactive candy apples, um, you know, Iโm up for air. My wife even put college football on on Saturday. When I watched, I watched ole miss the whole thing storming the field Lane Kiffin, and memories of Sean McDonough. But it was a sports weekend around here in a way where itโs heating up, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Ravens are and so are the commanders, as I talked to John Martin about how sports wagering in the state, and seeing the fervor for all of that, and watching the Cowboys circle the train and some of it was kind of delicious, wasnโt it? It was,
Luke Jones 02:57
and unfortunately, not the best results for the Ravens. I mean, I think obviously Pittsburgh wins down, down in Landover and a dramatic game there, although this does set up for easily the most proper Raven Steelers week weโve had in a while, right? This isnโt Kenny Pickett against Tyler Huntley. This isnโt Lamar sitting out a meaningless game. This isnโt Lamar being injured against the Steelers, as weโve seen on a couple occasions here in recent years. So exciting on that front. But yeah, Pittsburgh wins, Buffalo wins, Kansas City wins again in unbelievable fashion. I mean a blocked field goal on a chip shot. I mean that game, you could tell Kansas City was resigned to the fact that they were going to lose, and youโre thinking, Okay, well, maybe the Ravens pick up a game here. You know, the number one seed still alive, and then Kansas City is not going to go undefeated. Well, theyโre nine and now so. But you look around the league and you see how other teams are faring. You see how other so called MVP candidates at the quarterback position or fairing, by the way, not nearly as well as Lamar Jackson. Iโll just throw that out there, but
Nestor Aparicio 04:06
youโre the original. Listen, I want to stop right now and just tell everybody youโre the original Lamar pimp. I mean, youโve always loved really, not though. Itโs just Iโve liked him more than you though. I
Luke Jones 04:18
mean, Iโll say that much, but that doesnโt mean that Iโve never thought he was
Nestor Aparicio 04:23
like him. I just donโt like that. Heโs this good, and somebodyโs going to trip him up and turn an ankle and got off things like that because he does things that Joe Flacco doesnโt, and including like Flacco in the first quarter. I mean, sitting it out for a weekend when youโre just red, zoning all day, watching from the universe and saying, this is interesting, a Washington, Pittsburgh, one oโclock game after the god awful Germany thing that I always find Germany interesting, as, you know, from a family reference. And then the four oโclock games that werenโt much. And, you know, like as you sit around and you watch it. And the ravens are still the toast of all of this. Still very, very much. In the middle of this mahomes struggle, they had to block a kick, I mean, and that was sort of the secondary one oโclock game, until it wasnโt anymore. Itโs just no wonder people gamble on this is what I would be, you know. I mean, it is fun to just be on the outside, waving a towel. But, boy, this Raven Steelers thing starts to really become theyโll be breaking out the Roethlisberger, Ray Lewis, Jerome Bettis wars, right
Luke Jones 05:31
before, yeah, like, with, like I said it, it feels as legit as proper of a raven Steelers match up when you consider, and I understand. I mean, itโs not as though the Steelers havenโt made the playoffs, right? But while I think thereโs still very much a sense of what exactly are they, are they a really serious contender with Russell Wilson or no, and I still lean towards No. But hey, you go down the Landover and you beat a commanderโs team thatโs played the way that itโs played. You got to give him some credit. And I mean Russell Wilson, Iโll say this The Mike Williams acquisition. Mike Williams is the perfect receiver for the kind of deep ball that Russell Wilson is still very apt at throwing for as much as he isnโt the guy that he was in Seattle five or six years ago. Overall, he can still do that. And we know the Ravens have had their major issues stopping the deep ball. So look, I would say theyโre formidable enough.
