Luke Jones and Nestor get ready for Eagles and Chiefs in battle of the best of NFL
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
party, game, quarterback, years, point, ravens, andy reid, talk, philadelphia eagles, week, team, season, eagles fans, super bowl, philadelphia, lost, playing, kelsey, football game, championship game
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
W N S, T Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive we are positively into the wackiest of seasons the bye week for the Super Bowl. Luke Jones is going to join us here in this segment before I do that just want to give a little appreciation or friends with the Maryland lottery friends whether they should have gotten a win donation here going on here. 866 90 nation, take advantage last days buy to get to free 0% financing. It’s very, very important. If you do want to get it now, for 60 months. It’s like like there’s people that got those mortgages at 2% A couple years ago. Take advantage of it. You’ll thank me later you’ll thank me in the summer in the winter when you’re saving dough, also for the American crabcake to our friends over at State Fair who fed me heartily I gotta get back over to El Guapo I gotta get over to Beaumont get myself a steak over there. But big appreciation for them and my guests Ron Cassie, as well as Jeff Brandis telling some old school section 513 stories in the days of Vinny Testaverde that shall I’m sure you’ll be hearing that next week here at wn St. and AM 1570 as well. Luke and I are convening about all things. Super and bowl. Kansas City Chiefs. Philadelphia Eagles haven’t seen this one before some sort of weird layovers of Ron Jaworski and, and Andy Reid and sort of, Oh, what a tangled web we weave with Jeremy Maclin and maybe some others. Probably George, Brett Anna and tug McGraw really when it comes down to this. If you’re talking about me in 1980, and the Philly Phanatic look, Jones joins us now to talk all things championship game. Dude, what a turd that NFC game was though, right? Like he you it wasn’t that much fun. I yo Joe burrow they lost. Everybody’s happy about all that. This is these are the two best teams so God bless the NFL they at least got it right this year that despite all the officiating and stuff. These are the two best teams.
Luke Jones 01:56
8
Yeah, I mean, I think I mean, San Francisco. It’s gonna be a long offseason, just thinking I mean, my goodness, you were down to Brock Purdy with a bomb elbow. I mean, he was such a great story this year, but it was evident he couldn’t throw and Josh Johnson, who was a raven for a minute, a couple years ago, gets knocked out with a concussion. I mean, just imagine and we talked about this so much. So anyone here in town with the Ravens specifically, I mean, Lamar hasn’t played didn’t play after early December. But you’re in that position. You’re 60 minutes away from going to a Super Bowl. Brock Purdy has been this fantastic story. And you’ve already lost two quarterbacks. I mean, Trey Lance was lost at the beginning of the season. Jimmy Garoppolo. With the foot birdie, such a great story. It’s not as though they were just carrying him along for the ride. He was playing well. He was a big reason why they had the winning streak that they had. He gets hurt. And then your backup. Who was really your fourth string at that point gets hurt. And you’re down to talking about Christian McCaffrey throwing passes or maybe debo Samuel throwing a pass. I mean, boy, that’s that’s tough. It’s one thing to talk about the ravens and, okay, they’re bounced in the wildcard round. But that happens to you in the championship game. That’s rough. But you just said it at the end of the day. Philadelphia even with some of the overreaction. I remember when they lost to Washington and that Monday night game was their first loss of the season. Lots of overreaction at that point in time. Jalen hertz gets hurt in December. Lots of overreaction at that point. Philadelphia from the beginning of the season until the end. They were even though San Francisco maybe was playing better late in the season, but the entire body of work, they were the number one seat for a reason they deserve to be and as much as they’re not going to apologize for San Francisco’s quarterback issues. Their their left standing, right. I mean, they’re the team from the NFC that ultimately deserve to go there the number one seed so and on the opposite side. There was plenty of discussion. I mean, Buffalo for a large portion of the season. I mean, I know I talked about them a lot as far as thinking they were the best, but Cincinnati took it to him last week, we’re thinking the Bengals. But well, five straight AFC Championship game appearances for the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick mahomes. And they lose Tyreke Hill, they trade him in the offseason, or the Chiefs gonna be the same and all that talk and the same talk we have about any team that’s done it and done it a few times in a row, at least in terms of being on that stage. They’re the last team standing in the AFC and no one should be surprised about that. Because ultimately, they had the best quarterback in football. Joe burrow, special talent. I mean, go down the list Josh Allen special talent. Lamar Jackson went healthy, special talent. Go through the list of all these different quarterbacks. Jalen hertz was having an MVP season until he gets hurt late in the year, but they’re all chasing mahomes at this point. I mean, that’s just the truth. You look at what he’s done. You look at what the Chiefs have done. And that’s where you look at this And you see the last two team standing. You mentioned Andy Reid, you mentioned some of the other connections. How about the Kelsey brothers? No. I mean, the fact that you have Jason Kelsey, who has been this hall of fame caliber center, longtime center for the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce is the best tight end in football. And I love Jason
Nestor Aparicio 05:18
Kelce. Right. You know, my Jason Kelsey moment. Have you ever told you this one?
