The Ravens defense that felt defenseless to Lions attack

It’s a rare morning-after where we’re discussing the Baltimore Ravens’ defense getting pushed around at home. Luke Jones and Nestor the many discuss problems the purple men of Zach Orr had in stopping the run, rushing Lions quarterback Jared Goff or defending the pass in a bad 38-30 beat to Detroit on Monday Night Football.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ disappointing 38-30 loss to the Detroit Lions, highlighting the team’s struggles on both offense and defense. They noted the impact of the MATA BAK injury on the defense, the offensive line’s issues, and Lamar Jackson’s performance, including his five sacks. The conversation also covered the importance of special teams, with Tyler Lockett’s poor performance on kickoffs and punts. Despite scoring 111 points in three games, the Ravens are 1-2, facing a tough match against the Kansas City Chiefs. The discussion emphasized the need for improvements across all phases to avoid a 1-3 start.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Assess the special teams’ performance and identify areas for improvement.
• [ ] Analyze the team’s performance in the loss to the Lions, particularly the offensive line and Lamar Jackson’s decision-making.
• [ ] Evaluate the defense’s struggles against the run and the team’s pass rush issues.
• [ ] Prepare the team mentally and strategically for the upcoming game against the Chiefs.

Ravens’ Loss to Lions: Initial Reactions

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning the Ravens’ loss to the Lions and the upcoming game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
• Nestor and Luke Jones discuss the light show at the game and the disappointing performance of the Ravens.
• Luke highlights the substandard play on both offense and defense, particularly the defensive side.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of the MATA BAK injury on the team’s performance and the challenges faced by the offensive line.

Offensive and Defensive Performance

• Nestor criticizes the offensive line’s performance and Lamar Jackson’s ability as a pocket passer.
• Luke acknowledges the team’s scoring of 111 points in three games but notes the choppy performance in recent games.
• Luke details the offensive struggles, including the inability to run the ball effectively and the impact of the Lions’ defensive strategy.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the team’s inability to control the line of scrimmage and the impact of sacks on Lamar Jackson.

Special Teams and Coaching Decisions

• Nestor and Luke discuss the role of special teams in the game, including the performance of Tyler Lockett and Jordan Stout.
• Luke questions John Harbaugh’s decision not to go for it on fourth down, given the team’s defensive struggles.
• Nestor and Luke debate the importance of special teams in close games and the impact of having a reliable kicker.
• Luke emphasizes the need for the team to play differently due to the current state of the defense and special teams.

Impact of Injuries and Future Games

• Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of injuries, particularly to Matt Abika and Marlon Humphrey, on the team’s performance.
• Luke highlights the challenges the team faces in upcoming games, including the short week and the strength of the Kansas City Chiefs.
• Nestor and Luke reflect on the team’s history of playing well in prime-time games and the importance of winning the next game.
• Luke emphasizes the need for the team to address defensive and offensive issues to improve their chances in future games.

Reflections on Team Performance and Future Outlook

• Nestor and Luke reflect on the team’s performance in recent games and the need for improvement in various phases.
• Luke discusses the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and focusing on the team’s strengths.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of the team’s performance on fan morale and the importance of winning to maintain momentum.
• Luke emphasizes the need for the team to address defensive and offensive issues to improve their chances in future games.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Ravens loss, Lions game, prime time, defensive struggles, offensive line, Lamar Jackson, sacks, special teams, fourth down, Kansas City Chiefs, Matt Abika, Marlon Humphrey, Justin Tucker, Baltimore positive.

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SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio, Speaker 1

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 tasks in Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positively breaking down a difficult loss for the Ravens on Monday night, a short week for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Maryland crab cake Tour is presented by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I will have the Raven scratch offs. These are new we are moving the show out. I did a lot of shows in August. Little slower here in September. We’ll rev it back up in October, because we’re not going to play off baseball around here in October. And I’ll tell you what, we got some really meaningful football around here as the Ravens have dug themselves a hole as they head out to Kansas City for the late game on Sunday afternoon. Luke Jones joins us now. He was up late on Monday night. Down did you get one of those watches with the, you know, the lights and like all of that? I mean, it was quite a spectacle until they lost, right?