Nestor Aparicio 06:26
Theyโre better Cleveland and, oh, by the way, you know I was paying attention two weeks ago, right? And the same thing with Cincinnati, how dangerous they were when youโre making mistakes and when your defense canโt stop a nosebleed. Is my my old partner, buddy, Ryan, would say, and you know, dangerous is what I would say. Theyโre dangerous. I mean, by the way, my wife found this in the drawer. You wonโt see me ever hold a gold one, although I did one time at a Super Bowl, and I think I admitted to that. But this is the, this is the mine ring, hope, original, terrible tile from dot, dot, Pittsburgh. So that wasnโt a bad one, right? Thatโs a pretty good one, right? Okay. It was okay. I mean, it was, you know, Iโd make some money in a Pittsburgh charity thing. But nonetheless, look, Iโve been to all of these, you and Iโve gotten in the car, been a part of all of this, you know, gone up, walked across the bridge, all of that, you know, I would say we got real used to it being really important, and that so did the cowboys and the Redskins 40 years ago, right? And all of these other sort of rivalries in sports. Tomlin has done it again. You know what I mean? Heโs made them relevant again, and their defense is relevant again. Now the injury at the end of the game and Highsmith and whatโs going on. But I look up and I see the 11 guys, and I tell my wife this, if the one thing, and I probably could remedy this in some way. But all of my adulthood, all of my childhood, I had a flip card, even at skip Jackโs games, I had a depth chart and lines and the way I see Anna and a scorecard at baseball games, and like all of that, I miss flip cards, you know, at games or watching games with a flip card, but the flip card of the Steelers on defense specifically, and Itโs skill positions, if they have a quarterback whoโs good enough, I mean, heโs a Super Bowl champion, heโs going to the Hall of pretty good, from what I can tell, right? And has a second act in him thatโs starting to smell a little more Kurt warnery, or a little more ornery, or a little more Joe Flacco we and I know heโs short, and you look at him in the stature, and I think Kyler Murray, we overlook that. And then you watch him throw the football. You look at Lamar Jackson, who they wanted to make, a running back, a wide receiver, a punt returner, whatever they wanted to do with him. And you start to evaluate this thing and say, whatโs good enough and what how important is defense? You and I go on and on and on about the lack of that with the ravens and throwing the ball over your head. I mean, I look at the Steelers defense and say, Man, if we had that, or, you know, we thought we had that, because we have roquan Smith, we have Matt abika, we have Humphrey. We gave all this money to Marcus Williams, who probably shouldnโt be on the field. And weโll debate that all week. But this is a red hot game this week. This is, this is what we wish for as Raven Steelers fans, I think, and I think the ravens are vulnerable, yeah, I
Luke Jones 09:28
mean on defense certainly now. I mean as as good as the Pittsburgh defense is, are they going to stop the Ravens? No, I donโt think anyoneโs stopping the Ravens offense. Are they good enough to slow it down, and then in concert, can Russell Wilson make plays in the passing game? Thatโs where you look at this and say, I think they can. And look, we can talk all we want. Iโve talked about this a lot with you the last few years. I think all things being equal, thereโs been no debate that the Ravens have been better than the Steelers for the better part of the last five or six years. However, the. Head to head matchups have been weird. Lamar has missed plenty of them, so throw those out for a moment. But even the ones in which heโs played, theyโve been weird games. I mean, that game that no one paid attention to back in early October of last year because the Orioles were getting ready to lose a playoff game to the Rangers. Remember that that game was bizarre. Lamar played so well through the first like three and a half quarters, drop passes galore, Pittsburgh couldnโt really do anything other than just hang around in that game. It was really ugly. The Ravens had a lead, but could have been up by three touchdowns. And then what happens at the end of the game? Marlon Humphrey has the ball thrown over his head, and Lamar Jackson throws a really bad pick trying to force one to Odell Beckham in the end zone. I mean, a game that they lost where you look up and say, and I was sitting in the Orioles press in the Camden Yards press box at the time, and I said to myself, How in the world did they lose that football game? But thatโs happened a couple different times here in recent years, a few different times in recent years against the Steelers. So look, they look better than theyโve been in recent years, where theyโve Okay, theyโve snuck in as the last wild card. No one for a second thought they were real. You have
Nestor Aparicio 11:14
to buy into the quarterback to think theyโre real, and we never were bought into Tommy Maddox years ago. Right? Right, right. So
Luke Jones 11:24
