Luke Jones and Nestor give final thoughts before HarBowl III as Ravens head to Chargers for Monday Night family showdown in Los Angeles
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the upcoming Monday Night Football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Los Angeles Chargers. They highlight the importance of the game, especially with the Ravens needing to avoid a two-game losing streak and the potential impact of Roquan Smithโs hamstring injury. They note the Chargersโ recent offensive explosiveness and the familiarity between the teams due to shared coaching and player history. Jones emphasizes the need for the Ravens to clean up penalties and turnovers, while Aparicio reflects on the broader implications of the game, including the Harbaugh family rivalry and the Ravensโ overall health and performance.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Maryland crab cake tour, Monday Night Football, Ravens vs Chargers, Roquan Smith injury, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles, Thanksgiving week, defensive challenges, offensive strategy, Jim Harbaugh, John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens, Chargers offense
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. Weโre Baltimore. Positive. Weโre getting ready for Some Football, Monday Night Football from Los Angeles, California. Last time my favorite Monday night game ever was in LA at the Coliseum. I donโt know that SoFi stadium could ever bring that on, but weโre going to be bringing the Maryland crab cake tour to you. Happy Thanksgiving. Everybody out there celebrating. Donโt spend too much money on Black Friday, because beginning next week, weโre going to begin the Maryland crab cake tour be Cocos on the fourth. Weโre going to be moving around Gertrude on the fifth. Weโre going to be at faintly on the 12th, weโre going to be at amicis on the 17th. Weโre going to be Acosta on the 18th. All of it brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery have Raven scratch offs to give away. Also our friends at Jiffy Lube multi care powering us up for the Maryland crab cake tour, and getting Luke back and forth. What in what will be a short week in preparation for the upstart Philadelphia Eagles, who are still score I think saquon Barkley still running from Sunday night. Reedโs going to run from LA back to Baltimore for the game. 3000 3000 mile, 3000 yards. Weโll see how it goes. Luca, we watched a lot of football over the weekend. Weโre going to watch a lot of football this week. You know, three games on Thursday, thereโs a game on Friday, thereโs bowl games getting set up and the other thing and all that. But weโre the last of the last year before Thanksgiving and horrible three, and maybe the row Quan Smith. This a challenge for the ravens to fly out there Saturday and play Monday night. It
Luke Jones 01:33
is. It is. I mean, obviously, as you just mentioned, lots going on. Itโs the holidays, itโs football, itโs the stretch run really picking up. The Ravens got a reminder in the very stadium that theyโre going to be playing in tonight, on Sunday night, that it doesnโt get any easier six days from now when the Philadelphia Eagles come to town and theyโre playing at an extremely high level. So itโs a reminder of you better take care of business tonight, because one you just want to win and keep pace with the Steelers who lost on Thursday night, and you want to maintain or you would have the opportunity to be in the top wild card spot with the win over the Chargers. But it doesnโt get any easier, and you donโt want to be in a position. We talked about it last week. Seven and four doesnโt sound as elite as the Ravens feel and look at times anyway, but seven and five even more so. And then any thoughts of, dare I say, youโd be seven and six going into the bye week. So Iโm not predicting that, but it certainly can happen. I donโt think thereโs a path thatโs unreasonable in thinking that. So
Nestor Aparicio 02:40
teams, four weeks ago, six weeks ago, all summer, with a better team, right? You know, Philadelphia, maybe chargers, you know, like itโs a game out there, itโs short rest, we knew all of that. Now I look at these two games and I think to myself, same as you, you better not be seven and six, because these are tough games the and youโre not playing well, and youโre not a great team. Youโre certainly not a great defense. So I think this is a little more treacherous than we thought it was when it came out on the schedule. We just said, w, w, I donโt know that. Feel that way to me. Yeah, well,
Luke Jones 03:14
and Philadelphia, obviously it was so complicated for them because of how they finished last year, and they started out not so great, but if you see your coach was jumping in the stands yelling at their fans in Philadelphia, feels like five minutes ago. Beautiful. And a big part, I mean, that part aside, I mean a big part of it was their defense wasnโt playing particularly well early in the season, and now itโs played at a high level. And saquon Barkley has, I mean, heโs got more rushing yards than Derrick Henry now, and we were talking about Derrick Henry, or not me specifically, but talking Derrick Henry being talked about as an MVP candidate, the fact that youโre even throwing that out there talking about a running back speaks to how great Barkley has been for them. But yeah, letโs, letโs keep the focus on the chargers for now. This is a team that, through the first four weeks, defense looked, I think, how people expected it to look. I think people thought they were going to have a good defense, certainly a Ravens, ravens footprint or fingerprints all over it. Jesse Minter, their defensive coordinator, is a former ravens assistant, and you know, certainly has some ties to to the both hardballs, but you look at that offense, and you said, okay, you know Justin Herbertโs this guy that at different times has been anointed, certainly has talent, but hasnโt necessarily lived up to the hype in terms of whether youโre talking about his individual success or certainly the Chargers success or lack thereof, Over the last 345, years, but since the bye week, that offense has looked way more explosive. I think theyโve taken the governorโs off Herbert a little bit. I mean, Jim Harbaugh has even talked about that. I mean, this is a guy whoโs playing at a really high level. Heโs not in that top tier as far as MVP favorites, where right now, Lamar. Josh Allen. I think are, you know, I think Josh Allenโs become the betting favorite for this week anyway. And obviously things can change. But you look at Herbert, heโs only thrown one interception this year. I mean, think about that, and Lamar only has three. How often do you see two starting quarterbacks whoโve made every start for their team, and itโs Thanksgiving, and they have a combined four interceptions between them. It speaks to taking care of the football at a really high level, in addition to what they do for their teams, which is be very productive, high level quarterback play. So this chargers team that the Ravens need to be ready for, and I think for as much as there was cautious optimism about the defense coming out of the Pittsburgh game and the changes in the secondary, is roquan Smith going to play tonight. He didnโt practice all week. Itโs a hamstring. Iโm not going to say he he wonโt play, but thatโs generally not a profile of someone thatโs ultimately going to go especially knowing that youโre going to play another game in six days right after that. So we
Nestor Aparicio 06:04
did a half an hour before the weekend began. On what it looks like without him. Roquan sucks. Heโs fat. Heโs eating too much this that heโs not as fast. Heโs not a good play without him. See how you just play without him. See if you donโt like him exactly. I think youโll appreciate roquan Smith a lot more at midnight on Monday night.
