Talking turkey and Joe Burrow as Bengals bring Thanksgiving threat to Ravens

It’s a holiday event in prime time as the first-place Baltimore Ravens look to make it six in a row against their division foe, who will return one of the best quarterbacks in the business. Longtime Bengals color analyst and 10-year NFL offensive lineman Dave Lapham updates Nestor on why Joe Burrow will get back on the field on Thanksgiving and who will be involved in the passing game with two top wide receivers out for Cincinnati.

Nestor Aparicio and Dave Lapham discuss the upcoming Thanksgiving night game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens. Lapham, a long-time Bengals analyst, highlights the significance of the rivalry and the challenges both teams face. Joe Burrow returns from injury, but key players like Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are unavailable. Lapham praises Joe Flacco’s resilience and contributions, noting his recent shoulder injury. The conversation also touches on the importance of turnovers, third-down conversions, and scoring touchdowns in the red zone for both teams. Lapham believes the Ravens are still division favorites despite their current injuries and challenges.

Bengals vs. Ravens Thanksgiving Preview

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning his holiday plans and upcoming events, including the Maryland crab cake tour.
• Nestor welcomes Dave Lapham, long-time offensive lineman and color analyst for the Cincinnati Bengals, to discuss the upcoming Thanksgiving game against the Baltimore Ravens.
• Dave Lapham expresses excitement about the game, noting the significance of the rivalry between the Bengals and Ravens.
• Dave highlights the importance of the game for the Bengals, emphasizing the need to be at their best against the talented Ravens.

Joe Burrow’s Return and Bengals’ Current State

• Nestor and Dave discuss Joe Burrow’s return to the field after being sidelined with injuries.
• Dave praises Joe Flacco’s contributions to the Bengals, noting his ability to keep the team afloat despite his age and recent injuries.
• Nestor reflects on Joe Flacco’s long career and his impact on the Bengals, mentioning his personal experiences with Flacco.
• Dave explains the challenges Flacco has faced with his shoulder injury, affecting his accuracy and overall performance.

Bengals’ Offensive and Defensive Challenges

• Nestor and Dave discuss the Bengals’ current offensive and defensive struggles, including the inconsistency of their defense.
• Dave mentions the Bengals’ desire to win all their remaining games to stay in playoff contention.
• Nestor highlights the importance of Joe Burrow’s return, noting the energy and motivation it brings to the team.
• Dave talks about the challenges the Bengals face with key players like Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins being unavailable due to injuries.

Lamar Jackson’s Injuries and Ravens’ Offensive Struggles

• Nestor and Dave discuss Lamar Jackson’s recent injuries and their impact on the Ravens’ offense.
• Dave explains how the Ravens’ offensive strategy has changed due to Jackson’s limitations, focusing more on passing than running.
• Nestor expresses concerns about the Ravens’ performance against tougher opponents in the second half of the season.
• Dave emphasizes the importance of the Ravens’ division games and the need to adapt their game plan to counter Lamar Jackson’s dual-threat abilities.

Thanksgiving Night Game and Key Players

• Nestor and Dave preview the Thanksgiving night game, highlighting the national spotlight and the significance of the matchup.
• Dave identifies key players like Mark Andrews and Chase Brown who could make a difference in the game.
• Nestor discusses the importance of turnovers, third-down conversions, and scoring touchdowns in the red zone for both teams.
• Dave shares his confidence in the Ravens’ ability to win the division despite their current challenges.

Joe Flacco’s Commitment and Legacy

• Nestor reflects on Joe Flacco’s dedication and commitment to football, noting his continued love for the game.
• Dave praises Flacco’s ability to stay in shape and his drive to play at a high level.
• Nestor shares personal anecdotes about his interactions with Flacco, highlighting his genuine nature and passion for the game.
• Dave emphasizes the strong bonds and family-like relationships within the Bengals’ organization, which Flacco values deeply.

Final Thoughts and Predictions

• Nestor and Dave discuss the overall outlook for the Bengals and Ravens, with Nestor expressing concerns about the Ravens’ recent performance.
• Dave remains optimistic about the Ravens’ chances, citing their history of success and the talent on their roster.
• Nestor highlights the importance of availability and health for both teams, especially for key players like Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow.
• Dave concludes by emphasizing the need for both teams to execute well in key areas to win the game.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Bengals, Ravens, Joe Burrow, Joe Flacco, Thanksgiving game, Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, offense, defense, injuries, Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews, Chase Brown, football, NFL.