in the case of Russell Wilson, look, let me be very clear, Iโm still not buying into Russell Wilson in the way I would have five years ago, but he made the play at the end of the game. I mean, Mike Williams, who didnโt even know the the playbook, and theyโre explaining to him what to do, catches a touchdown. And heโs the kind of guy off injures as he might be, who kind of fits what they want to do offensively, right? Heโs not going to be a big part of what they do, and Pickens is their number one, clearly, but he can make a big play, and he can certainly catch one if, if youโre not going to cover on the back end of the defense. So this is definitely a very interesting test for the Ravens going on the road. Obviously a big game, when you consider what the standings look like right now, and you know, you alluded to it, look from a true talent level standpoint, do I like Joe burrow and Jamar Chase better than anything Pittsburgh has to offer offensively? Yeah, of course I do. But Cincinnati four and six. So you are what your record says you are at the end of the day. And and Pittsburgh, while theyโve had a pretty soft schedule to this point, you know, going into Sundayโs game, letโs say, but theyโre seven and two mathematically. I mean, theyโre right there. And this is a huge game for the Ravens. And as I alluded to, no matter what you want to say about the true talent level of these two teams over the last five or six years, the Steelers have had the Ravens number albeit in some games here where Lamar is rested or not played or whatever, but you still need to go out there and take care of business. So this is a big game, and again,
Nestor Aparicio 12:57
we look more like a layup weeks ago, though, right? I mean, yeah, sure. Into this, the fact that weโre having this conversation while weโre discussing, you know, our turkey dinner, and just the weirdness of the scheduling for the Ravens from here out. You know, weโre used to Baldinger would always say to me, weโre fruit fly seven day life cycle of fruit fly. We do the same every seven days, seven days, seven days, and we like to do it that way. Boy, theyโre being tested in that way, as are the fans, Wednesday night football, at Christmas, Saturday night football. I went through this with my wife. I mean literally, and Iโm like, when do they play? Well, they play on Monday night against the Chargers. And yet, this is, you know, this is the Sunday weโre around, and we could do a brunch this week and have a family obligation. And Deacon Jones can be Deacon Jones. And, you know, we can have a Saturday around here on Sunday with, you know, sitting around watching red zone, which I, I love, being a fan of the league. You know that Luke, you know, I become way more non denominational after the Chad Steele incident, being that youโre in a press box, and Iโm not anymore. I wear my oiler gear and have a good time with it, but Iโm not a gambler, so I donโt see it that way. And the oldness for me to witness all of that perception of all of it, and the way the players deal with it, where lamars, I donโt care about your parlays and all that, I see where you could get sucked into it because Iโm sitting there watching college football or watching games, like Iโm even saying to my wife at halftime, well, falcons are going to win this one. And, you know, looking at it and thinking like, if I was in a casino right now, I wonder if I put $1 on the chargers to actually win this game when theyโre ahead or behind. How all that would even work, because thatโs how my mind is working on a red zone when Iโm sitting at home and Iโm sober and Iโm not really into what I guess the young kids are into, or into the celebrity part of it, or any of that stuff anymore, Iโm more value to it of of thinking like Kirk Cousins win a Super Bowl. Can Can Russell Wilson lead the Steelers to 12 wins this. Here, you know, Kim, one guy on one team, Joe burrow with one connection. Can that get them to 10 wins? I think about it in that way, like a sports radio guy. But boy, when I sit here on Sunday and itโs like, Fred Flintstone, bad, but bad, bad, bad, bad, I think I start to do think about the financial part of like, I You can bet on anything, thatโs the first thing I think about. But I also think about, like, how lucky we are to be in a position. And I I tweet these things out loud when, if you follow us at W, N, S, D, but like to not be a Jets fan, or some of these places where itโs like on perpetual fire Cleveland, even though they beat us two weeks ago, I did a week of that around here, but like Pittsburgh, Baltimore, the expectations of the fan bases, the fact that the coaches never change, the media never changes. By the way, cheap shot for you and for Charlie batch is like we talk about quarterbacks that Ken or canโt beat us. Charlie will be coming on this week. Talk about how he could beat us and but, but this rivalry is so rich, and all the things I dreamed about three decades ago about getting back in the league and thinking we were going to be playing Miami and Buffalo and the Jets and like the way it was with the Colts, this Raven Steelers thing is really unique in the league at this point, and really unique with the coaches and the history of all of it, because I donโt know the coaches are going to survive 16, 1518, years. Much you want Tom Landry versus Don Shula? This is it, right here. This is it, yeah, and
Luke Jones 16:37
