Ravens leave plenty of doubts after escaping Cleveland

It was far from a textbook victory for the Baltimore Ravens in Cleveland on Sunday. Three turnovers, a sputtering offense and the need for a Mark Andrews trick play on 4th and 1 were all featured in the win over the Browns. But that makes four in a row and three in a row on the road. Luke Jones and Nestor dissect a too-close-for-comfort but satisfying win for the 5-5 Ravens.

Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discussed the Ravens’ 23-10 win over the Browns, emphasizing the team’s 5-5 record and the importance of winning games to secure a playoff spot. They highlighted the defense’s strong performance, particularly in the second half, and noted the offensive struggles, including a poor offensive line and inconsistent quarterback play. The Ravens’ upcoming schedule includes games against the Jets, Bengals, Steelers, and New England. They also discussed the potential impact of injuries and the need for improved offensive consistency to succeed in January.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Assess the defense’s performance and look for ways to build on their strong second-half showing.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Monitor Lamar Jackson’s health and work to get him back to full speed.
• [ ] Evaluate the offensive line’s performance and identify areas for improvement.
• [ ] Review the game film to identify ways to get the offense back on track and more consistent.
• [ ] Identify any special teams issues that need to be addressed.

Ravens’ Win Over Browns: Initial Reactions

• Nestor Aparicio welcomes listeners to WNST AM 1570 and mentions the Maryland crab cake tour.
• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ 23-10 win over the Browns, emphasizing the importance of the victory.
• Nestor notes the Ravens’ better performance and mentions the importance of style points.
• Luke Jones highlights the significance of the win, given the Ravens’ 1-5 start and the need to survive and win games.

Defensive Performance and Offensive Struggles

• Luke Jones credits the defense for heavy lifting, especially against two rookie quarterbacks.
• The Ravens’ defense shut out Cleveland in the second half, allowing only 2.3 yards per play.
• Luke Jones discusses the offensive struggles, noting the inconsistency in the run game and the poor performance of the offensive line.
• Nestor and Luke Jones agree that the Ravens need to improve their offensive line to succeed in future games.

Upcoming Schedule and Division Games

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ upcoming schedule, including games against the Jets, Bengals, Steelers, and New England.
• Nestor expresses confidence in the Ravens’ ability to win games against the Jets and Bengals.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of winning division games and the challenges posed by the Steelers and New England.
• Nestor and Luke Jones agree that the Ravens need to continue winning to secure a playoff spot.

Special Teams and Key Plays

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the special teams’ performance, including a crucial punt that could have changed the game.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of Tyler Locket’s 44-yard field goal to tie the game.
• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the impact of turnovers, noting that the Ravens lost the turnover battle 3-1.
• Luke Jones credits the defense for creating short fields and heavy lifting in the game.

Offensive Line and Quarterback Performance

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the offensive line’s struggles, noting the pressure on Lamar Jackson.
• Luke Jones mentions Lamar Jackson’s inaccuracy and the impact of the wind and Cleveland’s defense.
• Nestor and Luke Jones agree that the offensive line needs to improve to support the quarterback and running game.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of the defense in covering up the offensive line’s shortcomings.

Defensive Improvements and Player Contributions

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the improvements in the defense, including the contributions of Kyle Hamilton and Roquan Smith.
• Luke Jones credits the defense for raising the floor and playing better than earlier in the season.
• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the impact of new additions like Elihiah Gilman and Draymond Jones.
• Luke Jones highlights the steady improvement of young players like Teddy Buchanan and Malachi Starks.

Ravens’ Playoff Hopes and Division Standings

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ playoff hopes and their position in the AFC North.
• Nestor expresses confidence in the Ravens’ ability to win games in January.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the importance of winning division games and the challenges posed by the Steelers and New England.
• Nestor and Luke Jones agree that the Ravens need to continue winning to secure a playoff spot.

Offensive Struggles and Future Improvements

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the offensive struggles and the need for improvement in the run game.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of converting short yardage situations and improving inside the red zone.
• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the potential for future improvements in the offense and the importance of winning games.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the need for the offense to find consistency and make more plays to support the defense.

Ravens’ Record and Comparison with Other Teams

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ 5-5 record and compare it with other teams in the AFC.
• Luke Jones highlights the Ravens’ recent wins and the importance of stacking victories.
• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the challenges posed by the Steelers and New England and the importance of winning division games.
• Luke Jones emphasizes the need for the Ravens to continue winning to secure a playoff spot.