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SPEAKERS

Dave Lapham, Nestor Aparicio, Speaker 1

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, sporting my Costas gear here for the holidays, getting ready for the pumpkin pie and the turkey and all that Maryland crab cake tours. Coming back to Costas in time for the holidays. That’ll be the Costas in Dundalk. I’m usually at the bar in Timonium with mixologist John and Christine and everybody over there, because I dig it. We’re also gonna be taking the Maryland crab cake tour on the road. I’ve got new dates. We’re gonna be at honeys and Hale Thorpe, home of Jim Schwartz, on the I believe that’s gonna be on the 12th. We’re also gonna be on the 11th at Deep Pasquale down in Canton. I’m looking forward to that as well. All right, Thanksgiving big game on Thursday night, Bengals in town. Joe burrow back under center. No one I trust more, and this is going to be my one and only Cincinnati Bengals preview. Dave rapham, long time offensive lineman of the Cincinnati Bengals, and longer time voice of and also the color voice of the Cincinnati Bengals for many, many, many years, my old friend over Chile and macaroni and Paul Brown, stadium and and who day? Who day? How are you? Happy Thanksgiving? Dave Lapham,

Dave Lapham  01:16

Nestor, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours as well. I’m doing, I’m doing. Doing very well. Yeah, it’s a big football game coming up, man. It can’t be. Can’t think of one that we would be any bigger. You gotta the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals. I mean, been division rivals for a while now, like you said, a lot of years and and I’ve been doing it for a lot of years. You’re right. I’ve been the color analyst now Bengals radio network, this my 40th year and played for 10 so 50 years. Man, it’s crazy, 50 years as part of the Cincinnati Bengals organization and no game, believe me, this organization takes no game more seriously than the Baltimore Ravens contest. They know to beat the Baltimore Ravens, you have to be at your best, because the ravens are stacked. I mean, the Ravens have a boatload of talent, no question about it, at every position group, really.

Nestor Aparicio  02:11

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And we’re waiting for that to sort of bloom. Dave and I, what are we getting in the current Bengals? And where is Joe burrow on this arc? And and listen, you and I, we’ve been at this a long time. You and I have known each other three decades, back to Marvin and before Marvin K and I can’t believe Marvin was 22 years ago that he arrived in Cincinnati. So that’s, you know, we’re going back a ways. You’ve been gone almost a decade. I, for me, with where the Bengals are, and Joe burrow and Joe Flacco. Flacco is my all time favorite athlete in the history of Baltimore sports. I think you’ve gotten a taste of seven or eight weeks of it feels like he’s been there 10 years, right? Like he’s just part of a furniture thing, and now he’ll backseat and burrow will come in. But the Flacco to burrow thing, you got some real grown ups going on in there, in Cincinnati, and it hasn’t gone well, record wise. And obviously the defense and whatever I see, this is a really dangerous game for the Ravens on Thursday night.

Speaker 1  03:09

I think it’s going to be an interesting matchup, very interesting battle. And I agree with you, Nestor, Joe Flacco, God bless him. Man. Where would the Cincinnati Bengals be without Joe Flacco. He was, he’s been a lifesaver. I mean, they threw out the they threw out the life preserver and said, Ben, save us. Help us. And Joe Flacco has done a hell of a job. I mean, this guy, 40 years old, keeps himself in great shape, and he can throw the football. Man, the ball comes out of his hand.

Nestor Aparicio  03:40

He’s hurt, right? I mean, last couple of weeks, Luke and I were talking about this, it’s like he, it doesn’t feel like he’s 100% either, right? The last two, three weeks, no,

Speaker 1  03:50

he’s been nicked up. He said he got, he’s got a shoulder injury. He’s got an AC joint issue, and those are tough, and it’s in a strong arm. So, you know, it’s, does? It has hindered his motion Some, yeah, and it has affected his his accuracy slightly, you know, I mean, every once in a while it’s like, Oh, geez. Joe usually hits those. He didn’t hit that one. And, you know, sometimes you can almost see the pain as he’s following through. You know, it’s almost like a little hitch in the in the follow through, because that ball does, I mean, he’s a beautiful thrower of the football. The ball comes out of his hand so smoothly and so easily. And the biggest thing Nestor, as you know, knowing Joe Flacco, like to do, I mean, everybody loves this guy, everybody, I mean, from the trainer, the equipment guys, all the way up to the owner of the football.