I think, and weโve talked about this in recent years, because the rivalry has cooled off to the to the degree that it has over the last you know, post post Ben Roethlisberger, letโs say post Suggs and Roethlisberger. I mean, they were the last members of the old guard, really. And obviously, Pittsburghโs had their issues trying to figure out a quarterback. And you know, Russell Wilsonโs a quarterback right now, not convinced heโs going to be their quarterback even next year, let alone a couple years from now, dude,
Nestor Aparicio 17:03
I saw him play in Denver two years ago. Iโm like, Oh, my God, exactly, but he is. I mean, he used to be commended, you must say, right? Oh, sure. I
Luke Jones 17:10
mean, Russell Wilson was a great quarterback for a long time, but I think itโs clear whatโs happened to him the last couple years. Now heโs here. Iโve even you made this comparison. I saw a couple people say this on social media. I mean, is this his Kurt Warner, arriving in Arizona. People forget Kurt Warner was a New York giant for five minutes, right? And how bad that went. You know, we kind of saw that up close and personal with the Giants coming into Baltimore. What was that? 2004 I guess it was. And Eli Manning, not having no idea what he was doing, and kind of thinking about where they were at that point, but, but, but you just look at this rivalry, yes, itโs cooled off in recent years. It hasnโt had the same juice. So much of that has to do with Lamar missing so many of these games because of injury, or they played in week 18 or week 17, and the Ravens havenโt had anything to play for him. Lamar sitting as as was the case in the the season finale last year. So but, but, but the thing thatโs beautiful about Raven Steelers, and this alludes to what you were just talking about, is the fact that it was such a great rivalry for so long that it became a legacy rivalry, rivalry in the same way that you talk about not right now, but historically speaking, Washington, Dallas, or some of those different ones, where theyโll have their ebbs and flows, and theyโll have those times where one team isnโt as good, or in the case of Washington, Dallas, these are team very good many times over the last 30 years. But
Nestor Aparicio 18:37
this is an era. This isnโt like a decade. This is an A this is like, you know, I canโt think of anything in the league that rivals it in the modern vernacular. I really canโt, I mean, and I think things like cowboys 40 Niners during a period of time, right? And that was perception, because they werenโt the same division. And even Eli Manning and Tom Brady, right? You know, there was, but that thatโs not the same as two times a year and some playoff disappointments and championship games and Flacco to palamalu and, you know, I mean, you have something intent in all of these. Itโs just, itโs a, itโs a beautiful thing from the fan base and really well placed. And the fact that, you know, high Smith and, I mean, Naji Harris went just looking at health from from the Ravens perspective, this is going to be a great week, that this is going to be the center of the football universe this week. I believe that,
Luke Jones 19:37
well, you do have rate or you do have chief spills. I mean that that game as well right now, but, but no. The point I was trying to make is, when you have something that has become a legacy rivalry, which means, okay, it it hasnโt been the red hot Raven Steelers that both games would be in prime time every single year the way it was in the late you know, 2000 circa 2006 Rue 2014 letโs say, you know, and even you could go earlier than that, and it was blatantly nasty between the two teams. I mean, you know, the Lee flowers, Shannon, sharp, Plaxico, Burris, Chris McAllister. I mean, those guys hated each other. There was no respect at that. It morphed into a healthy respect, even if they didnโt like each other in recent years, itโs just been respect, and there really hasnโt been an edge to it at all. So, dude,
Nestor Aparicio 20:27
you sound like youโre talking about, you know, Georgia Championship Wrestling and Gordon soul, right?
Luke Jones 20:35
Weโre media guys. Weโre selling it, right? You know, this is gorilla monsoon and Vince McMahon or Jesse The Body, Ventura talking about it so but no, I think whatโs great about this is now that you have a situation where, obviously the ravens are where they are right now, which from a true talent standpoint, on offense, best in the league. Defense, another story. And certainly weโll see how that looks against Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon, but you have a Steelers team that look, the defense has remained good. I mean, when you have someone like TJ watt leading the way and that defensive front, I mean, that is a tough defense, but now you throw Russell Wilson into the mix, who, again, is either Russell Wilson he was five years ago? No, I donโt think he is, but heโs still capable, and what he does best that those Moon ball, deep balls that he throws, ravens, I have to defend that, and they have to defend Pickens, and they have to defend Mike Williams, and theyโve got to be able to do that. Am I as concerned about Pittsburghโs running game against the Ravens? No, Iโm not. Because of the Ravens run defense has remained stout, but I think you look no further, and we talked about this a little bit in the aftermath of the Cincinnati game, but even having a couple conversations with some other media types, and even just a couple of my friends over the weekend having a chance