Luke Jones  00:55

Yeah, no, I did not get one of those. But it was a heck of a light show. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s a prime time game in Baltimore. It’s why I said, I mean, a game like this is such so unsettling and disappointing and deflating because of that, right? I mean, there, there’s an aura when you’re talking about coming to Baltimore for a prime time game, and I think the fans, from as far as I could tell, it seems like the fans held up their end of the bargain in terms of making it a difficult atmosphere. But ultimately, it’s 11 guys on the field that have to go play on any given snap, and they did not answer the bell in that way. So, you know, but, but all that, yeah, it was fun. And the cool light show, and they able to turn the lights on and off, and you know, makes it feel a little more like an NBA or an NHL arena, you know, when you’re able to do that. But certainly that energy was not matched by what you saw on the field, which was just substandard play, particularly on the defensive side. But let’s face it, every phase came up small at some pretty critical junctures, and it’s a reason why the lions won, as as I will continue to say, more convincingly than what the final score would would indicate. Let’s, let’s at

Nestor Aparicio  02:11

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least say that much we talked a lot about the MATA BK injury and sort of the domino effect of what that does to the second line, what it does to roquan what it does to the linebackers with no pass rush, what that does to stress the secondary in a general sense, offensively, fumbles clearly not ideal for Derek Henry, and I’ll give give him that you stood in the locker room after I didn’t because I’m not a real human or a real media member, but you were allowed to stand there. And by the way, this is exactly when Chad Steele throws people like me out. There’s only one of you, so you need to be in the press conference or in the locker room. So it does. It matters a lot for those of you who wake up, who hear our locker room sound and wonder four years in why Justin Tucker doesn’t get brought up or investigated or any of that sort of stuff. But Derek Henry stood up, and at least he has been accountable to this. Lamar has been as accountable as Lamar can be given this. But I didn’t like the offensive effort. We’re going to talk about the defense all week, but I don’t know that I like the way this offensive line is performing. I don’t know that I like Lamar as a pocket passer as much as we’d like to like him as a pocket passer. I don’t like him getting sacked at all. I don’t like him getting sacked once, let alone a half dozen times. And I don’t like playing from behind where he’s got to go out and chuck it around and be a part of that. So there were so many things to not like about it, but in a general sense, we’re three weeks into this, the thing looked like a machine for the first 45 minutes in Buffalo. Since then, it’s been a spitter and a spot. And, you know, they can’t run the ball when they really want to run the ball, and they look like they lack some confidence at home. Yeah.

Luke Jones  04:06

I mean, I don’t know about the last part as much as you know. I mean, you just have to play better at home, right? I mean, and again, you’re going up against a really good football team on Monday night. But I would also say, and this is the 30,000 foot view, they’ve scored 111 points in the first three games, and they’re one and two. I mean, and let’s not bury the lead fully, acknowledging that, but also acknowledging that. That second game against Cleveland, we know that the defense and the special teams really did a lot of the heavy lifting in that game, where the offense started slowly, but it’s been choppy. There’s no doubt about that. I mean, you look at the Buffalo game, and it’s a brilliant effort for, you know, a brilliant effort for 50 minutes offensively and then in crunch time, wasn’t, you know, wasn’t what you wanted the second game of the season. Cleveland. Does a heck of a job against them and slows them down offensively. In the first half, they got going, they were the benefactor of short fields, certainly, so a turnover that put put the ball inside the 10 yard line for them at one point. And you know, even, even on Monday night, you know, they and even acknowledging the last touchdown being what it was. It’s not as though they couldn’t move the ball at all, but you kind of look at how the game started out, they get that opening drive touchdown. Derrick Henry is sprung great blocking on that and springs him for a touchdown. You’re saying, all right, he already has more yardage than he had in the entire game against Cleveland, but then not very much after that from Derrick Henry, not very much from the run game. I mean, it’s not as though Lamar, you know, the times, you know, he got out a couple times and was able to scramble for some yardage. But, you know, the Detroit spied him, they did a heck of a job with their, you know, their seven man box or eight man box, trying to slow the run. But also be mindful of Lamar Jackson and playing some of the read option stuff and what have you so but, but you look at how the Ravens kind of played first drive touchdown, then they go three and out, then they have the inexplicable where you’re at the one yard line and you don’t score. Now, they did get the ball back following that, their defense got a stop. They scored after that. So they they made amends a little bit for that one and like, but like I said, they come out in the third quarter. They put together a really good impression. You know, good, encouraging touchdown drive. Mark Andrews makes it, makes a tough catch. Great throw from Lamar Jackson. I thought the coverage was really good on that play. And you’re saying, all right, all order has been restored. They just took the lead, you know, after they were trailing for, you know, some a good chunk of the first half, and then their offense just kind of went to sleep after that. They go three and out. You know, there’s a sack on that play. They did get a field goal, but then they, they finish off the game in the last two drives that really, truly meant something, not just the touchdown at the end, where I get it. They they were able to attempt an onside kick, Derrick Henry fumble, and then three and out. And unlike Dan Campbell and I understand to be completely fair to John Harbaugh, a fourth and nine is a way different animal than a fourth and two. But I think there was a very it was very fair to at least ask the question, do you go for it on that fourth and nine, just knowing what Detroit was doing to your defense and the way they were able to run the ball, and looking at what time of possession was. I mean, the time of possession in the first half was absurd, right? You know, when you’re talking about a