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Nestor Aparicio  04:38

He’s been that way since he was 22 years old, Dave, like, he came into my home in this beater Volvo with his dad, with Jersey plates, and they came down, and we spent like six hours together walking the harbor. We wanted to know where Johnny you play. He like, that’s the minute I met him. I’m talking like, May of Oh, eight, right? Like, so, I mean, I’m going back 17 years ago. I’ve never seen anything like it in this whole he’s had several resurrections, right? Like from Cleveland through Indianapolis through Cleveland again. You know, we played him to start the season here, right? I mean, I thought he was going to be playing on Thursday night, and probably would have been, if it hadn’t been for the shoulder and borough, but I it is. It’s an astonishing story that’s fallen onto your doorstep and now comes here where and you want burrow back. You want your $60 million quarterback, right? I mean, obviously, but what’s left of the season for you guys is, hey, take Baltimore out, where we could be back in this thing, right? I mean, yeah, that’s kind of where this is for for your franchise, right?

Speaker 1  05:41

No question. No question. Nestor. I mean, they got to, they got to win them all. They got to go on a run. They got to win six. And the only way you can win six is to win the first one, you know, and it’s a, it’s a hell of a hell of a challenge. There’s no, no question about that. But Joe Flacco feels like he’s up to the task. He feels like he knows this offense. That’s the amazing thing about him. He’s his football IQ is way up there, because I’m telling you this, this offense is not the easiest thing. I mean, it’s some sophistication to it. A lot to learn and and Joe Flacco learned it. Has learned it extremely quickly. A lot of it on the field, you know, but he’s taken so many snaps. I mean, he’s been in so many situations. He’s had to, you know, win football games at the at the very even the last play of a football game, to win games. Win football games, running a two minute drill to perfection, to win the football game. I mean, he’s been tested. He’s been challenged. There’s no doubt. So the Bengals feel like they’ve got more problems than just at the quarterback position. They feel like they’re in pretty good shape at the quarterback position. Their defense has been inconsistent. Is probably kind they’ve really struggled. I mean, they’ve struggled mightily, and sometimes they’ll play decently, and when they play decently, the offense doesn’t when the offense plays decently, the defense doesn’t support them. So it’s been, it’s been a nightmare season. So far this year, there’s, there’s no question about that. And honestly, with Joe borrow coming back, and he wanted to come back last week, but, you know, they said, Yeah, you know, that’s a little too early. We don’t feel like you’re, you’re injury to your to your toes 100% you know. And he’s like, I feel like it is now, and we really don’t, and the doctors have to clear you. So it was, you know, 99.9 was not going to be good enough. He feels like he’s good. He feels like he wants to play in this game, and the team wants him to play in this game, and his teammates want him to play in this football game. They’re going to get a little juice. They’re going to get a little, you know, definitely a little energy boost. There’s no question about that. Going into this football game knowing that Joe burrow is going to be behind center, making decisions and throwing the football no Jamar chase in this football game, and it’s all on him. Made a stupid mistake, and T Higgins is, is, you know, struggling with the concussion.

Nestor Aparicio  08:05

So, yeah, the Higgins thing that really changed the complexion of this game, right, when he got injured late in that game. I was, I was watching it live when it happened. I’m like, wow, he’s not going to be able to come back and play on Thursday, for

Speaker 1  08:16

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sure, no doubt. I mean, that head bounced pretty well off the turf, you know, and that’s when you hit that

Nestor Aparicio  08:21

was frightening looking. It always is to me. I never take it for granted, because I’ve stood on the field. You’ve played it the game for 10 years. So you don’t think you know, nor should any of us take a brain injury for granted.

Speaker 1  08:32

No question, you know. And that one, I’ve experienced, that one myself more than once, having the head hit the turf. And you know, back then, concussion protocol was not as as difficult to pass as it is now. And you know, they there was no blue tent to go in and take a look at guys and in, you know, see how their brains function. None of that went on in a lot of guys, unfortunately, that I played with and know, haven’t played against they’re struggling, you know, in their in their later years because of it. But the union is has gotten taken. They’ve taken much better care of of the players now, and particularly in terms of brain injury.