to get away a little bit, but yeah, I look at what happened in Cleveland a Couple weeks ago, against a team with a good defense, at least on paper, hasnโt performed like it did a year ago, but still a good defense. Now subtract zadaria Smith, but at the time they had him, and you had a team that was able to get some stops against the Ravens offense. Some you know, the Ravens scored 24 which is still better than so many offenses around this league. And then you saw what happened with Javis Winston throwing the football Jameis Winston. So if Jameis Winston can do that against you, you look at these next couple weeks, at Pittsburgh, and then at the chargers for a Monday night game, another team with a really good defense. And then you come home playing against Philadelphia, who was playing much better than they were earlier in the year and defensively, has looked better, not great, but better than they looked early in the in the year. You look at these three games, beginning with your rival on Sunday, if we come out of these three games and the Ravens are sitting there in first place, theyโll have earned it, because this is a pretty difficult three week stretch. I mean, yeah, I donโt want to say make or break, but it could be make or break in terms of wanting to be positioned to win the division at the very least. So this is a big, big stretch, and itโs a challenging stretch, and it begins with your rival, and Pittsburgh should have all the confidence in the world, going into Landover and and beating a commanderโs team, thatโs been really good. So this is a major challenge. Itโs a colossal, easily, the biggest challenge that Pittsburgh has faced all. I think thatโs evident and as far as an opportunity for them to show that theyโre legit, legit. But for the ravens, I mean, letโs face it again, say what you want about the talent level of these teams. The Ravens have had their issues, and weird things have happened, and theyโve lost a lot of games to the Steelers the last few years, even games where you sit there and scratch your head and say, How in the world did you lose it? Well, they lost it, so theyโve got to take care of business. But I mean, this is, this is fun, because these legacy rivalries, they can be a little more on the dormant side for a couple years, but as soon as both teams are relevant, thereโs no heating up the highlight packages for all the you know, the espns of the world, they theyโve got those things in the can ready to go, right? Theyโll be hyping it all week in the same way that Ravenโs chiefs will be hyped all week, or Billโs chiefs will be hyped all week. I mean, these are some big time games. And Iโll say this a couple weeks ago, I was really wondering if this game was going to get flexed. I think the only thing that saved it is Pittsburgh plays a Thursday night game at Cleveland, you know, to immediately following this game. Otherwise, Iโm guessing Sunday Night Football would have wanted this game. So stays at one oโclock. Iโm happy with that as someone making the trip out to Pittsburgh this weekend, but exciting, exciting and big challenge for both these teams. I saw the early line Vegas likes the ravens, which makes sense I would, too, if Iโm being objective about it and looking at it on paper and I. How proven the Ravens might be, compared to maybe Pittsburgh not being quite as proven to this point, but
Nestor Aparicio 25:06
not hard to sell it inside your locker room when itโs not Jimmy the Greek having to talk about the numbers anymore, right? Like we disrespect dude. You know, they, they their favorites coming into our building that didnโt hard sell in Pittsburgh. Is it? No,
Luke Jones 25:19
shouldnโt be, shouldnโt be, and they they can say, hey, weโre seven and two, theyโre seven and three. Weโre ahead of them in the division. But I thought it was interesting. Iโd be remiss if I didnโt mention this, because my pastor, who Iโve talked about this, is a Pittsburgh fan. He even sent me the clip of Mike Tomlin post game being asked about Jaden Daniels and comparing Jaden Daniels to Lamar Jackson and Tomlin was just like, hey, letโs slow your roll a little bit. Comparing anyone to Mr. Jackson a multi time MVP and all that one, I thought that was appropriate admiration and respect for the Ravens quarterback two, Mike Tomlin is very deliberate in what he says. I also thought there could have been a little bit of buttering Lamar up a little bit there, hoping, hey, you know, maybe play into being a little overconfident and, you know, Lamar say what you want about Lamar, what heโs done against the Bengals when heโs been healthy, which is, you know, completely kind of owned that series when heโs been on the field in recent years, but Lamar, albeit not as many games, because heโs missed a lot of them, heโs had some issues against Pittsburgh relative to, compared to Cincinnati. So hearing Tomlin say what he said after the game one, I think, I think he was being genuine, but I also think there was a deliberate part to that of, you know, maybe lulling Lamar into, you know, a little bit of a sense of being overconfident. Maybe, who knows? Again, these teams will see what happens one oโclock on Sunday. But Iโm all for a raven Steelers game that feels as big as itโs been in a while. I think that stating the obvious at this point, you
Nestor Aparicio 26:59