Luke Jones 05:21
I don’t. I don’t know. I don’t I don’t know.
Nestor Aparicio 05:26
What Jason Kelsey, this is right before you were the mummers outfit. So this is for anybody. Because these are the kinds of stories I’d be, you know, wielding next week. Sure. Not in Phoenix was the week of Minnesota right? You were out there with me that week. I famously just look through some old pictures of me falling ill with a Donnie Jones that morning. And you and Matt Burke together. So they win the Super Bowl that night. My wife is in and as you know, dude, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you colder than when we were under that French fry heater out in front of the Mall of America waiting on a bus when it was 10 below and when was whipped up in the you know in in Minnesota. So Bloomington Yes, yes. You know, when you see Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew you don’t really think of this even friend, maybe Fran Tarkenton and Ahmad Rashad, you think about it a little bit and the purple people eaters, but after the game, we got invited to the team party for a million reasons, right Joe Douglas and Andy Waddell and, and and Torrey Smith. And, and, and Corey Graham and Timmy Jernigan and Jimmy Schwarz and Kathy Schwartz and like, so all of that. So it was jokey that actually got me in, I think, because I remember it. But I might have snuck in a side door Kathy shorts. So we go to the party. And this party. I’ve been to a couple of victory parties. I mean, I was at the Ravens party in a one. I was at the Patriots party in oh four in Houston. I was Aerosmith performed at that when that was a while when I was at I did not go to the Ravens party in New Orleans because we had things swirling and I wasn’t invited and apparently, you know, Beyonce, that sort of thing happened. So I went to the Minnesota party that was the Eagles party and my flight was at like 530 in the morning. We just did an old school Dundalk all night or you know, like a kegger. And we were at this party, and there was no VIP or this or that it was just like 3500 Eagles fans. In his warm airplane hangar that was like up. It’s kind of like a train station. It’s gigantic. And they were given free pretzels with this. Nobody was climbing poles or Greece and anything. None of the things you saw Sunday night in Philly, right? So I gotta go to the bathroom. And the party was all tricked out and had interesting cameras and pictures and selfies and they were ready for a party. But they could have lost the game too. Right? So like, I don’t you know, it would have been a loser party. Had they lost right Philly special the whole deal. I go to the bathroom, and it’s all Eagles fans everybody’s ish face. I mean, it’s 2:45am. In Minnesota, it’s five degrees outside. But all the windows are like you could see all the water we’ll roll it because it’s so hot in there bands playing smoke, fog bombs, people smoking cigars. Next nuts go into the Jason Kelce walks into the bathroom and it’s 10 deep to get the urinals. Dudes men’s room old school it looked like an old train station like literally right? Like nothing. It was an old building that was refurbished, but it wasn’t modern. Guys are trying to like JC Kelsey comes into the bathroom. Every dude in there, I swear to God, I could compare it to would be like if you went into the Arnold’s to pee and the Fonz came in, you would just get out of the way. Everybody got out of the way and allow JCLC to use the urinal and they applauded and we got a standing ovation and a red carpet. Because he played the game, right? I mean, this is like, you know what I mean? He just played so like everybody got out of the way and let him use the bathroom. And I thought that’s Philadelphia. They don’t talk so bad about your in laws and all these other people in your life. Luke, John, Philadelphia Eagles
8Luke Jones 09:30
see I thought you were gonna say he used to sing, because that would have been a very
Nestor Aparicio 09:33