Luke Jones 06:21
Well, and look, I donโt think itโs even a matter of fans or anyone not appreciating them. Bro. Quinnโs had his issues in past coverage. That operation has had its colossal issues when youโre last in the league in passing yards. But
Nestor Aparicio 06:33
weโre not sure who to blame, except everybody, because clearly, when thereโs been as many breakdowns as there is not Marcus Williams fault in weeks that even play, or Eddie Jackson, whoโs gone now, or whatever it was, a communication issue, maybe a scheme issue, and certainly a spacing issue that you brought up on Friday. Yeah.
Luke Jones 06:49
I mean, and look, Iโm even fine with someone saying Marcus Williams was the biggest issue, or Eddie Jackson was the biggest issue. I can out. Hear that right?
Nestor Aparicio 06:58
Kyle Hamilton just not playing safety. Well, like they they moved him back. He played, they lost the game. But you know, like he looked more like a safety instead of whatever going to the Hall of Fame. You think heโs going to the first two or three years into this, there is that position back there that was glaring, that he was rarely a part of that communication problem on the back end, right, right?
Luke Jones 07:22
But even with that, even if youโve cleaned up the back end by having art areas Washington replace Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton playing more deep safety, itโs not as though heโs not playing closer to the line of scrimmage, just not doing that as frequently. But thereโs a hidden cost to that. And when you look at what the Chargers do test the theyโll test the middle of the field, at least. I expect them to test the middle of the field more than the Steelers did, even though the Steelers tried to do that as the game went on and they hit a couple couple plays to the tight ends. But will disley, theyโre tight the Chargers. Tight End is playing good football. And lad McConkey. I think one of the big matchups of this football game is lad McConkey in the slot lining up against Marlon Humphrey, whoโs playing even more slot corner now, because Hamilton, we assume, will be back at Deep safety more frequently. But again, the hidden costs there, if thereโs no roquan Smith, can you afford to have Kyle Hamilton playing further away from the line of scrimmage for 65 plays. And, you know, obviously theyโll move him around. They moved him around in Pittsburgh. Itโs not as though he was back there exclusively, but between play action, the options that the Chargers have over the middle of the field their run game, which, you know, we havenโt talked a whole lot about the Ravens run defense, because itโs been so elite all year long. But that math changes a little bit if roquan Smith isnโt there and if Kyle Hamiltonโs not playing in the box quite as often. So you know, this is going to be a really interesting test. And look, I want to be very clear, I donโt think the Chargers have an absolute juggernaut of an offense. Iโm not suggesting that, but I think theyโre going to be, to me, theyโre going to be a much more telling test, legitimate test, than what the Steelers did offensively. For me to really be convinced that, okay, their defense, their past defense, is on the right track here, because I think theyโre going to be tested with play action and the tight ends in the middle of the field, all those things weโve talked about over the course of the season. And again, roquan Smith, heโs officially questionable. Iโm not saying heโs not playing, but he didnโt practice all week, and itโs a hamstring, and if itโs a hamstring that kept you out of the finish of the Steelers game, and then keeps you out for the entire practice week, how, whatโs the confidence level that heโs 100% that you can put him out there and heโs not going to be limping around 15 plays into the game, and then suddenly heโs not available for the Eagles game next week, and you better you certainly want them on the field next week, if possible, with saquon Barkley coming to town. So thereโs a lot that goes into that. And. We know that a hamstring injury, thatโs something that generally youโre not going to be able to play through if youโre less than 100% so it I donโt know this Nestor, but generally thatโs the kind of thing you need to err on the side of caution with. So if they donโt have him, then Trenton, Simpson, Malik, Harrison, Chris board, maybe even Christian Welch. I think youโre going to see an ensemble cast of characters trying to mix and match and different sub packages. But to your point, if fans and media werenโt confident in roquan Smith dropping into coverage, who in that group are you going to have any confidence in So, and thatโs where you know, you donโt necessarily think of a Greg Roman offense. Theyโre going to throw to running backs very much. But even that part of it could be a factor if they try to throw to JK Dobbins out of the backfield, anything like that. So itโs gonna be really interesting. Again, the defense was the silver lining, the bright spot coming out of Pittsburgh. And look, I wrote about that too. Iโm not saying that I wasnโt encouraged by what I saw, but I need to see it again. You know, keep in mind, this team shut shut down Buffalo and then what we saw in Cincinnati the following week was anything but that same thing when they shut down the Broncos. Cincinnati comes to town look nothing like any of the potential progress we thought they had made. So this defense at this point, itโs show me territory, and yeah, some of the tweaks they made, it paid some dividends in Pittsburgh, albeit in a loss, but I need to see that carry over. And easier said than done, when youโre talking about roquan Smith, you know, if not very likely being out, very strong possibility that heโs going to be out of this game just knowing he hasnโt practiced all week. Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 11:48
is here. He is Baltimore. Luke, he was out of practice last week before tonightโs game. And you, one of the players said itโs, itโs like playing the Ravens West, right? Yeah, and, I mean, Iโm reaching for my phone right now. If it werenโt early in the morning, I would text Joe Ortiz and give him some words of wisdom that Iโve given him throughout our lifetime of baseball fandom and political discourse that he and I have had over our time. But JK Dobbins, I mean, players that are out there, much like Patrick Queen last week, not to mention the brother versus brother thing that Iโm sure Scott Van Pelt will have you aware of by 635 tonight, in preparation for the game, theyโll be all over John versus Jim and Michigan and cheating and all of that stuff, and the Super Bowl and but the players on the the charger side, who know what the Ravens do This has got a little extra steam for JK Dobbins, I would think. And if thereโs no roquan Smith tonight, Iโm not saying itโs a turn on game, but Steelers ran for over 100 yards last week. Yeah.