Nestor Aparicio  09:13

Dave, I’m glad to hear that. You know, I have Lee Steinberg going all the time. And, you know, I go back to Jim Otto and Conrad Dobler sitting next to me, John Mackey, his wife. I mean, I’ve seen it, experienced it, the fellows that played in the 90s ravens teams that are all my age, mid, late 50s, by the way, I had my colonoscopy last week. So I’m giving PSA to every This is public service. Everybody get checked. I had a precancerous a polyp removed last week from our friends at GBMC. So throw that out as we’re talking Men’s Health and stuff, because Super Bowl week, you know, as well as I do. I mean, there’s lots of guys walking around with jackets get your PSA checked, all of these health things, but I worry about all the old football players, you know what I mean, just in a general sense and and how we’re and then I see that injury, and I’m. Like, I know the helmets are better, you know, I know the technology is better, but I also know, like, he’s not playing on Thursday night. And then there’s the game itself, and hey, where Lamar is right now. Now it’s a toe, where we went, hamstring, ankle, knee, toe. It says, like a kids game, ankle, knees and toes. Remember that one with the kids, like London bridges will be next. I can’t begin to say that this thing has ever looked good since the first half against buffalo, because it hasn’t on the offensive line. And you, being an old offensive lineman, know what that’s about. This has been a real slog for the ravens, you know. And I expect it to be a slog on Thursday night. And I think your defense gets slogged on a lot, and you’ve even said, you know, you’re being kind by saying that hasn’t been good. I just wonder when a Defense schools up on Lamar, is drafted and sort of made in this division from Cleveland, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, knowing you’re going to see Lamar twice a year, you don’t take that for granted. In the offseason, when you’re scouting and you’re doing self scouting, when you’re putting a roster together, when you’re looking at the draft and saying, Hey, we have to play Lamar Jackson and so we’re gonna have to build our linebackers and safeties, build our defense a little bit differently, and think about those two games differently. And I know that there’s a whole segment of the offseason for Tomlin and for Stefanski and for for for Zach there in Cincinnati, to think about that, and that worries me, because these games are always down and dirtier. For Lamar in Division, they just are.

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Speaker 1  11:35

They are. I mean, division contests are always played at extremely high level of intensity. You know, it’s important to the players, it’s important to the organization, important to the owner, important to everything in between and and really the what the ravens and Bengals over the years. You know, back when Marvin was coaching with the ravens, and the coach was Cincinnati as well, he was always like, I remember talking to him before these games and be like, gotta stop the run. We gotta stop the run, and we gotta make sure we can run the football some. We gotta make sure we’re a balanced attack. If we can’t run the football a lick, and they can tee off on our quarterback, we’re in big trouble, because they’ve got a myriad of pass rushers. They get a lot of guys can heat up the quarterback. There’s no question about it. And and we’re going to be at our at our top you know, from a performance standpoint, we’re gonna have to know our P’s and Q’s in terms of game plan and how we’re thinking about attacking the Baltimore Ravens. Then during the course of the game, we’re gonna have to make quicker adjustments than them. We’re gonna have to stay ahead of the game from an adjustment standpoint. But thing about Lamar Jackson as you know, that makes him so special. Shoot, he can hurt you both ways. You know, I remember Mark Marvin said the biggest challenge that he had as a coach, as an assistant coach, and then as a defensive coordinator, head coach in the National Football League, was stopping a dual threat quarterback. When a quarterback can throw the football like these guys can throw it. And Lamar Jackson throws as well as anybody, maybe not as accurately 100% of the time, but he can hurt you, man. He can kill you, in fact. And then he can also do serious damage to you with his with his feet and his legs and but

Nestor Aparicio  13:13

it’s been a problem. I mean, honestly, Dave, it’s been a part taken away from him, either. In reality, we haven’t seen him get chased down, but he’s been getting sacked. And more than that, he has no acceleration, and so for that, he hasn’t really attempted it, and I don’t think he wants to get caught from behind and get his ankle wrenched, because there goes your season. You know what I mean, especially right now where we’re seeing Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, New England. I mean, the ravens are, they’ve gone through the soft part of their schedule. They’re going to see $50 million quarterbacks the next, you know, the rest of the way