Final Thoughts and Future Outlook

• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the Ravens’ future outlook and the importance of winning games in January.
• Luke Jones highlights the importance of the defense and the need for the offense to improve.
• Nestor and Luke Jones agree that the Ravens need to continue winning to secure a playoff spot.
• Nestor and Luke Jones express confidence in the Ravens’ ability to win games and secure a playoff spot.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Ravens win, Browns game, AFC North, Lamar Jackson, defense, offense, turnovers, playoffs, schedule, quarterbacks, special teams, Kyle Hamilton, Roquan Smith, offensive line.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive taking the Maryland crab cake tour back out on the road after Thanksgiving, a little bit of a respite here while y’all eat pumpkin pie and get ready for the eggnog as well as the scented version of the Maryland lottery tickets. I have some Raven scratch offs on offs luckier batch last couple of weeks at our stops at Cocos and fadeleys and pizza Johns, and certainly a better effort court put forth on the field in victory in Cleveland. And I said I wasn’t going to give it style points, but I guess for the next several hours, Luke Jones and I will just give it style points at this point, but I know this w is better than an L, and at five and five, everything they want to do is sitting here and you and I are going to talk about shador Sanders and Miles Garrett and Mark Andrews and sort of a weird miracle, fourth in one play, that if they don’t make it, they might lose the game. You know, narrow margin of victory in the AFC north. I’ll give them a thumbs up. They won the game.

Luke Jones  01:12

They won. I don’t think there are any style points, and that’s okay, right? And this goes back to starting one in five. When you’re one in five, you’re trying to survive at that point in time, you are looking, first of all, you have to look at the next game. There’s no looking ahead. We can look ahead. But as we were looking at the schedule, as you’re coming out of the bye week, and you’re waiting for Lamar Jackson to get back, you’re waiting for other guys to get back, we talked about the schedule coming out of the buy and how on paper, it looked favorable, and it has been. But when you are one in five, you know that whatever margin for error remains between that point and hopefully being there week 18, in a position to win the division, make the playoffs, whatever right just to get into the tournament. You know that there aren’t many losses you can suffer the rest of the way, and that’s what made Sunday so important. They escaped. They survived. Those are the two words that that come to mind. They did not play very good football, especially on the offensive side, clearly, but their defense manned up, albeit I get it against two rookie quarterbacks, but they did what they needed to do to win the game. And when we were talking throughout the week about Cleveland and the fact that the Ravens had not swept them since 2020 and yeah, you can break it down and say, well, Lamar didn’t play in 21 he didn’t play in 22 Deshaun Watson was out there, who, you know, even for what, how disappointing he’s been, still a more representative quarterback at the time than Dylan Gabriel or shador Sanders. You knew that weird things can happen. It’s the A, F, C north, it’s playing on the road. It’s Cleveland with wind and cold, and knowing that you are going up against a good defense, we talked about week two and how that game was very much led by the defense and the special teams. Well, on Sunday, it was a defense, right? I mean, the defense did such heavy lifting, put on some short fields coming off of turnovers, things of that nature. And when you look at the second half of that game, second half, Cleveland ran 28 plays for 64 yards. They shut them out in the second half, 2.3 yards per play. I don’t care who you’re playing. That’s some heavy lifting on a day when your offensive line is getting killed and your quarterback’s not playing very well, and you got a couple plays in the run game. The run game did enough, right? But it certainly wasn’t consistent on a Down by Down basis in the way that it’s been in previous years. As we’ve talked about all season, they did what they had to do to get a win, and when you look ahead and you see what remains. I mean, they have the Jets next week. I don’t think they should have too much trouble winning that football game. But after that, we know there are no more layups, left, right? You have two games with the Bengals. Maybe Joe burrows back for both of those games. Who knows? You have the Steelers, and we’re going to see what’s going to happen with Aaron Rodgers status, you know, with his hand or his wrist. But and then you have New England, who is at the top of the conference right now, coming in here in December, and we know that they’re going to green. They’re going to Green Bay in the next to last game of the season. So when we were trying to project out what this had to be, we talked about it a lot that November needed to be its time where they got on a roll and they needed to not just win a couple games. They needed to win a winning streak. Yeah, you know, they had to get on a winning streak. And I

Nestor Aparicio  04:41

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said seven and seven, and they’re at five and five, and they’re going to be at six and five a week. I mean, I have very little bit of doubt about that. And then they get Cincinnati here, I mean, to be seven and five when I’m, you know, having my last cocktail on Thanksgiving night. You know, we’re talking about 10 days from now. We’re talking, you know, like they’re in a position. Position, while not looking great, to be in a great position, you know, for for where they’ve been and where they want to go. This is like, I’ve got to get to Seattle, you know, tomorrow. And how long is it going to take me to get there, as long as it takes you to get there, right? You know, to travel, you know, like, whatever it takes to get there, but the detour you got to get there. The real story for them is winning games in January, and whatever they can do to put themselves on that pathway. They’ve done that station to station here. They’ve won these games. I mean, style points aside and all that, they don’t look like a great football team. I mean, there hasn’t been any point where they look any better than five and five to me, you’d like to see them rounding into not needing should or Sanders to come on the field to give themselves a chance to win,

Luke Jones  05:51

or a trick play with Mark Andrews, which was a great call, great execution. I mean, that was phenomenal. But you’d like to not have to need to do that. But they got it done, and they got the win. And look, I’m in agreement with you. Do I think this is a great football team right now? No, I don’t that said, Who is great in the A, F, C right now? Denver and New England have great records, and they deserve all the credit that that they’re getting right now, and certainly Denver with a huge win on Sunday, but, I mean, buffalo, they’re seven and three, but the eyeball test bills don’t look great right now. I mean, even, even in victory on Sunday, Tampa Bay ran all over them, right? And that’s something that has been a problem their defense. And you know, Josh Allen was Superman with what, six touchdowns total, but does he have a group of wide receivers that you feel, you know, if you’re a Bills fan, that you feel confident about in January? No, not, not really. And Kansas City for as much as guys like me three or four weeks ago were saying, Man, eyeball test wise, they look they’re five and five, right?