Luke Jones 12:52
I mean, I donโt think the Steelers had a dominant performance on the ground against the Ravens by any stretch of the imagination. Iโm not sure. I mean, saqu Barclay is going to be the test next week, right? I mean, the way heโs running the football right now, but I think you just, you look at this, and I think the horrible, you know, that whole narrative, I think thereโs thatโs much more of a national interest story than it is locally. I mean, John faced Jim in the Super Bowl 12 years ago. I donโt know if there are any Ravens fans this week that are really amped up for that part of this game, but you just said it. I mean, go down the roster right now. I have the Chargers roster right in front of me, Gus, Edwards, J K Dobbins, Hayden Hurst, whoโs out tonight, but another former Raven, Bradley Bozeman, is their starting center. You go down the list of players, especially on the offensive side of the ball, but then you look at the coaching staff, not not just the Jim Harbaugh thing, but Greg Roman on the defensive side. You have Jesse Minter, their defensive coordinator, who has ravens ties and Michigan ties. You have Andy Bischoff, who was with the Ravens at one point. Mike Devlin was the Ravens assistant offensive line coach the last couple years before he went and joined the Chargers. So you mentioned Joe Ortiz. Mark tressman is a senior offensive assistant. So I mean, youโve got so many ties here, and thereโs a lot of familiarity that works both ways. Certainly, I think if you look at the Chargers defense and Jesse Minter and their staff, that they certainly have more familiarity with trying to figure out how to slow down a Lamar Jackson offense, right at the same time, the Ravens have plenty of familiarity with their coaches and their personnel. So itโs a really interesting game on that front that again, the horrible the Harbaugh brothers. You know, that element, I think, is, you know, the bigger national story. But I think for these two teams, for these two fan bases, and specifically for the ravens, yeah, thereโs just a lot of urgency here to you. Not not lose two in a row, and not be in a position where youโre coming off a Monday night road game, traveling across the country, not getting back to what 6am Tuesday morning or something like that, and and before you know it, the Eagles are here, and youโre playing another game. And you know your bye week follows that, but you donโt want this to to snowball, and certainly you want to bounce back defensively. You want to stack another promising performance and the offense and Lamar Jackson look, the offense has been so brilliant this year that theyโve more than earned the benefit of the doubt to expect that what happened in Pittsburgh is not suddenly their new identity or anything like that. At the same time. So offensive line has to clean up the penalties, and theyโve got to be ready to handle this chargers front that should have Khalil Mack back. Heโs officially questionable, but he practiced all week. I know he told reporters in LA on Saturday, saying, Look, I didnโt practice all week. Got to play on Monday night. Iโm going to be ready to go, but heโs dealing with a groin injury that kept him out last week. So how effective is he going to be? Of course, they have both something they you know, itโs a good defense, and itโs the kind of defense that Iโm going to be fascinated to see. If they keep to their tendencies, or do they break them? Because where Lamar has had more issues this year has been against more cover one man to man coverage. Chargers run a heck of a lot of zone. I mean, they run i i think i saw Warren sharp site said they run as much cover four zone as anyone in the league. Lamar does very well against that, and this offense does well against that. Same thing there. Theyโve got a rock solid run defense, but theyโve run some of the highest percentages of light boxes. You know, they tend to keep only six guys in the box. Good luck with that, if thatโs your strategy against Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson. So now I think if youโre Jesse Minter and this chargers defensive staff, you got to take a long look at what you do well, but also have some humility and look at the Ravens offense and say, Okay, what do the Ravens do best and what, what is typically the best way to attack them? I think theyโre going to have to take a few more chances. We know when Lamar is playing the peak Lamar ball, he can tread you no matter what you try to do. We know that. But that said, I do think the Chargers defense for as talented as it might be and as good as it might be, I mean, heck, theyโre number one in scoring defense. I want to give them their flowers at the same time. We all know short of the the AFC North teams and Kansas City, letโs say if youโre a team that doesnโt go up against Lamar Jackson in this offense as often, youโve got to really think carefully about what you do. I think coaches are very prideful individuals that, but I think that the Chargers are probably going to have to break some tendencies tonight to really give themselves the best chance to to try to slow down this offense. So Iโm fascinated to see how that works. Again, their strengths compared to the Raven strengths. You know, that thatโs interesting. But, you know, I think this is a really fascinating game, because the Ravens wanting to get back on track, and the chargers, and Iโll throw this out there as well. Nestor, according to DVO way, so Aaron shots, you know, his analytics metric, and with ESPN football power index. Chargers have played the easiest schedule in the NFL to this point in the season, so that doesnโt mean the ravens are gonna have a cake walk, letโs be clear, but I think it does mean for the chargers, this is their chance on a national stage, on the heels of of holding on and beating the Bengals on Sunday night this past week, to really show that theyโre a legit, serious contender in the AFC, they beat the Ravens tonight, then the discourse for them beyond Jim finally getting one on his brother after the Super Bowl 12 years ago. But this is a huge opportunity for a statement win for the chargers for the Ravens. You just you want to get yourself back on track. You improved eight and four, and then you had the Eagles come into town before your bye week. Itโs a great opportunity to to go into the buy on a high note, if you can take care of business these next seven days. But if it doesnโt go that way, itโs a much different conversation weโre having going into the bye week. So again, beyond the horrible and Jim and John and all the national Talking Heads mentioning that, I just think there are a lot of tentacles that make this a really interesting matchup in so many other ways, beyond just the hardballs.