Nestor Aparicio  07:54

911 minute drive, sort of, you know that play out of that, right?

Luke Jones  07:58

Yeah, yeah. I mean, just that. I mean, just think about that. I mean, they had two different 95 plus yard drives. I mean, how often have you heard of the and this goes to what you were saying about being at home. How many times can you think in the history of the stadium down, you know, this stadium that the Ravens have given up a 95 yard touchdown drive at home. How many times has that happened over the years, just generally speaking, let alone it happening twice in the same game? I mean, you want to talk about your aura, your ego being, your Mystique, being bruised or just crumpled up and thrown in the trash can on a given night for how you performed that that was the case. But you know, every time in the second half the offense, just even when the defense would would manage to make a play, make a stop. I mean, look at how the defense did respond after the Henry fumble. They did hold him to a field goal, right? I mean, that could have been a heck of a lot worse. What happens on the next drive offense, they go three and out, right? I mean, it’s just not good. I mean, not good.

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Nestor Aparicio  09:12

Well, controlling the line of scrimmage is their game. Right? Control down and distance. I down and distance, second and two, second and three, second and four, or first and 10, you know, stay out of Third down, all of those things we talk about. Third and long is problematic. The sacks are problematic for me, right? Like I questioned outlet. I know how he’s getting sacked. I see it. I see what they’re trying to do with them, what they want to do with him. In the old days, he would just take off. Um, now there’s not a lane to take off, but he’s not looking to take off. He really not. He’s, that’s how he’s he’s getting sacked because His eyes are downfield instead of running. And then I’ve seen him run, because when they get behind. Mind, it is his instinct, right when they get behind over seven years, eight years and look, I don’t talk to the kid. I’m not allowed. You’re different than me. They allow you to talk to him, but not me, but I like I don’t know what he sees or what they’re telling him to do, or how he’s being coached. I know he’s performing differently. I know he has different intent, and I also know that deep down, we’re behind, I’ve got to put the cape on, because he did it so much. And we talked about, how many monthies Did we sit here talk about him putting the cape on when they were in trouble. Most weeks they’re road grading teams, but Marshall yanta doesn’t live here anymore, right? And hey, look, it was good to see Mark Andrews back involved, right?

Luke Jones  10:43

Sure, and Rashad Bateman for that matter, sure, well, but, but on the flip side, then zay flowers had, what, two catches for 13 yards. I mean, Hopkins, one catch for 13 Lamar

Nestor Aparicio  10:54

sale balls, a little bit too. On zay like gave him no chance to catch a

Luke Jones  10:57

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ball, right? I mean, I and I want to be I look more through three touchdowns he can play, went 21 up 27 right? There’s a lot of good there a lot of really good there. But I do think you look at the sacks, I think it’s a little more nuanced than just saying the offensive line was bad. Were there times it was bad? No doubt about it. Were there times Lamar held the ball a little bit too long. And maybe coverage downfield, you know, just did not present the look that they were hoping to get right, or the guy breaking open that they were trying to throw to. I think there was some of that I thought to your point about, you know, Lamar not necessarily taken off a whole lot. I mean, he finished, what, seven rushes for 35 yards. I mean, you know, some scrambles in there. But, you know, not when Derek Henry only has 50 yards, then you say, Okay, well, Lamar is going to have to do

Speaker 1  11:47

more of it. Well, I did read enough to beat them, yeah.