Speaker 1  13:50

you’re right. I mean, you look at it, the schedule makers knew what they were doing when they made this NFL schedule, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, you know. And then they finished the season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In between, they got the Patriots and the Green Bay Packers. That’s a that’s a juggernaut man, that’s a tough schedule. There’s no, no question about it. And for the four, four playoff games, you know, it’s like, hey,

Nestor Aparicio  14:16

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when your quarterback can’t run, and that’s what he does, and that’s kind of where they are, and it remains to be seen. He was in the injury report a day and a half ago. Dave, right? So Thursday night. What a quarterback whose specialty is, right? I say that 90% of him takes away. What makes him special, from a defensive standpoint, is that you have to respect that he can run 80 yards on you. I don’t think he can do that right now. And because of that, they’re playing differently. They have to play differently. And the other part of that is they’re not in the down and distances that they’ve been in in their burner years, where they’re in second and two, second and three, second and one, because they’re really successful on first down. It hasn’t been that kind of offense. Dave and you know, as well as I do, you’re in second and longer. All day long, it creates, it creates third downs, it creates fourth down decisions. It creates more urgency in third and longs. It creates more drop back and protect in past sets that this team’s really not built for.

Speaker 1  15:22

Yeah, yeah, you’re right. It is. It’s going to be interesting to watch this, the style of offense, what the offense looks like, how different it looks than it’s looked in the past, with the limitations physically that that Jamar is dealing with. And you know, in my mind, the tight end Bengals have had trouble with the tight end, everybody they’ve played, every single team that the position group of tight end, individually and collectively, has had big games against the Cincinnati Bengals made some big plays. And Mark Andrews, in my estimation, is damn good man. This guy can play the game of football. 33 catches, 285, yards. Not, not a big yards per catch average. He has a 27 yard touchdown reception with five touchdown catches. The guy’s a, he’s a point producer. You know, I mean, he in the red zone, there’s, I don’t think there’s anybody any better than Andrews. I think he, he’s phenomenal in the way he runs his routes and the way he catches the football, the way he takes hits, his physicality, you’re not going to separate him from the football. It’s I think, to me, I still think the ravens are the favorite to win the division. I know that. I know that you’re dealing with injuries, and you’ve got a lot of questions, and the fan base is probably a little bit little bit tense, a little bit uncertain, a little bit uneasy with what what’s going on. But man, when all said and done at the end of the season, John Harbaugh and that coaching staff, I think he was gonna have the Baltimore Ravens right there in the hunt.

Nestor Aparicio  16:52

Man, Dave Lapham is our guest. He’s the long time color analyst of the Cincinnati Bengals for 40 years, after 10 years of playing. I don’t know how they gave Collins worth off on Thanksgiving, but is he talking us here in Baltimore, I don’t you your your teammate is right? Yeah, we

Speaker 1  17:08

played together, yeah, Cosworth, man, I’ll tell you what big guy, you know, pushing six, four. You know, pushing probably 2052, 10, something like that in his playing days. And he could run. I mean, the dude ran like, you know, high four threes, mid to high four threes on that type of a frame. He had long arms, very strong hands, plucked the football, put it away. CeCe was a player. Man, he was good player. Yeah, people

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Nestor Aparicio  17:34

think he was. I remember him as a player. Man, I remember when you guys put on the whole you went from B, E, N, G, I have the old belt buckles here for you, but when you put on the Now is the traditional jungle. Look back in about 81 you guys came in Memorial Stadium, and Collinsworth was a thing, Ken Anderson, you guys, Super Bowl, Pontiac, all of that stuff. So, you know, I got a little history with y’all. I know what’s going on with the WHO days. So Riddle me this, Dave, on Thursday night, I know the defense is challenged, and you can go through what they what do well or don’t do well offensively, burrow comes back into this circumstance here after Flacco is pretty much, you know, held it together as best he can. No Chase, no. Higgins, what? What happens to the Bengals offense with no Chase, no. Higgins, that’s a strange circumstance to put Joe burrow in.