Nestor Aparicio 19:33
Well, not just that. I mean the fact that theyโre both appear to be what bad, good teams, as you would like to say, right? Bad, good teams, seven and four, eight and four. Look, if the ravens are nine and four going into the buy, theyโve done what theyโre supposed to do. Theyโve held their water. If theyโre nine and four going into their buy, and they win on the West Coast, and he beats his brother, and they come back here and they beat the Eagles, who are sort of surging. Thatโs a different kind of not. And four two for me. Um, then it would be if they stumble in one of these games, or both of these games. I also think with roquan Smith and injuries this time of year, that thereโs a point where you feel like weโre going to get some rest. Weโre going to get some downtime. If you canโt make it these two games, get him back right as to not lose him and get him back like fresh, fresh. I donโt know what their philosophy is going to be on this. I donโt know that thereโs ever been a real philosophy with a star football player like roquan Smith. I mean, they didnโt play a lot of games without Ray Lewis through the course of their history. They played a lot of games without Ronnie Stanley, but playing a lot of games without the center of the defense who wears the green, green dot, most
Luke Jones 20:39
likely Kyle Hamilton, because, because heโll be on the field every play he heโs practiced with the green dot. You know, he was even asked that this week, Zach Gore didnโt confirm it with 100% certainty. Because, of course, even if, even if they know roquan is not playing, theyโre not going to broadcast that with certainty at this point. But it would be Hamilton, because what I said, I mean, even Trenton Simpson, who has started every game and has played a whole lot, itโs been very rare that heโs played 100% of the plays. And I donโt think this is necessarily going to be the time where you hand the green dot responsibilities to a second year linebacker in his first year as a starter. So it would be Hamilton, and because, like I said, I mean, Malik Harrison, Chris board, maybe Christian Welch is in that mix. I think youโre going to see a lot of rotating. I mean, even last week we mentioned this, even with Trenton Simpson, there were some plays. It wasnโt too many, but it was a handful where he came off the field and they actually put Chris board into the game when it was some of the the more obvious passing situations out of nickel. So I think itโs going to be interesting on that front. But you know, the best comp I can think of, and obviously, Ray had some years where he was injured, including his final year when he had the triceps and the miraculous return for the playoffs and all the talk of deer antler spray and all that. But I go back to 2011 the year before that. Remember, he hurt his toe in Seattle. He missed, I think it was four games, but before he came back and the Ravens, I know they lost at least one of those games. You know, I think what the chart they played a Sunday night game in San Diego and lost that year. But youโve got to be careful with this. And I think, you know, Dak Prescott probably the most recent example of this, of someone who, you know, he was dealing with a little bit of a hamstring issue, and tried to play through it, and then you saw what happened. Heโs out for the year, and had to get surgeries. So not saying this is exactly like that. I have no idea, you know, because there are different types of hamstring injuries, but you got to be careful. I mean, you do as much as you donโt want to be in a position where suddenly youโre seven and five, or, dare I say seven and six, it changes drastically. If you say, if youโre only thinking about that, and then suddenly roquan tears the hamstring off the bone and is out for the rest of the year. And then then youโve got a major issue at inside linebacker. So
Nestor Aparicio 23:00
Chris board is your linebacker? Yeah. I
Luke Jones 23:03
mean, you got to be careful here. You want this game. You absolutely want this game if, if this is the kind of hamstring where they look at it and say, you know, this was much more a case of it, they were very cautious this week with the idea that heโs not going to practice all week and heโll be ready to go, oh, then fine. And if that works out, and you and I reconvene 24 hours from now, and weโre breaking down a Ravens win, and roquan Smith has 12 tackles, then great. Then thatโs what it was. But if heโs held out, you got to be thinking about the big picture. I mean, these hamstring injuries, again, itโs really difficult for someone to play less than 100% and be effective, and to not be in a position where youโre putting them at risk to make it worse. So this is, you know, this is a test again, for as much as there was an encouraging signs with what they had done on the back end of their past defense and what they were able to do against the Steelers. I mean, Steelers didnโt score a touchdown. Obviously, you know, you still have to be thinking big picture here. Itโs still only late November. Yeah, itโs not early anymore, but itโs not January yet, and you need to have a 100% row. Quan Smith for
Nestor Aparicio 24:13
the stretch, great physical fortune this year. I mean, overall, talking about whether theyโre seven and four, whether they be nine and two, even if they were lousy. They have, you and I have discussed injuries less as my wife has the turkey in the fridge, and weโre getting ready to make the turkey on Thursday that I think we Iโm less interested in the injury reports that Iโve been in most years, because most weeks, theyโve been as healthy an outfit as any team in the league. I would say, I mean, Lamar has played every snap. You know, most of their better players have played most of their snaps. Um, it smells and feels good as we get up on the buy. Knock on wood, with 120 minutes of football left, yeah.