Oh, no, no, no, I’m just kidding. This was like when Willy Wonka came out to the gate, you know what I mean? Everybody just got out of the way. Right? And it was just it was a beautiful Philadelphia moment. And then like 48 hours later he’s wearing the mummer atiny And lo and behold all these years later you just said like maybe Hall of Famer right like now we’re getting into a different place. And I just want to say this about watching football Sunday and disappointments in the highs and lows and how you feel if you’re 49 or failed what you had everything but a quarterback right? How important a quarterback is how important a quarterback is how important quarterback is and how hard this is to do. Right how hard it is for Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens John Harbaugh is only one two playoff games in the last 10 years. Try and try and try and every Buffalo Bills every Andy Reid tried to climb this hill for 20 years with Donovan McNabb and like how hard this is to do and how maybe easy Belichick and Brady have made it look. Well,
Luke Jones 10:33
that last point is really that’s where you hit the nail on the head. They made that look so easy. It’s not easy. It really isn’t. And every other team and look, hey, they deserve it. And we can talk about shenanigans and deflate gate and Spygate. And like that’s, and that’s part of it. But at the end of the day, you’re talking about maybe the greatest coach of all time, and maybe the greatest quarterback of all time, certainly that combination together for so long, greatest of all time. But it is really difficult to do it. So if you’re any of these other teams that are chasing it, that’s why what Kansas City has done, albeit we’re only talking about one Super Bowl for Andy Reid and Patrick mahomes. But five straight AFC championships, they’ve now been to three of the last four Super Bowls. That’s impressive. It just doesn’t look quite as impressive. On the heels of 20 years of the Patriots doing what they did. So it’s difficult. You mentioned the importance of a quarterback. No question. And just the fact of injuries. Look, no one wants to hear the excuse of injuries, right. And we talked about that so much last year for the Ravens. But you do get to a point where as I say it all the time, you get to a point where you can’t you can only endure so much and next man up becomes nothing more than a t shirt slogan. I mean, literally you get to the point where you lose so many. And that’s where San Francisco was a quarterback but by the time Brock Purdy leaves the game and Josh Johnson is you know,
Nestor Aparicio 12:01
8you’re trying to beat the best team in your conference on the road in the championship game with a four string quarterback it’s just like I end the party thing was like something out of a movie right? It really was right and and I think there’s an underdog thing going on there. But in the end um you can’t you can’t do it You You You already was number three make it look like it’s possible in that Kurt Warner like a Disney movie right like literally like a Disney movie. It’s not like a Disney movie most of the time with Tyrod Taylor and backup quarterbacks and, and and Anthony rights. And I’m just trying to think of the guys we’ve had in the playoffs here over the course of time, and obviously this year, where you have Snoop Huntleys trying to be that guy to win three games or to win one quarter or two in the case of the 40 Niners One Drive, just trying to get one drive together on the road in the rain and the cold. It’s It’s um, I was a little demoralized. I really felt bad for the 40 Niners fans. I really, because these these franchises work so hard at this,
Luke Jones 13:09
no doubt. And like I said, I mean, even though Philadelphia was the best team in the NFC from the beginning to the end in terms of the entire body of work, San Francisco it was the hottest team in the NFC and playing the best late in the season. And of course, Jalen hertz not being on the field was a big part of that for Philadelphia. But think about this. I mean, they were down to Brock Purdy, and then Josh Johnson. That would have been akin to not the Ravens playing with Tyler Huntley. That would have been Anthony Brown starting. He gets hurt. Brett Hundley, who was on the practice squad for the Ravens late in the year, the former Green Bay Packer who if you recall him, we went to the Ravens went to Lambeau five years ago. Really beat him up. He gets hurt. And then you’re talking about Mark Andrews or JK Dobbins, or I don’t know who is maybe taking some snaps and you’re doing some wildcard. I mean, the point is, they were down to Brock party with a bum elbow, and we’ll see how severe that is. But
Nestor Aparicio 14:04
worst case Keenum Can I Can I ask right.