Nestor Aparicio  06:57

So they’re as five and as five and five is the Ravens the same, but they’re a worse five and five because they’re like in a tougher division. I I mean, for me, then, then than the games that the Ravens would have left. And I’m not even saying that the bangle the Bengals defense awful, and the Steelers just a diminished version of what you’d want the Steelers to be, the composure thing with Ramsey and who’s spitting on whom, whatever. And they won, you know, so like, give them the victory. Give them, give the W but, and you’re still chasing them. But I don’t know they don’t. If the Ravens lose to them, shame on the Ravens. That’s all I would say.

Luke Jones  07:37

No, I just it. Would just reflect what we’re kind of saying at the moment that they’re five and five. They’ve won four in a row after losing four in a row. So they’re back even in that way, zero and zero, if you zero and zero, if you want to look at it that way. And now it’s a seven game sprint, and you have four division games there. As I said, you have one game left. It’s a layup. You know, Bengals defense, we know is bad, but let’s face it, this ravens offense did not look good on Sunday, albeit against a really good Browns defense. And look, I don’t think anyone was, I certainly wasn’t expecting the ravens to light up the scoreboard on Sunday, but that said offensive line. I mean, miles Garrett has four sacks.

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Nestor Aparicio  08:21

Got a lot of breaks the knee, on the inky Binky toe, on the goal line, where they would have gotten the ball on the one inch line. You know, one point Draymond Jones pounded Sanders in the head, could have gotten 15. I mean, there were some things that really could have tilted the field in a much worse direction for the including fourth and one, and then needing a kind of a miracle, wild play with Mark Andrews to seal the game, or win seal the game, I don’t know, to win the game, not seal the game, to literally not turn the ball over and give the Browns a chance kick a field goal and beat them, sure.

Luke Jones  08:57

No, no question. But at the same time, I mean, the Browns got to pick six off a pass off Keaton Mitchell’s hands, right? I mean, that’s not necessarily a skill play by Cleveland as much as a bad play by the Ravens. I mean, Keaton Mitchell pass was maybe a touch high, but he’s got to catch that dude the minute

Nestor Aparicio  09:12

that kid came in at shadur Sanders, like, and I watched that act, and I’m like, You’re not going to lose to him, right? Like, literally, like, and he had a lead and one plane like he had a lead, playing like he wanted to squander the lead. Just not no good dude, you know?

Luke Jones  09:29

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Well, Dylan Gabriel is no good either. Oh my god, but you’re kind of seeing why the Browns are in the position they’re in right now, where they have this really good defense, and they’re two and eight because they have two rookie quarterbacks who can’t play, and you’re you’re seeing why should or Sanders hadn’t gotten the chance to that point in time. Now, will he be better in future weeks? I don’t really care, right? I mean, the ravens are going to be playing the Browns so, but

Nestor Aparicio  09:52

I don’t think he’s a threat to be the next great Browns quarterback.

Luke Jones  09:55

So, I mean, who knows, but? But, yeah, and, like I said, Dylan Gabriel. Has been as mediocre. I mean, mediocre would be kind you know, when you’re talking about what I think is five yards per pass attempt going into Sunday’s game. But that

Nestor Aparicio  10:09

said, Dude, he threw lousy, short passes. He stunk. Their quarterbacks stunk, and they almost lost that like, I mean, I’m trying to be nice today, but that’s the truth, man. Well, they almost lost, but not because of their their defense. Played really well. Garrett was, is that was the best player on the field Sunday, I