Luke Jones 24:53
I mean, you really, you canโt ask for any better, especially to your point, because they have such a late buy, which on. The other side of that, I think can be advantageous, and I think could really be good for them. But when youโre looking at the schedule, when it comes out in May, and you see that your buy is not until December, youโre just thinking, oh my gosh, how are we going to get to that point with our health intact? How many guys are going to be on IR at that point in time? And if you look at their injured reserve right now. I mean, Iโll read it to you word for word. Deontay Hardy, TJ, Tampa, Trayvon Mullen, Owen Wright, Christian, Matthew, Michael Pierce, okay, thereโs one. And Malik ham, I mean, you have one truly notable player on IR. And even Michael Pierce is expected back. Heโs not expected to be done for the season. So they have been fortunate on that front. I can think of one game all year where the injuries were notable in Cleveland, when Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins were both out, and they lost that game. But that was even a game, even with the injuries, they dropped three Jameis Winston interceptions in that game, so they they had their chance in that game. So I canโt just put it on the injuries, but to your point, they have been very fortunate in that way. And again, thatโs even more reason where, if you look at the row Quan Smith situation, and you say, All right, we think maybe kind of sorta, he might be able to go tonight, but we think itโd be way, way better for him and for our long term well being, for him to sit this one out, and weโll see about Philadelphia. We do have the bye week the following week. You have to have those conversations. You know, it would be naive to think that a teamโs not thinking about that in, you know, to some degree, right? Youโre not holding them out just for the sake of doing it. But if itโs the kind of thing where the training staffโs looking at it and saying, you know, John, heโs had treatment all
Nestor Aparicio 26:49
week, if he canโt play it 100% then why play him?
Luke Jones 26:52
I mean, and thatโs just the thing. I mean, how effective is he going to be again? You know, like Travis Jones here. The contrast there is, you know, heโs had an ankle issue that heโs played through at times. Heโs played through through it at a high level. Iโm guessing itโs the kind of thing that, you know, theyโve said that, short of him blatantly getting rolled up in the way that any player can, he isnโt necessarily going to make it worse at this point. So, you know, he puts a brace on it. He plays maybe. I mean, some of these guys still take shots, you know, all that in terms of whether they play or not, and pain time, oh, I
Nestor Aparicio 27:27
can confirm North Dallas 40s a real thing, if anybody watch that. And maybe
Luke Jones 27:31
thatโs not as prevalent as it used to be, but itโs still there. I mean, it is, and Iโm not, itโs not you already mentioned deer
Nestor Aparicio 27:37
antler spray here. Yeah,
Luke Jones 27:39
look these guys. But letโs also not make it out that that these teams are tyrants or anything like that. Players want to play too, like
Nestor Aparicio 27:47
especially on planes. Nice to the people that are flying to Cleveland to provide fluids and put needles in. These guys on Saturday nights in hotel rooms, like they the the amount of I mean, you talk about Derek Henry saying he spent a quarter of a million dollars, yeah, just on his physical. I mean, I get all of that, but that doesnโt mean that a guy whoโs got a bad hamstring should be after running around trying to chase JK Dobbins tonight, right?
Luke Jones 28:09
And again, thatโs typically not the kind of injury where those kind of things work, right? Thatโs usually
Nestor Aparicio 28:15
strap your arm up and play like Peter bolware with one arm for a season, or if you canโt run anything below your your groin, if itโs your knee, your ankle, and it involves speed in this game, you know the margins, you canโt play hurt, like that. You canโt you can play injured a little bit. You can play Gympie a little bit. You canโt play hurt. Yeah.