know, sitting around watching the four oโclock games, sort of half awake, half asleep. And I realized the charges are around the corner. Iโm watching them play, and Iโm watching Dobbins do this and that. And I said to my wife, Iโm like, like, half the Ravens team out there. And sheโs like, Yeah, I saw Edwards running. Iโm like, I thought he was hurt. And like, Iโm thinking about whoโs healthy and whoโs not, and whoโs there and who the additions are. And, you know, I fell into the pregame shows on Sunday and trade editions, and then Williams goes and makes this huge play after Pickens. Iโm tweeting about how good that play was, the Pickens made early in the game. And Iโm thinking thatโs really where the weakness or the Ravens. And itโs amazing to me to hear people chirp about much like in baseball the day after the trading deadline. Our buddy Jason lock and for who, hope youโre okay, Jay, I just want to say, hope you, hope youโre doing okay. Thereโs a lot of a lot of anger out on that timeline. Um, but like there, there is a lot of anger on the back end of these trading deadlines that we didnโt do enough. We didnโt do enough. Why didnโt we get, you know what? Why didnโt we go after the cornerback? We have to get three draft picks up for that, and he could even play this week for Washington. So I donโt, you know, I donโt know how to be critical, because Iโm a responsible journalist. Iโm not a hot take guy, and neither are you, which is probably why our audience here is relatively sane, and we lead relatively same lives around here, from not being that reactive to it in some really flippant way. But there is a point to say, How much could they have done last week? And it does feel like the Steelers added a little bit on both sides of the ball. To say we did a little bit more. And even in the Russell Wilson edition, I know like when all of that went down off season, we can scoff at that. And I donโt want to say they look. I mean, look, two weeks ago, they were firing Tomlin for the 20th time. I wonder why, in western Pennsylvania, and it was because he had the audacity to let the younger guy sit and let the other guy play, and thatโs all theyโve done, is win, win, win, no matter what, what, what. So itโs not like Tomlin has to point and say, Iโm the genius. Heโs going to the Hall of Fame, right? And like, but there have been these moves that, if youโre on the radio in Pittsburgh, or a hot take guy or whatever, but the additions and the trade editions, at least for a week, smell good there. You know? I guess time will tell where the ravens are and where theyโll be at the end with tredavius and with in gock way, who got claimed, right? I mean, we didnโt think that was going to happen from a pass rush. You said he was the fourth or fifth guy? Well, heโs now not their guy. Yeah, you know, so things have happened here, including the Ravens having to play two games in a couple of days. And you know that, though Cleveland debacle and all you know, surviving all of that to get to this point, but the trading deadline in the league becomes a hot button amongst fans to some degree, and in Pittsburgh, itโs a, itโs a real. A genius situation this week, right? Well, I
Luke Jones 30:03
mean, the early return, sure. Now, now, if Mike Williams gets hurt on Sunday, as unfortunately, has been the story of his career and or does it make much of an impact? Or Preston Smith, who looms a little bit bigger with Alex Highsmith, who I assume is probably not going to play this week. I mean, the reports where he was on crutches after the game, Iโm guessing itโs probably going to be a couple weeks. Weโll see about Kyle Hamilton on the flip side, the the tests and all that have looked good. That doesnโt mean heโs going to play this week, but the good news is Kyle Hamilton not anticipating a long term absence or anything like that. But again, is he healthy and available on Sunday, which is a massive game. I mean, itโs a massive game for both these teams. So, but, but, yeah, just to get back to the trade deadline, look, I think some criticism is fair, but I think it also has to be done appropriately, right? I think it has to be done in understanding what are the asking prices, whoโs available. I mean, look, I said over and over, I would have loved to have seen Zaria Smith back as a raven. I donโt think Cleveland was even entertaining the idea of trading him to Baltimore or to Pittsburgh, right? I donโt think that that was a reality. You know, I havenโt gotten any indication that that was a reality. I donโt know that 100% but point is, we said all along, are they going to trade within the division? And, like I said, even, even if itโs dumb for teams to think that way, because why cut yourself off at the knees in terms of trying to get the best possible deal if the best possible deal was one of your division rivals, so be it. But, you know, I know. I mean, itโs been out there. I mean, there are reports out there. The Ravens were in on Lattimore, who went to Washington, didnโt play this week. But I think the other funny takeaway about that game is, you look at Washington, they could use someone like Marshawn Lattimore. So weโll see how. You know, once he gets back on the field, weโll see how he looks. There
Nestor Aparicio 31:52
real draft stock to do that. And then letโs short, seventh round draft picks, right? Someday down the line, right, exactly.