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Luke Jones  10:27

would say, I’m sure, sure. Okay, but I guess the point I was trying to make is, even with rookie quarterbacks, mean, they did exactly what you wanted to do, they got pressure. You know, they they hit. I mean, Sanders the big hit he took right off the bat. So look, we can sit here and say that the ravens, I think the ravens are good, you know, as I’m looking at them now, as they’re healthy, Lamar is back on the field. The defense, as it’s constructed now, is in a much better place than it was in week three, four or five. But it’s clear that they have warts, right as in terms of, like their pass rush, whatever, but their defense has played at a higher level. And, you know, this offense right now is searching for it. I mean, you know, obviously miles Garrett is a Hall of Fame player. It’s a special talent. But even times where Lamar had some time in the pocket, which it wasn’t a lot, but there were times the coverage downfield. I mean, didn’t seem like he was seeing guys that were open downfield. So this offense is searching for it. There’s no doubt about it. We’ve been talking about that, right? I mean, even go back to the Miami game, the first half, really choppy. They got going. Finally, in that third quarter last week we talked about this. I mean, Minnesota, if they didn’t have JJ McCarthy throwing passes everywhere except where it needed to go as the intended target, they might lose that game, right? So their offense is searching for it. There’s no doubt about it. And at what level is it going to be come the early January, we’re going to find out, right? But as much as we’re going to talk about winning games in January, as we get closer to that time, they have to get there, right, when you’re one in five, you’re not talking about the Super Bowl or getting to the AFC title game or even getting to the divisional round. You’re you’re figuring out, how are you going to win enough games to be playing wild card weekend, right? So they put themselves in a position where they still have work to do. They still cannot slip up. That’s why, again, winning the game on Sunday, escaping, surviving, however you want to categorize it, they did it right. And the difference had they lost Sunday compared to like last year, when they lost to the browns. It’s a way different animal, right? As much as you don’t like dropping games that you’re not supposed to lose, you know, when you look at it on paper, when you’re sizing up the statistics and all of that, we also know that happens. I mean, look at the bills a couple weeks ago going down to Miami, and they didn’t just lose, they lost by three scores, right? It happens. It’s the National Football League, but when you are one in five, like the Ravens were, you can’t have any more of those, because whatever, you know, if you have we use 10 and seven as kind of the magic number. That was the, you know, thought of as kind of the reasonable best case scenario, right? You knew that if one of those two losses, you know, if you lose one of those to the browns, then, okay, well, then you better beat Green Bay, or you better sweep Pittsburgh, right? Then you’re, you better beat New England. You just, you leave yourself a lot more work at the very end, and they still have a lot of work to do. They’re five and five. I mean, John Harbaugh said they’re, you know, their heads just barely above water. Now, in

Nestor Aparicio  13:44

terms they don’t look like the kind of team, it’s going to win seven in a row or whatever, right? You know what I mean. But who knows? They’ve already won four in a

Luke Jones  13:50

row. And you don’t know, and you don’t know, and as much as you know, I’m sure people will scoff and say, Well, you know, they’re, you know, they beat Dylan Gabriel and Chad Sanders last week, they beat JJ McCarthy, right? I mean, go down the list. I mean the the dolphins, which, who, by the way, the dolphins have actually won some games here of late. And the one that they lost in that stretch was the ravens, right? Same with the bears. So that bears win is aging pretty well, especially considering Lamar didn’t play. It’s a

Nestor Aparicio  14:17

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sneaky, weird league where the ravens, bills and chiefs are the 500 teams. And, you know, chargers that went to Jacksonville got their ass kicked. So you don’t know what they are. You know, I just week to week. It’s a very competitive league, and competitive so much. It’s shadora Sanders and Dylan Gabriel, no relation to Roman Gabriel. They were beating Lamar Jackson.

Luke Jones  14:45

They were not, they were not, but they were on the

Nestor Aparicio  14:48

team. They were on the team. Understand, was beating Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. They were because that’s how this league can be. And hey, dude, and how about. Special teams in general. I talked about the Browns guy with his Pinky Winky, Winky on the on the goal line, which I didn’t even see. That like in a flat world, I give the Ravens the ball at the one foot line because I didn’t see it that way. But the special teams problems in beginning of the game, very unspecial, kicking the ball around field, the ball where you shouldn’t giving them any other team to give them the ball at the three yard line, such. And, I mean, the interception, I’m sure Schwartz is like, don’t fall down, dude. You got to go in if you fall down at the one. This is three points. I mean, it was kind of like shades of the Ravens 20 years ago.

Luke Jones  15:33

Yeah, you know La johnte Wester. I mean, rough day for him. I mean, it’s funny. He caught the pun at the two, and he ended up getting what to the 22 or whatever, but certainly not the decision you want to make 999, out of 100 times so. But, I mean, you muff a kick there. I mean, that’s how you get beat in Cleveland, right? And so many of the elements were there for them to lose on Sunday, and they easily could have lost. I mean, they lost the turnover battle three to one, right? They they basically of the 16 points the brown scored, technically that that the one field goal was on the off side, on the punt that was basically like a turnover right there, right? So essentially, 13 of their 16 points came off of turnovers or a backbreaking penalty in a spot that’s inexcusable to commit that to survive that. I mean, you’ve heard me cite this plenty of times. When you have a team that loses the turnover battle by two, two plus, you lose 85% of the time. You know, at 80 to 90% of the time, I can’t remember. You know, maybe that’s changed a little bit here over the last couple years, but that’s what you’re talking about here. So for them to man up and do just enough? I mean, obviously they got some big plays. I mean, Derek Henry gets the 59 yard run, which, you know, at that point it’s kind of like finally. But even then they settle for a field goal there, and you’re still kind of, you know, you don’t know, Tyler loop 44 yard field goal. It’s, you know, that’s not a chip shot when you’re talking about a windy, you know, windy conditions at a difficult AFC North stadium to kick. I mean, that was,

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Nestor Aparicio  17:09

that was a pretty clutch kick. More confident in him. How about you with him? Um, I

Luke Jones  17:13

like that. I would actually say the opposite the eyeball test the last few weeks. I mean, he’s had somewhere He’s barely snuck it inside the upright where you kind of say, Ooh, I like seeing that, though he did a good job on Sunday, right? I mean, that one, I mean, that was huge. I mean, five minutes ago, I’d

Nestor Aparicio  17:31

like to take a 48 yard field goal on a cold night in the playoffs in

Luke Jones  17:35

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Denver. Who knows? I have no idea what he’s going to do in that spot, but

Nestor Aparicio  17:39

I, you know, I’m leaning more into they’re not in the market to look for a new kicker.