Luke Jones 28:37
I mean, you know, thereโs all. Thereโs always a saying that, are you hurt? Are you injured? If youโre hurt, you can try to play through it. If youโre injured, then thatโs a little bit of a different story. Again, itโs not a pain tolerance thing with a hamstring, like it might be with certain other
Nestor Aparicio 28:52
little thing. Yeah, exactly so. So again,
Luke Jones 28:56
my expectation, and this is more me just making an assumption here, roquan certainly fits into that small category of veterans who hypothetically could play without practicing all week. You donโt say that about more than maybe a half dozen guys on your football team, typically. So heโs in that category. But I donโt know. I just think you look at this and you say youโve got a game, itโs on turf. You know, thatโs another consideration, typically, for these having
Nestor Aparicio 29:25
him in there at 80% helping you win or not. And thatโs, thatโs right, the question, right? Yeah, yeah. I
Luke Jones 29:31
mean, okay, maybe you can make an argument that that your run defense at 80% heโs still helping you pass coverage. I donโt know. Although, again, the problem is, if roquan Smithโs The best you have, and heโs less than 100% and hasnโt been great right away, theyโll
Nestor Aparicio 29:47
send a running back across the middle and have him run, and youโll find out whether heโs limping or not. Heโs limping, he shouldnโt be on the field, you know? And if heโs limping, he ainโt going to catch anybody whoโs not
Luke Jones 29:57
right? And thatโs why i. Going back to what I said a little bit earlier in our discussion, I do wonder if theyโre going to have to shift gears a little bit with how they handle Kyle Hamilton as a result, because you might need him playing in the box, playing the run, or whatever is happening from a pass covered standpoint. So really interesting. Iโd be remiss if I didnโt mention at least in passing. I donโt think you and I neither. No one was shocked at this at this point, but they did officially wave Eddie Jackson. So heโs done, you know, is Marcus Williams going to be in the picture in sub packages at the very least? You know, will they have to rely on some three safety alignments? Because if they do, you know, unless youโre talking about someone like Beau braid, the rookie out of Maryland. You know, you donโt have that obvious third safety option right now, unless, and I will throw this out there as well. So this is more food for thought because we saw this in Pittsburgh a little bit, maybe with what tredavius White did in Pittsburgh. Do we see Brandon Stevens moved around a little bit? Keep in mind, Brandon Stevens is someone whoโs played safety before as well. So there are some chess pieces to move around and some possibilities to kind of sift through, if youโre Zack or in this ravens pass defense that, again, took a nice step in the right direction in Pittsburgh, but Justin Herbertโs playing at a high level. I mean, better than Russell Wilson. Letโs be letโs be clear, so
Nestor Aparicio 31:20
one the Greg Roman thingโs kind of interesting to me too. Yeah, it is.
Luke Jones 31:24
I mean, look for as disappointing as the ending was. Look Lamar Jackson won his first MVP with Greg Roman as the coordinator. The Ravens rushed for over 3000 yards two different times with Greg Roman as their offensive coordinator, guy did something right? Was it time for the ravens and Lamar Jackson to graduate from Greg Roman, so to speak? Yeah, I think in hindsight, thatโs obvious, but hey, heโs still and the thing Iโll say about Greg Roman with the Chargers is Jim Harbaugh is not standing on the sideline. And I donโt mean this in a disparaging way towards John Harbaugh, but Jim Harbaugh is very hands on with his offense, so it isnโt as though theyโre just running whatever the Ravens ran with Greg Roman in Baltimore. I donโt
Nestor Aparicio 32:10
want to insult John, but you never stood up under center for 15 years in the league and played quarterback in
Luke Jones 32:16
the league. Jim did Right, exactly, and again, for all the good things and other qualities that John has as a head coach, Jim does provide that part of it to a little bit of a different degree. So I think from that standpoint, again, if you look at the splits, I mean, Justin Herbert, early in the year, they were relying on the run game more heavily. They werenโt really pushing it down the field since their bye week, theyโre tied with the Ravens as far as average number of plays of 20 or 20 plus yards, you know, theyโve been a big play offense since week six. So I think this is a, again, really interesting. And again, the familiarity factor on both sides, you know, and itโs not charge advantage chargers or advantage ravens, itโs, weโll see who really has the advantage. Because these coaches know each other. These players know each other. Front offices know each other. So they know what kind of players they like or donโt like, or maybe what the relative weakness they
Nestor Aparicio 33:10
like the same coaches. Theyโve all shared the same code. They all like the same players. Theyโve shared the same players for a lot,
Luke Jones 33:15
right? Exactly. So, so again, for me, and look, if you want to say that, all starts with John and Jim Harbaugh and the horrible fine. But again, for me, itโs much more, you know, the human element of that I was, you know, we lived that in 2011 when the 40 Niners came to Baltimore for that Thanksgiving night game. And we lived that certainly for a week in New Orleans with the Super Bowl and all that. So, so this matchup doesnโt interest me as much in that way, but itโs all the other tentacles that that stem from that you know, itโs all the other elements of former ravens players and coaches and front office and and all that. So itโs really interesting. And as I said, this is obviously a huge game for the ravens, wanting to get the bad taste of Pittsburgh out of their mouth tonight, but for the chargers, I mean, this would be their signature win of the season so far if they take care of business. So again, I think itโs gonna be a close game. I Raven certainly canโt turn the ball over like they did a week ago, and they havenโt turned the ball over this year. Itโs reason why theyโve been as as great as theyโve been on offense, but theyโve got