Luke Jones 31:58
And I know because I even having talked to some people as well. I mean, the clay s Campbell thing was real in terms of bringing him back. I donโt know if what happened exactly at the very end. Did Miami suddenly want more than they had originally been asking for? Did they just get cold feet, whatever, but class Campbell would have helped. But Iโll say this, Travis Jones being back, we saw the pass rush look much more legitimate, much more formidable, albeit against the Bengals offensive line thatโs not very good at full strength and didnโt have Orlando brown. So I donโt want to sit here and say that the pass rush is fixed, but yeah, when you look at the trade deadline, we and we did this talking about the Orioles as well, right? I mean, and the Orioles made all kinds of trades at the deadline. And I made the point that, more often than not, most of these deals arenโt going to do a whole lot good or bad for you. So for the ravens, weโll see. I mean, Deontay Johnson has been minimally involved to the point where Iโm not so sure he was even I think he probably is frustrated right now. Can, if youโre him, you come in and you see Nelson Aguilar and tylen Wallace, two guys heโs supposed to be ahead of catching touchdowns on Thursday night. So you have that, and
Nestor Aparicio 33:17
you say, when? And this is one football. Get sideways, one football, one football. And more than that, this team really doesnโt want to throw the football. Really. They donโt want to throw it 50 times. They want to throw it 22 to 25 times. Kind of, sort of in a perfect world, if the clockโs right and theyโre running right and theyโre theyโre the steam trains running the way itโs running, and shorter drives, and like all of that, Iโm, you know, when you come in, you sort of sign up for the fact that Lamar is the greatest running back on Earth. Derek Henryโs going to the Hall of Fame. It is a run first sort of program, and then build from there, right? I mean, that thatโs, thatโs a thatโs just factual. I mean, thatโs not me being mean or anything like that. Thatโs what you tell. Deontay, Todd Johnson, John to anybody right like you to say this is where itโs going to be a flowers knew that when he got drafted into this, he wasnโt getting 15 targets. So you know what? I mean, thatโs not what? This isnโt the AFL, this isnโt the whack, yeah. I
Luke Jones 34:20
mean, I disagree that itโs that they donโt want to throw the football, but they want to be balanced. Thatโs really what it is, and theyโre not. They donโt go into a game saying, oh, zay flowers needs to catch 10 passes and have 130 yards. They donโt go into a game saying, Oh, Mark Andrews needs to be fed the football. They donโt go into the game saying, Derek Henry needs X number of carries. They donโt. They take what the defense gives them. So weโve seen games where Lamar throws for 300 some yards and has a perfect passer rating and throws four touchdowns. Weโve seen that. Weโve seen. I mean, Lamar is second in the league in passing yards right now. Nestor so I disagree, and I reject the notion they donโt want to throw the football, but they donโt have this idea in mind that, oh. We must carry it X number of times, or we must throw it X number of times. Or Lamar needs to get this number of passing yards. Or weโve got to feed zay flowers and Rashad Bateman X number of targets
Nestor Aparicio 35:09
when Lamar wasnโt going to play here anymore because of his close personal relationship with Hollywood Brown, who couldnโt get the ball enough right like and so I you know, this comes back to coach Ekman do a little of philosophizing here during a Pittsburgh Baltimore week. Is to say, when you sign up here and somebody asks you how the game went, you donโt say, I caught seven balls for 84 yards. You say, whether
Luke Jones 35:34
you win or lost, you won, right?
Nestor Aparicio 35:36
I mean, like, literally, thatโs the way this program works. Thatโs not the way a lot of wide receivers and their agents would be thinking about things like, I, you know, Iโm just saying like, sure to buy in on that, or to get dealt into this. When you come here, you from. Where did he come from?
Luke Jones 35:53
Luke came Carolina.