Luke Jones  17:45

No, and I’m not. And let me be clear, I’m not suggesting that. I’m just saying you were asking me how I feel. Honestly, it trended a little downward, little bit, little bit in the downward direction the last few weeks, but that was good to see.

Nestor Aparicio  17:57

Well, we had kicker for life here before him, right? So we never talking about, we don’t talk No, I don’t even mean like that. I just mean like, let’s measure it. Let’s like we’re gonna do with the turkey next week. Let’s check the temperature, see how we’re doing. You know? I mean, because it’s a new thing

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Luke Jones  18:14

to this point in his career, that was the biggest kick of his career, right? That was the biggest kick of his season to this point Now chances are, especially if you’re going to have designs on making a run in January, yeah, he’s going to have to hit a bigger home or away. But that was good to see. There’s no doubt about it. And I mean, that was a 44 yarder to tie the game with 459 to go, right? I mean, the game’s not over if he misses that, by any means. But now you’re in the position where, you know, if this Cleveland pop a run, do they pop up? You know, broken tackle, right? I mean, so, you know, it was just again, there’s so few

Nestor Aparicio  18:51

styles worn out, dude. Was it too close for comfort for you?

Luke Jones  18:57

You watched the first half? Yeah. I mean, they were dead.

Nestor Aparicio  19:02

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Some leftover Costa soup. I went to cost this on Saturday. I brought some soup home. I thought it’d be like, victory soup. I’m sitting there at halftime. I’m like, they’re losing.

Luke Jones  19:09

What is this? They’re down 10 points halfway through the second quarter. I mean, not, you know, there’s plenty of game left, but you know, you got to take care of the football, right? I mean, they turned it over three times. So, yeah, there’s a lot of work to do. There’s no doubt about that. And you know, if you want to try to play the game of, okay, would this effort have been good enough against a playoff caliber team? I mean, you can’t do that, because we know how this league works, right? Everything, some of these teams. I mean, look at the Chargers. The Chargers do what they did against Pittsburgh two Sunday nights ago, and then, not only did they lose, I mean, they got their tails kicked on Sunday, right? I mean, and I get it, their offensive line is in shambles. Their offensive tackle specifically. But you know, you can’t play the A verse B and B versus C and then a versus, I mean, we. Try to do that, and the NFL makes you look stupid when you when you do those kind of things. I mean, it’s just the truth, so you take it for what it is. It was a win. It’s not going to be the highlight win of the season in terms of, like, you know, other the Andrews play might be, because that was just such a great play. I mean, especially when they were in that position last week, and they ran the pitch to Lamar. And you knew, you know, they use that on fourth and one and third and a foot. They use the tush push and for them to come out and do that. Andrews makes the spin there. Ricard with the nice kick out block there that you know, wasn’t, wasn’t necessary to get the first but that’s, that was the difference between that being just a first down and ended up being a touchdown. You do something like that. I mean, you need some you need some things to go your way, right? And they had some things that didn’t go their way in that first half, you know, talking about deflected passes being picked off. And it was self inflicted things as well, of course, but they did what they needed to do to win the game. And 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago, 25 years ago, you would just kind of say, hey, it’s AFC North football, and they won ugly in this Lamar era where they have looked so fantastic in the regular season, when Lamar has been healthy, right? It’s been very, very few times over the last five or six years where it hasn’t looked really good in the regular season. And I’m not talking about like an isolated game, I mean, like a stretch of time, but you know, they they won and they

Nestor Aparicio  21:40

argue with you this year, I haven’t seen any of that razzle dazzle we’ve seen.

Luke Jones  21:44

I mean, before. I mean before this, sure, yeah, but, but I’m just saying this is a, this is a grind of a year. I mean, obviously, when you’re one in five, right? I mean, it’s grinded out. You’re kicking and screaming, win by the skin of your teeth, whatever cliche you want to throw out there. And then you get to play games in January, in 60 minutes, and you’re gonna see, and you’re gonna see if you can get better between now and then, right? Yeah, as they’re presently constructed, do I, can I easily envision them get into the AFC title game or the Super Bowl? Not