Speaker 1  18:24

It is, it is, I mean, a lot of his, lot of his big time weapons are unavailable, but that’s when other guys have to step up and show that they got something, you know. Yossi Vash has to, has to show that he can play the game at a high level. Yoshi Vox has got physical talent, man. He’s a skilled kid, you know, I think they got to, you know, make sure that that he gets his opportunities. I think a guy that’s going to be huge in this football game is Chase Brown, the running back. He’s run the football exceptionally well. He’s, he’s probably the five nine. They list him at 510 maybe, maybe five nine and a half. He can, he can run the football though 205 to 10. Real low center of gravity. He bends at his knees. He he runs with power. He finishes runs. Guys fall off of him. They fall off of him like, like they’re hitting a brick wall. He also catches the ball well out of the backfield. He runs good routes. He gets himself open, working against linebackers and safeties. And then the thing that he really does well, he’ll stick his face right in the linebacker’s chest and Blitz, pick up and just pick up and stun those inside outside linebackers trying to pressure him, Blitz the quarterback safety same way. I mean, Chase Brown is the definition of a football player, man. He’s played really well for the Bengals. This year,

Nestor Aparicio  19:43

Dave Lapham will be in Baltimore having crab cakes with his turd ducking. And, you know, there’s one thing about this game, and I think for all the Thanksgiving people, especially this one, right? Because this is a night game, you know, West Coast five o’clock people, we have in dinner. Everybody else, we have a pumpkin pie for. Going all bloated and getting the second, you know, getting the main locks out, doing all things, but no one wants to get embarrassed on Thanksgiving night, no matter what, and burrows coming back. He’s the most competitive MFR I’ve ever seen in my life. I, you know, I love the way he plays so much like Elway or whatever. Like, I can’t hate on him. You know what I mean? Like, I just from the from the time he was in college, he’s got sort of that swag that I like. I think he’ll win a Super Bowl at some point. I don’t know how the Brown family and the organization and, you know, Duke just put everything together out there around him and keeping him healthy. Because, you know, that’s sort of the charge on him at this point. And I think that would be the charge on Lamar, if Lamar can’t continue to go to post to say, Well, how many Decembers and January’s Are you not going to be there in playoff games or playoff time? And that’s like availability is the most important ability, I think, all the way around. And I think this is a chance on that kind of a stage for a guy like burrow, that makes it scary for me. I think the way the Ravens have played and sort of walked a tightrope from one five they’ve won five games in a row. Date, I can’t slog on them, but, man, it hadn’t been impressive against really bad teams, and now it picks up, and you’re going to find out what you’re made of. If you’re January team, you’re going to find out. But this is a really interesting football game, man. And kind of a scary proposition. And I think it’s bright lights, big, big stage, no matter what the stakes are on either side. It’s the kind of night where, like, the world is watching on Thanksgiving night, really.

Speaker 1  21:33

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Yeah, I agree. I think the world will be watching nationally televised the the entire world will be watching this, this bad boy. And I think it comes down to three T’s, turnovers, third down, and then scoring touchdowns and touchdowns in the red zone. You know, you got to score to win the game. Obviously, that was great. Paul Brown, ism, you know, it’s like, you know what? We don’t want to be kicking field goals all day. Got to score touchdowns. You got to win the game by scoring touchdowns. Put the ball, you know, in the end zone, and don’t give the ball away. We want to take the ball away from them. We don’t want to give the football away. We want to be plus two plus three and the turnover ratio. I think that’s what it’s going to take to win this football game against a team like the the Baltimore Ravens and then third down man got to convert 50% of the time, maybe closer to 65 you want to be able to convert almost two out of every 3/3 down opportunities, if you don’t. I think that ravens defense can make it a long day for you. Man, we