to clean things up. Canโt have as many penalties. And I what, what I think for me, is what swings it as far as me picking the Ravens in this game. And you can see my 12 ravens thoughts and prediction at Baltimore positive.com as we speak. But Lamar Jacksonโs been so great this year. Heโs been so great on Monday Night Football. Heโs coming off of his worst game of the year. I think thatโs evident. Is he going to have a down game two weeks in a row with the way that heโs played throughout this season? Thatโs where I look at this thing and say, Hey, Justin Herbertโs playing great football, but Lamar Jacksonโs played MVP football this year. And thatโs where I still look at this and say. Are the Chargers going to get enough stops? You know, as I mentioned, the things that they like to do defensively seem to match up for the Ravens very well from the Ravens perspective. So weโre going to see. Weโre going to find out, and again, weโll see how much of that familiarity really comes into play over the course of 60 minutes tonight. Couple things,
Nestor Aparicio 35:18
I checked the ticket prices out in LA, and Iโm like, How much could it possibly be to go to a chargers game where thereโs 80,000 seats now theyโre good, right? And the Rams arenโt, and the Rams played last night, literally, right with with half of the half of the stadium being Philadelphia fans, at least, right? So half of Philadelphia goes out there. Our fans arenโt out there this week, and if they were, they went last year. And, yeah, thereโs a West Coast theyโll be, thereโll be couple 100, whatever. Itโs not going to be a sea of purple. And I went, the ticket prices were kind of like expensive. I thought the last time I saw Lamar play in LA was the memorial coliseum game back in 19 that was the freight train purple Barney outfits against the yellow bananas of the of the Rams, and they were selling Lamar shirts out in front of the Coliseum off the USC campus. Now so far is over in Inglewood by the airport, near the near the water. I would think that there are just football fans in LA that want to see Lamar play. Lamar is like that big of a star, and Lamar playing in LA on a Monday night would make it not a $22 ticket. I donโt know, but I donโt think there are a whole lot of think I know there are not a whole lot of chargers fans in LA I know thereโs none left in San Diego to come up. So I was interested in all of that, but the Jim Harbaugh thing hit me last week because had some guests on different ideas and things, and thinking about John Harbaughโs texting me a few weeks ago and just seeing all of the horrible stuff come back and writing Purple Rain three and all that, I went through archives and doing all this music Classic that Iโve been running. And I thought to myself, How many times did Jim Harbaugh call my show? And it was like a lot. And what happened was we befriended each other. 9899 he played here, goose, all of that. He went off and played for the chargers for five minutes. And then Ray Bachman, who was getting better. By the way, he was battling cancer, but doing okay. I texted him again yesterday. Heโs been a smart ass on my my Facebook threads as usual. So Ray had this period of time as my producer at the turn of the century after I was syndicated. So Iโm talking like oh 1020304, where I came back before I got married in oh three and and I could get the date of this, because Iโd have to, I have to listen to it better. But I found the tape of Jim Harbaugh, and it was my anniversary show, I think. And Ray got into this thing where he would he I would say to him, Iโm tired to know who the guests are. Ray, just surprise me. Donโt tell me who the guests are. Book them. Put them up on the glass, bring them in. Welcome to the show. Whoโs my surprise guest? And it was Jim Harbaugh, but he was playing along. And I did. I had no idea who it was, and I had to be like, Alright, have you been on my show before? Yes, um, have you been to the barn? Yes, and then we played this game. And Iโm like, itโs Jim Harbaugh, what the hell are you doing calling me, and he had just gotten the job coaching San Diego. And Iโm like, San Diego, San Diego State. San Diego Chargers, what? Sandy? No. San Diego seagulls. They division one double A. Josh Johnson was his quarterback, right? 20 years ago, and I have this tape of him calling me, talking about how he wanted to get into coaching. Turned out okay, he made, he made a little bit of money coaching, yeah,
Luke Jones 39:02
just a little bit, little bit, yeah. I mean, and again, I when Iโve continued to say that the horrible, horrible brothers thing is much more of a national story. That doesnโt mean itโs not a good story. Itโs just I donโt have a whole lot else to say about it. I
Nestor Aparicio 39:14
mean, I remember Jim Harbaugh being with me at the barn, like offering to come on a Monday night. And heโs like, What time is your show? And this is what Monday Night Football was, at nine oโclock at night. And Jimโs like, Hey, your showโs 407, at the time. Heโs like, I can come over four oโclock and hang for like, an hour, but Iโm going to Philadelphia. My brotherโs a coach with the Eagles, and heโs like, Iโm going up to Philly for the game on Monday night. So I can stop by and do the show for a little bit. Itโs right by 95 I looked at the map. You know, Jim. Itโs Jim, you know. Like, Jimโs gym, you know. And heโs like, I looked at the map. I can stop over about four oโclock tomorrow for a little while be your first guest, but I gotta leave before five. Okay, Jim, youโre the quarterback of the Ravens. Stop by. So Jim was in Jim is a much better guy than John. Iโve told you that as long as Iโve known you. Like knowing them, being in cabs with them, being on airplanes with them, flying around. Jim was a much more normal dude than John, like, not to the media and all of that, but as a dude, Jim, Jim. Jimโs a different dude than the media as portrayed him or Michigan, I would just, I think you saw that when he stopped me at 11 oโclock at night in Florida. Because youโve never spent five minutes with Jim our ball except seeing me with Jim our ball, and youโre like, wow, heโs different to John. Well, I
Luke Jones 40:39
just, and I also think for the OG Ravens fans, right? I mean, you think back to 98 Jim Harbaugh was the Ravens quarterback against Indianapolis, when a rookie, Peyton Manning comes to town, we all remember. And look the picture