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Nestor Aparicio  22:13

really, but, but if you said to me, can I easily envision them winning a home game right now against, let’s say the Kansas City right bills, or the bills right right now, and that’s what you’re kind of talking about. They win a home game, and they could, they go to Indianapolis and or New England and Denver and win, I would say to you, yes, they can do that. And for that, I you know, I’m still a as true a believer as I can be, that they have some sort of makeup to do that. But I’m also very mindful of the fact that we thought this might have been the most talented team they were going to have, right, because of the maturation of all of this and that, and Derek Henry and say flowers is coming on, and we have, likely have all these tools, and D hop still has gas, more gas in the tank than any of the rest of to me, a lot of the sort of older, washed up wide receivers they’ve had in here for a generation. And I hear Derek Mason’s name brought up and as the record holder and Todd heap and stuff. I’m like, I like those guys and all. But you know, as far as record holders, the Orioles have thicker records, you know, when it comes to that sort of longevity. But I look at it, and I keep waiting for that next gear that we believe for the nine months leading up to the season, and ideally, you’d rather see that gear the second or third week of January than the second week of October. In a general sense, I just I’m having trouble with this, right? You and I are going to have long chats about this. It’ll be short chat next week after they beat the jets and then they get the bangles, because I don’t know what we learn here. I don’t know what we’re going to learn if they run all over the Bengals and the Jets, the Bengals are horrible. I do know this. They just five minutes ago, had to play the browns in Cleveland on a windy day and escaped. What was your other word for it? You had another survive. Survived. Yeah, you know, like, that’s not really what you’re looking for, if you’re trending them as a believable powerhouse, Super Bowl, threat and contender that they get off the bus looking like when they get off the bus with NVP that, and Hall of Fame this, and first round that, and new contract, this, and, and, okay, I get All of that you almost lost to the browns.

Luke Jones  24:42

And for me, it still comes back to the offensive line. I mean, it just, it’s not a very good offensive line. Now I will give them credit that. I mean they they obviously ran the ball way better than they did against Cleveland in week two. I mean, week two, they did nothing on the ground all day. I. Um, you know, but Henry popped a 59 yard run that was great to see. You know, it’s been a while since we’ve seen that. They were effective enough on the ground, right? I mean, it’s not like, yeah, they had, they had a lot of plays where they were stopped for minus one, no gain, one, two, right? There’s still too many of those. But they did. I mean, Keith Mitchell had a 10 yard run. You know, Lamar ran for 13, what early in the game. You know, that was kind of interesting. He ran a few times, and then we didn’t see him run at all after

Nestor Aparicio  25:34

that, Mccourty and were questioning it,

Luke Jones  25:38

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yeah, but, but, you know, at the same time, it was enough, like Cleveland didn’t stuff the run to the point where Lamar is back there and they’re just teeing off on him, right? I mean, they had their issues protecting Lamar, as it was, but he threw 25 times in the game. If you’re getting completely stuffed at the line of scrimmage and you’re not running the ball at all, that’s a game where Lamar has got to throw it 3842 times. And, you know, it wasn’t lamar’s Best day, obviously, right? I mean, that he was off. I mean, he was inaccurate. I mean, how much of it was the wind, how much of it was Cleveland coverage, how much of it, obviously, the pass rush got to him a number of times. But even sometimes, where he had, you know, enough time to throw it was, you know, there’s, there’s the cumulative impact. And we saw that probably the bit best example we saw that, to me, was late in that Detroit game. If you remember Lamar, it seemed like he was starting to feel pressure, even when it wasn’t there.

Nestor Aparicio  26:30

You can win a championship with Schwartz’s defense. That that you that’s a good defense. James pissed away with their offense. But you know, watching them bottle up the ravens, even to the point where it got to fourth and one that they had to have that play. You know, that’s a far cry from what the Browns used to be able to do defensively. I mean, it’s, it’s formidable, and it wasn’t an easy day, and I didn’t think it would be, you know,

Luke Jones  26:59

no. And, I mean, I think my score prediction is escaping me right now, off the top of my head, but I think I had 23 to 10 ravens, and they scored 23 points, right? They and their defense played better than what 16 points would reflect, because they turned the ball over three times. I mean, I mean, really, you know, we’re focusing on the offense a lot. And to your point, this collection of, you know, two time MVP, quarterback, a Hall of Fame running back, you know, pro bowl, a former multi Time Pro Bowl wide receivers. You’re number three guy, you know, I mean, Hopkins doesn’t play a whole lot, quite frankly. But zay flowers is a pro bowl wide receiver. You have a Pro Bowl tight end and Mark Andrews, who, as much as everyone’s tried to trade him away since the drop in Buffalo last year. I mean, he’s still the guy that it feels like as much as anyone when it’s a gotta have it play. He tends to be involved in those spots. And that’s not to say that he’s perfect or that he’s as good as he was four years ago, but he’s still pretty important to what they do, you know. And even before you talk about the Touch, push, touchdown run. So, I mean, it’s, you know, they’re searching for it on offense. And, you know, again, I think the offensive line is the big part there. The Red Zone and goal to go is still really, really messy. I mean, that’s something that has to get better, but if you’re

Nestor Aparicio  28:25

going to lose games because of that next month, if it doesn’t get better,

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Luke Jones  28:29

potentially, sure, sure. But if you’re looking for the positives, as far as going forward, Now, beyond the fact that they just won, and they’re five and five, and they’ve won four in a row, and they’re on even footing. Now, if you want to think about it in those terms, you’ve won four in a row. Four in a row after losing four in a row. I mean, this defense is playing way better. I mean, and I get it, they haven’t been tested by all pro Pro Bowl, Pro Bowl quarterbacks over these last four games. You know, you can go back to the Rams game. We talked about it even in defeat, that that was a better defensive effort, you know, obviously the elohiy Gilman and, you know, Draymond Jones, two games in, you’re seeing he makes an impact. He has made their front better. He’s not Terrell Suggs, you know, he’s not Lawrence Taylor, he’s