Luke Jones 14:08
I mean, I did see that Steve Young tweeted that he was working was working out in the parking lot to let them know if they needed anyone. But I mean, that’s that’s thanks. I mean, that’s thanks for any team that’s in that spot. And look, that’s not to take anything away from what Philadelphia did. I mean, we always do this thing where, well, this team, you know that they got so lucky here and they got lucky there. And I mean, Ravens fans are talking about that with the Bengals last few weeks and we know what happened in the wildcard game, but you know that that’s part of it, right? Availability and trying to avoid injury and look, that’s a lot of luck involved with that. And no one’s saying that. Staying healthy is completely a skill. Now, there can be certain things you do as an organization, you know, recovery and sports science and things of that nature. But it’s a contact game. It’s a violent game. The injury rate is 100% you go far enough down the timeline ever One gets hurt at some point. So there is luck involved. I mean, we talked about this with the Rams last year, all the talk about les Snead and blank those picks and the way that they did things, the way the way that that worked was they stayed incredibly healthy over the course of the season this year, not so much for them. And you saw how quickly it fell apart. And that’s not to bash them. It just speaks to how important it is to stay healthy. So you look at both of these games with San Francisco is the easiest one. But then on the flip side, look at Kansas City and Cincinnati what they dealt with in that game Kansas City. We know this wasn’t the same group of wide receivers that they’ve had in the past, but they were dropping like flies to the point where there are a couple times where mahomes completed some passes. I’m like Who was that guy? It’s Patrick mahomes. He makes it work. He’s about the one quarterback that you could say can make it work with inferior weapons. I mean, that’s that’s how you make the work one leg apparently. Yeah, yeah. And on the flip side, Cincinnati offensive line held up incredibly well against buffalo. Not so much on Sunday night, where we saw I mean, Chris Jones, who always I don’t know if he’s underrated, because he makes it to Pro Bowls. And he’s been talked about a lot. But boy, that guy’s a game record. And you saw what he did the interior from a pressure standpoint, how about late in the game, they move him outside to defensive end and wreaks havoc there. I mean, it just speaks to, again, you know, we can talk about all these different things. And I’ve talked about this with you the last few years analytics, the idea of what’s more valuable coverage versus pressure, they’re both valuable to be clear. But when you have that kind of a game wrecker, who can pressure from the interior, and you know how beat up the Bengals were off, you know, from an offensive line standpoint. It’s a major factor in that football game. And as much as there were some big plays and T Higgins made some plays and Jamar Chase made some plays. And it’s not as though Joe burrow was terrible or anything like that. But you know, that that offensive line caught up with them, you know, as as well as they played against buffalo, you know, it, they couldn’t repeat that. And, you know, I think a big part of that was even just look at how well they ran the ball against Buffalo. And they didn’t have that same factor. I mean, they averaged, what 4.2 yards per carry 71 rushing yards, it wasn’t enough. So, I mean, ultimately, you look at it and go back to what you said at the, at the beginning. You know, it wasn’t clear, it wasn’t crystal clear who the best team was in the AFC going into the tournament. But Kansas City, they, they earned it. And on the on the flip side, Philadelphia had been the best team beginning of the season to end despite, you know, some of their late late season concerned with the health of hurts, but they were held they were the healthier team. And maybe that was the biggest difference between them in San Francisco on Sunday, but at the same time, it’s part of it. It’s not as though we we handicap the points or anything like that based on injuries. They won the football game and you feel bad for San Francisco but the Eagles fans I think I could say this with some competence. They’d be the first to remind you that we won a Super Bowl with Nick Foles five years ago so you know I mean, it’s part of it. So I mean, it’s it’s unfortunate because I thought 40 Niners eagles, you know if it were if parties healthy. I think that could have been a very compelling football game, although I still pick Philadelphia the win. And you know, at least at the constellation is we did get a much better football game between Cincinnati and Kansas City, albeit some officiating in that game. Yeah, left me scratching my head. But I do think the better team won in the end and Kansas City made more plays when it mattered.
Nestor Aparicio 18:41
Luke Jones is Baltimore Luke out on the interwebs. You can find me Luke at wn St. dotnet, as well as at Baltimore positive or were positively around all week. Live in our 25th anniversary here this summer at wn st and 28 years of going to radio row with Super Bowl we’ll be celebrating all of that next week as the Kansas City Chiefs in the Philadelphia Eagles, the Andy Reid Kelsey family bowl happening out in Glendale, Arizona. We’ll have some coverage here of that as well. I am Nestor we are wn st am 1570, Towson Baltimore. And we never stop talking Baltimore positive