Nestor Aparicio 35:54
But before that, you come from Carolina, and you used to be in Pittsburgh, and you come to Baltimore, the first thing your age, he says is, I got good news for you, you might win the Super Bowl. I got bad news for you. A good day is going to be four catches for 84 yards in this offense that like, you know, thatโs, thatโs the bad news. So thatโs literally right. I mean, Iโm done. Iโm trying to be as grown up as I can be here on this thing. Yeah, and again,
Luke Jones 36:22
I donโt, Iโm not suggesting that he wonโt fit in and make some plays from time to time, but I want to be as white weโll see with him. I think Iโm fascinated on and weโre not going to find out in practice this week. We donโt, I donโt get to watch enough of practice, right? We see special teams, but what work did they do on the defense over the weekend? Are we going to see changes, I think, an interesting wild card, and maybe tredavius White factors in at this in this equation at some point, they do have some players like Brandon Stevens, for example, with some positional versatility. Keep in mind, go back to last training camp, Brandon Stevens. They wanted him to be a safety. It was because Marlon Humphrey had foot surgery, and other guys, rock Yassine got hurt, and they had some other guys banged up in their secondary that Brandon Stevens was back at corner. And look, he ended up having a really good year, donโt get me wrong. But with things being where they are, you have a first round pick and Nate Wiggins, who is playing, but not still not playing a whole lot, and penalties aside, heโs actually done some, you know, had some good performances and everything. Do we perhaps see the Ravens pull the trigger on getting Nate Wiggins on the field, more opposite Marlin, Humphrey, and maybe, again, Iโm throwing it out here. Itโs spitballing, because why wouldnโt you spit ball when youโre 32nd and pass defense? Right now, maybe do you start to see Brandon Stevens start cross training a little bit and maybe playing a little more safety? What does that do for Marcus Williams? What does that do for how you use Kyle Hamilton? Weโll see right ardarius Washington, but you canโt maintain the status quo. And they and in fairness to them, they havenโt, theyโve theyโve benched guys. Theyโve deactivated guys. In the case of unique and gauquet, they waved someone right to get David ajabo back on the field. They
Nestor Aparicio 38:12
brought in Dean peas. If I would do an All right, they were bringing Dean peas in. I
Luke Jones 38:16
told you at the time, my response to that was, now, Iโm
Nestor Aparicio 38:19
really worried about the way youโre bringing buttered peas in for Thanksgiving, or what are you talking about here, for the right I mean, that was the
Luke Jones 38:27
signal, that was the tell that they were concerned about this. You know, again, you bring in Dean peas in early August. Everyone says, Hey, thatโs a shrewd move. You bring in Dean peas after week five. Everyone says, Oh, wow. Youโre really worried about your defense and your defensive coordinator and your personnel, and youโre trying to get another experienced mind in the room to try to sort this out, because your past defense is a mess. So weโll see. You know, again, Iโm fascinated to see whatโs going to happen, specifically with the safety position you said it, and itโs tough for me to disagree. Nestor Marcus Williams, I mean, everyone has seen the clip. I mean, the Amazon broadcast showed it. You know, the, not the all 22 look, but the field cam look of seeing that deep ball to chase. I mean, what in the world was Marcus Williams doing there? I mean, he looked like he was lost. He looked like he was just he had no idea what he was doing back there. So, you know, do we see a change there? Do we see him? His role alter slightly? I donโt know, but boy, youโve got to figure it out, because Pittsburgh isnโt a juggernaut offensively by any stretch, but Russ Wilson likes to throw the deep ball, and heโs got some guys who can catch the deep ball, and they play they have a good defense, and thatโs a defense that might be able to get some stops against the Ravens offense here and there, he is that guy
Nestor Aparicio 39:42
that can get out of a pocket and just move enough just and is, you know, no offense. He might be the greatest thatโs ever done it in that way, being the height that he is to get out of the pocket and see things that you know, Brian Billick would love. Looked at him 25 years ago and said heโs not tall enough to
Luke Jones 40:02
see after pocket. Thatโs why heโs a fourth round pick, right? Yeah, third or fourth round, whatever it was. And, you know,
Nestor Aparicio 40:06
whatever you think of Tom Brady, if you ever started up on Tom Brady, Tom Bradyโs big man, you know, like, bigger than you think he, you know, just he stands among same thing with Joe Flacco. People think Joe Flacco. I mean, Joe Flacco is a really big, big man, and Russell Wilson is not and Kyler Murrayโs not. Lamar is bigger than people think he is, you know, I mean, for sure. And you know, maybe built more like a wiry running back, if you put a 32 number on him, or 34 on him, and he looked like a running back. Thatโs my old guy when, you know guys are still running around. And Iโm like, is that a linebacker? Is that a safety? Thatโs a corner? The hell are these guys doing wearing these numbers? Get off my lawn. Itโs a Pittsburgh, Baltimore week. Iโve got my pink, Terrible Towel. I mean, donโt think that I wave this or anything. I mean, I literally just wash my dishes. Oh, theyโre upside down. Thatโs nice. Thatโs really disrespectful to put, to put the flag upside down, the way that that would be disrespectful to Myron cope. And every so I have my little town. Itโs Pittsburgh week. I hope we get together and yell more about it. Charlie batch is going to come in this week. Weโre doing the Maryland tour all month long into the holidays. All brought to my friends at the Maryland lottery, also our friends at Jiffy Lube MultiCare. Powering up Luke, getting back and forth to training camp and beyond and up to Pittsburgh this weekend. Breeswood, I love yous guys. Alright. Itโs a long week around here. Exhale. We got Sundays without football and Sundays with football. This is one with football around here. Iโm Nestor. Heโs Luke. Stay tuned and stay still. Weโre W, N, S, D, A, N, 1570 tasks of Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore. Positive. You.