Nestor Aparicio  29:12

not Draymond Jones. Got a little pass rush going to so, like, from an addition standpoint, I can sit up and say they’re better than they were October 1. Because, sure, because we’ve challenged. Eric Acosta, can you make the team better? You know, where are the deficiencies? And, you know, I think we’re going to be talking about the D line and the O line for, you know, the next eight weeks, about when they eventually lose, it’ll be because of those aspects of the team, I believe, yeah, although,

Luke Jones  29:42

like I said, I am more of a believer in the defense now than I was two or three weeks ago, and certainly way more than I was five weeks ago, when the

Nestor Aparicio  29:52

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defense was just on. Smith’s not playing and Humphrey’s not playing now, I sure, but we

Luke Jones  29:56

all but we also know that defense wasn’t playing well, even you know, like you. They were one in five, but they were on their way to one in three when the injuries really started mounting, right? I mean, roquan left late in the first half of that Kansas City game. They were already on their way to losing that game. Same with Humphrey. So we know, like their defense was very bad in the first month of the season. I mean, very bad, and then it was very injured on top of that, you know, a few weeks in, but that defense is better. They’ve they’ve raised the floor considerably. Kyle Hamilton continues to be a beast. You know, seems like he’s okay. I mean, seemed like his shoulder was, you know, he hurt his shoulder early in that game, and, you know, played through it and played well, dropped an interception, which I he kind of joked about in the post game that, you know, what is it about him dropping interceptions in Cleveland, but, you know, I mean, obviously moving him back to the closer to the line of scrimmage has just been, I mean, that’s a force multiplier, right there. You know, roquan Smith being healthy, but we’ve talked about it. Teddy Buchanan is playing better football. You know, they, they for him only being a rookie, and I’m not saying he’s a perfect player. He still struggles to get off blocks a little more than you’d like, but he when you consider all the young linebackers that they’ve kind of trotted out there, you know, I guess more specifically, Trenton Simpson, you know, the last two years, you know, it feels like Buchanan is making some strides, and he’s already better than he was early in the season. And that’s what you want to see. You want to see steady improvement from young guys. You know, we’ve talked about it. I mean, maybe not so much this week, but you know, Malachi Starks, you know, looking better over the last month. We talked about it. You know, even though Mike Green hurt his ankle in practice, and, you know, there’s some question about his status. You were seeing him start to make some strides. I mean, their defense, it’s certainly so much better than it was. That’s the captain obvious statement. I don’t know if this is a great defense. I’m not ready to say that. Well, it’s good

Nestor Aparicio  31:55

enough for now, for this time, it’s getting better against bad now, Joe burrow coming back that creates problems. Aaron Rodgers getting his hand hurt. Mason Rudolph is going to play. That’s that’s a good thing, I think, right. So any break they can get, because I this is not a dominant football team, Luke, this is not the team we were advertising here for seven months of the offseason. There’s no part of this that I look at and say, Oh, it’s got another gear. Now, I might say that about Kyle Hamilton as a player, you know, I but even that, I don’t see emerging players here. I’m not seeing these. I even said to my wife, watching the game with Roku, excuse me, roquan Smith, I’m like, you know, I thought he’d be more of an impact player the day that deal was made four years ago, and the money that was given, like all of that, that you’d see it and feel it. And I think you see and feel Kyle Hamilton to some degree, but most of the rest of this, even Lamar from a step backwards, because I don’t think he’s physically really right, or he’s aging a little bit enough that he’s not that Gazelle that literally can run 60 yards and beat you, you know in that way, that that I don’t think he’s that right this minute, not that he’s aged out or that he might not be that again or might not be that in January, right? But he he does not have breakaway speed right now. He doesn’t have what you want him to have, what you know

Luke Jones  33:33

he’s still way faster than most quarter, yeah, just about any quarterback out there, but he’s not running away from the defense in the same way that he did last year. Certain

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Nestor Aparicio  33:43

car you want to keep in the garage right now, because you’re not feeling great about wanting to run him. No question, no question, unless you have to, unless you have

Luke Jones  33:50

to. He had a sore knee this week. We know he had a hamstring that cost him three games, right? I mean, but yeah, look, you don’t need to look any further than the numbers. I mean, going into this game. I mean, Lamar, on the season, had, what, 216 rushing yards. Now that’s six games. That’s not bad, compared to most quarterbacks out there. And, you know, he ran for he had 10 yards total rushing on Sunday. I mean, that’s, you know, we’re used to Lamar being a guy that’s going to have 1000 yards, or, you know, really close to it. You know what? He was at 900 plus last year, even as he threw for 4000 yards. He’s not that guy right now. That, to your point, I’m glad you said it. That does not mean that he won’t be that in January, when you absolutely need it. But, yeah, this, this offense right now, is absolutely searching for it, in terms of, you see, and Sunday was a bad example, because they’re playing a really good defense, and they’re on the road and it’s windy. I mean, I wasn’t expecting them to play great football offensively, and they played from behind all day, sure, well, and that’s why I said the fact that they were behind and the fact that they were able to run enough. Is that it didn’t get to the point where Lamar is just happened to drop back and Miles Garrett in that front is just teeing off knowing that well, they can’t run on us. You know,