Nestor Aparicio 40:53
him holding his little starting figure, number four. Harbaugh, a fan, brought it out and gave it to him, a little b helmet flying, bl, but
Luke Jones 41:02
I think one of the and this was, you know, this was before the Ravens even had a winning season, let alone talking about Super Bowl or multiple that moment when he handed the game ball to John Unitas after the win over in the Indian 98 that was one of the really cool early moments of a franchise that, letโs face it, the first three or four years, not a whole lot to write home about in terms of success. So you know that, even though thatโs not you know, since then, there have been many moments to surpass that at that moment for for old colts fans, and for you know, teenagers like me who knew about the Colts history but didnโt live any of it, that was a neat, living, breathing moment for the Ravens quarterback at that moment in time, albeit only for a year, to hand the game ball to Johnny you, and just to see that exchange, knowing what it meant in 1998 to beat Indianapolis, right? So
Nestor Aparicio 41:53
in 1995 I went to the championship game in Pittsburgh with the girl I was dating at the time, and we drove up to the confluence. This is before we had a team. You know, we did not have a football team. And I drove up there, and that passed that he threw at the end to who was it? Floyd Turner, who was underneath of the ball that could have grabbed it, that if he grabbed the ball, the Colts were in the Super Bowl, not the Steelers in that Super Bowl that Neil OโDonnell was in. That was literally a Hail Mary, go back for the kids that donโt remember that. And you were 11 years old at the time, that ball that dropped at the feet in the end zone of Three Rivers. I mean, that would have made Jimmy Super Bowl quarterback at that time, right? And to think that he would have this kind of legacy, and his brother, and when heโs out at the barn with me, saying, I gotta leave my brother, Johnโs a special teams assistant up in Philadelphia, that that, that the word hardball would become synonymous with our franchise, really, you know, the brother quarterback here, the coaches could probably go into the Hall of Fame, certainly going to the Ring of Honor, and won a Super Bowl. You know, the hardball name here has really been a big, big part of our franchise, as much as up there with Lewis and Reed and Flacco and Ogden and the rest of them. Our ball is part of that, Lamar, too. Yeah,
Luke Jones 43:13
no question about it. The name you were searching for. I had to google it. I didnโt know Aaron Aaron Bailey. Aaron Bailey, yeah, because he played here later. But yeah, he was kind of a journey. Journeyman. He he was when it with Indy for like four years, and then Oakland, New England, Chicago, and go back
Nestor Aparicio 43:28
and watch that play, dude.
Luke Jones 43:32
Yeah, I rivers. It was crazy. Yeah, those Steelers fans were holding their breath for a couple seconds. Like Crazy, right? I was
Nestor Aparicio 43:38
with a girl who was southern I was dating a girls, 1995 96 and when we were there, she wanted to, like, stay in Pittsburgh and party. And Iโm like, I gotta get home. I got a radio show on Monday morning, A, B, we were about to steal the football team, the ravens, right? Like at the time, like all of that was going on was all swirling at the time, and more than that, like, Iโm like, I donโt like these people. I donโt want to see these people happy. We went up there on Saturday night, and weโre, weโre partying in Pittsburgh, because Iโm 27 years old. It was a good time, and they had a football team, and we didnโt, and they had in the Colts. Man, I was there to hate on the Colts, believe me, I do not want the Colts to win. Thatโs whatโs funny. Like, you
Luke Jones 44:21
think about this now, and youโd say, oh my gosh, the Steelers.
Nestor Aparicio 44:25
That was like Satan going but it was like, Trump getting reelected.
Luke Jones 44:29
Oh, that was rooting for Pittsburgh in that game because, because they didnโt want Indy to go to the Super Bowl, absolutely. So, yeah, I
Nestor Aparicio 44:36
mean, itโs Jim Harbaugh, ah, Captain, come back. I love you. Thatโs a real deal, alright? I think Lukeโs out of things. Weโll say plenty on Tuesday. Weโll say plenty on Wednesday, with plenty of Turkey on Thursday, plenty of leftovers on Friday, weโll play football again on Sunday. It is a huge week around here because Iโm still releasing music classics. All the stuff that Iโve released before now has played on. The air. People know about it. Itโs been on the website. Iโm now going into the the zone where all the modern ZZ tops and Joan jets and hearts and all of these different people Iโve interviewed, also some deceased musicians. So youโre gonna get some of that this week. Youโre gonna get some Jim Harbaugh classics with Tony Sarah goose and Steve on Moore out at the barn from 1998 as well, as well as Jim Harbaughโs first ever appearance at the barn, which was egged on by goose, because goose loved me, even though he hated me. And goose said that to Jim, you got to do Nestor show you come to town. So Jim came out and did my show the minute he signed, like he signed in March, he was out before he ever threw a pass. He came out, told me his whole life story. I gave him the whole Captain comeback thing. So all of that is available as well. At a Baltimore positive weโre doing the Maryland crab cake tour as well as the Maryland oyster tour, which is up right now. I think weโre on like day 14 curio and our friends at at foreign daughter have made that happen, as well as liberty, pure solutions, one 800 clean water. Making that happen. Iโve been drinking a lot of the water in my water bottle here. I have to replenish my hydration for two football games this week. Crab cake tour is the fifth. Weโre going to be at Gertrude. The fourth, weโre going to be at Cocos two weeks from now. The 12th, weโre at fatales. The 17th, weโre Costas. And the 18th, weโre going to be doing 17th, weโre amicis eight. I donโt know what the hell weโre doing. Weโre trying to play football on Monday night in Los Angeles. Heโs Luke. Iโm Nestor. Stay with us. Weโre Baltimore positive. You.