Nestor Aparicio  22:28

won the punting battle last week, so at least we had that going on around here. Dave Raptor, last thing I want to say, and he’s just about Flacco showing up there. My relationship with his him is such a you know, I’m texting with him, his dad, whatever, through all of this, trying to make it interesting, keep it interesting, keep it interesting. And I’m sorry that the records aren’t more balanced and the stakes aren’t higher for Flacco and him playing and all that. But I’d say this, this Cincinnati thing, and these press conferences that he’s had specifically in Cincinnati, even better than the Cleveland’s and Indianapolis, and going back to the jets and him winning games there. And all that is that I have him on every year, right around Super Bowl time, February, March, we get together and he, you know, he puts his cardigan on, gets an iced tea, sits in his house, up in Jersey, and we sit and we we bull shot together for 45 minutes on the air. And every year it takes on a different turn about his kids and what happened the previous year, and the Cleveland miracle and playoffs, this Cincinnati thing where he’s like, the other day, just, I mean, it got very viral, where he’s like, this is what I love to do, man. And I’m like, wow, you know, like, wow. That’s deep, you know, like, and I can’t say that I didn’t see him doing this this far out, after getting $150 million here for winning a Super Bowl 12 years ago now that he still wouldn’t want to do it. But man, it speaks to when you’re great at something and you love something, and you can remain to have that eye of the tiger that so many people lose through money, girls, fame, kids, family, other things that take their eye off the ball. It’s hard cover, even doing color commentary on a football team for 40 years, right? Like to stay as focused and say, am I still doing this at the top the way I want to do it? The way am I do I care enough? Boy, seeing that in Joe’s eyes, just a beautiful effing thing, dude. It really isn’t, and it doesn’t happen for everybody?

Speaker 1  24:21

No, you’re right. And I think the word you just used care. Joe Flacco cares. Joe Flacco was born to play the game of football, man. I mean, that’s he said. You know, I was put on earth to play this game. I love football. I love playing the game of football. I love being around my teammates. I love everything about working with guys and striving for a common goal, you know, trying to win games together. That’s what, that’s what that’s what it’s all about. And man, I’m telling you, like you said, 40 years old to take care of himself the way he has to still. Have that drive and the desire to play the game at the highest level. I mean, football is his life. He’s a football lifer. That’s no other way to describe Joe Flacco and Messiah.

Nestor Aparicio  25:14

You know, I’d love to write the book one day, because I tell you what man like I’ve written chapters about him. But this whole thing, this act here the last seven or eight years, Dave, and it walked into your life in the last seven weeks, and you’re like, oh my god, you know what a dude, right? I thought that way about Kurt Warner. Kurt Warner and I did a charity turn together out in LA and we threw some passes with some special needs people. And I it just like I what I thought I knew about Kurt Warner. I know about Kurt Warner, and I can vouch on the Flacco thing. It’s really special when you see the real thing up close. I think even after all these years, when you see the real thing, it’s, it’s, it’s the real thing.

8

Speaker 1  25:51

Yeah, absolutely. And that’s exactly how you know Zach Taylor feels about it. Dan, picture the offensive coordinator, all the offensive coaches, all the defensive coaches, they feel like that. That’s exactly right, that Joe Flacco, he’s the real deal. I mean, the dude is a father of five, you know, he’s got a wife, and he cares about his family. And his family is first, and then his football family is number two. And he talks about the fact that, you know, he looks at his teammates as football family, and how close, you know the relationships become, how those bonds are so tight and so hard to break, almost totally unbreakable. Paul Brown talks about that as one of the most beautiful things that he experienced in the game of football is that you know, families players, individual players, then the players, families become so close. They stay together for, you know, long after the game of football, they stay they stay in touch. They get together. And that, that’s, that’s something special. You can’t, you can’t find a whole lot of jobs in the world. Or that’s the case

Nestor Aparicio  26:57

even all these years later, you’re giving Collins worth off on Thanksgiving, and you’re working so, you know, I mean being a good teammate. Dave Lapham is here from Cincinnati, Ohio. He will not bring the chili. I will bring the crab cakes. I’m wearing my Costas gear out there as well. Maryland crab cakes were presented by the Maryland lottery. I’ll have Raven scratch offs to give away. I had a fun turn at Cocos two weeks ago when a lady came up and I I got my QR code on the MD lottery app, and she won 20 bucks, and her friend won five bucks. We’re having a good time right here, by the way, Dave, our big winner for the Maryland lottery, the big, big winner of the year, got to go on a trip with the Ravens. It’s the trip to Cincinnati in a couple weeks, so make sure they get the good chili. Okay, when you see him out there, all right, Dave, rapping from Cincinnati, we’re ready for football on Thursday night. If you’re on the wnst tech service, you’ll get the injuries. You’ll get all the breaking news, including, if any, there’s any Orioles information that is all brought to you by our friends at cole roofing and Gordian energy Luke’s on the scene. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody out there. Are you ready for some football? We are I am Nestor. We are wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive you.