Nestor Aparicio  35:10

all some of that’s down in distance on first down is getting yourself in a position to run plays you want to play. Sure, not run plays you have to

Luke Jones  35:17

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play, right? But we’ve talked about down in distance a lot. I mean, they haven’t been nearly as good as they need to be on first down this year. And that’s that’s hurt them, because they’ve had a lot of Derek Henry run for two yards on first down, or no gain on first down, or, you know, it’s Second and eight, and he gets stopped for nothing, right? I mean, it’s, you know, you can’t you have those situations. Yeah, it’s going to make things tougher on you. So the good news is, you are five and five, you’ve made some very meaningful strides on defense, even if there’s definitely a sense of okay, like, you know, as much as the schedule was a bear in the first month of the season with the quarterbacks you were playing then now you’ve had a little bit of a respite in that way, and good because you needed to, you needed to stack some wins here, and they did that. Now it’s a case of, can your defense continue to get better? Can you continue to unlock some elements with your pass rush? You’ve been able to scheme up some pressure, you know, even if it’s, you know, Cleveland’s offensive line is not very good. I get get all that, but you know, you’re winning, and the good news is you’re still not playing playoff games for another close, you know, eight weeks, right? I mean, they have some time here to not just keep winning, but to hopefully find some more consistency and find ways to make more plays and be more consistent on offense and convert inside the red zone and convert short yardage situations, right? I mean, they still have to figure that out. And is that going to look like it did last year? Is it going to look like it did two years ago? Is it going to look like it did two in 2019 when you had a Hall of Famer at right guard and Marshall yonda And you know, you younger, healthier version of Ronnie Stanley, and go down the list

Nestor Aparicio  37:00

of I saw Morgan Moses running around the other day too, and I’m like, you know, they things were better around here a couple years ago they were when Zeitler and Moses were here, we took that for granted. How that they constructed an offensive line with grown ups that were going to make it to post, and we’re going to give put them in the best position to win, and I don’t know that they’re always there right now, yeah, but at the same time,

Luke Jones  37:29

and believe me, I’m not comparing the ravens to this to this team, because this team has done it in January far more consistently have the Kansas City Chiefs had great offensive lines the last few years. I mean, all you’ve heard about was questions about their tackles, right and and those issues and that may have you know, they were finally did in by that in the Super Bowl by Philadelphia last February. But my point is in saying that is, who are the Who are these elite, Juggernaut teams in the AFC right now? Record wise, yeah, New England looks great. Record wise. I didn’t come away from watching them Thursday night and saying, oh my gosh, they’re unbeatable. Those are good uniforms. Though they were good uniforms. Ah, I didn’t like those. They didn’t like those. No, I didn’t. I did not. Wow.

Nestor Aparicio  38:15

I thought for sure you’d think they were sharp.

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Luke Jones  38:17

I the best comment I heard was it looked like someone like left the Patriots jerseys in the wash

Nestor Aparicio  38:24

to look they could have brought the Drew bledsos back, and they didn’t do that, at least. But

Luke Jones  38:28

going down the list, right? I mean, you have them Denver. Love Denver’s defense. Is that offense going to be consistent enough to win three games in January, you know? Or maybe two, because they might, maybe they’ll be the number one seed new Indianapolis, we saw their warts against Pittsburgh a couple weeks ago, right? So Buffalo and Kansas City are the, you know that they’ve got the January reputation, you know, Buffalo against everyone but Kansas City, Kansas City being the king of the conference for six, seven years now. But it’s interesting, at least, right? Oh, it’s very interesting. My point in saying all this is not that necessarily to predict that the ravens are going to do it, but the point is they can’t. All these, all these teams are kind of Yeah, but yeah, but yeah, but this the Ravens have Yeah, buts, but they’re winning games now. We played jets this week, and that’s that certainly should help. All right, let’s

Nestor Aparicio  39:22

take a break. We got plenty of football ahead. Luke is here. He’ll be out in Owings Mills this week, if you’re on the W NST tech service, brought to you by cold roofing and Gordian energy, by the way, all new commercials here at W NST. So listen to the commercials. They tell me, nobody listens. Everybody hears. I promise you. We’re gonna be doing the Maryland crab cake tour, presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery this Maryland lottery. This is my colonoscopy week. Pray for me. GBMC, thank you. And when I tell guys my age, they’re all mad at me. They’re like, why’d you wait so long? What the hell’s wrong with you? 57 years old? So I heard you do segments about this 15 years ago, when you were 42 Doing it this week. Thank you. GBMC, I appreciate you. Step out, take a break. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. Plenty of football ahead. The ravens are five and five and mediocre, but we’ve been exceptional lately. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with us.