Luke Jones  11:51

So, so, I mean, you just kind of look at it, I think what was the issue? Kind of yes, you know, whatever you whatever you want to, kind of cite, you could say, not cite that at some point in time. And, you know, I think as the second half went on, I think the pass protection broke down a little bit more in the fourth quarter. And I think at that point, you know, I think Lamar was, I want to say spooked, because, again, I think you still also have to be realistic to look at the numbers and being what they were, but it wasn’t optimal, you know, it. This isn’t how they want to play, right? Look, Lamar Jackson is a brilliant passer, and I’ll argue to I’ll I’ll argue until we’re both out of breath, that he’s a brilliant passer, and he’s become, you know, his accuracy, the throws that he makes. I’ll stack that up against anyone. But that doesn’t mean that that’s what they want to be able to, like, that’s the only thing they want to be able to lean on, right? That’s not how

Nestor Aparicio  12:45

you lean on that when you’re behind, sure. Well, and then it has to work. And you have, we have to be here the day after talking about how they did it. Um, I don’t know if they, I mean, they can do it. I don’t want to take that away from but I don’t know how many weeks they’re gonna play from behind at home and win

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Luke Jones  13:01

games. But well, and you’d say that about anyone, right? I mean, no one

Nestor Aparicio  13:05

wouldn’t say that about John Elway, necessarily, teams that have a little comeback in them. This is not the pedigree of that. That’s what I’m saying. I don’t know over eight years that this is a team that should be playing from behind. They’re a team that’s played so comfortably ahead that when they find themselves in a tight panty situation, they haven’t handled it well,

Luke Jones  13:25

and that’s fair, and look to their credit, they aren’t in that situation very often. But the point, the point I’m trying to make, is, Patrick mahomes doesn’t want to play from behind. Josh Allen doesn’t want to play. You know, no, no one wants to play from behind. But I think if you’re Todd Monken in this offense, I think you kind of have to look at the state of the football team across the board, the state of your defense. I mean, there were a couple instances, especially when you talk about these, when you’re talking about a an 18 play, 98 yard drive that that lasts 11 minutes. Look, you score points the way that you you’re able to score them, right? You know you’re not. You’re not going to if zay flowers or Rashad Bateman breaks free and you score a 70 yard touchdown on the first play of the ensuing drive, you’re not going to fall down deliberately and not score a touch. Yeah, that’s as good as Derek Henry on six runs of 20 yards each, right? Yeah. You start to think. You start to look at how you need to play with the state of your defense, and how that defense is playing. You could you do kind of look at it and say, Man, we kind of need to get back to playing some bully ball and chewing some clock and running

Nestor Aparicio  14:34

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three and out and handing them the ball. That wasn’t good.

Luke Jones  14:38

So, you know, it, just it again. We’re talking about a team that scored over 100 points in the first three games. I think it’s very we got to be very careful here not to, yeah, not to throw the baby out with the bath water. The the lead is the defense, right? And it’s failures. But you do come to a point where are you doing every. Thing you can in the other phases to account for that. I mean, look at Tyler loop. I mean, he had another, another bad kickoff that, you know, put Detroit at the 40 yard line in a Jordan stout. Had some really good punts, but in crunch time, you know, when they punted on that fourth and nine, not a good punt right at a time when you wanted to really pin them deep, he didn’t do it. So to your point, you know, as you’re talking about it with the offense, but I’ll say for this football team across the board, yeah, these late game situations when you find yourself whether you’re behind or whether it’s just really tight, and it’s not as though they got blown out, they weren’t down four touchdowns or anything like that. But when you’re behind in terms of what the score is, what the clock says, How many possessions you’re going to get, what the state of your defense is, you know, from from a fatigue standpoint, let alone just how they’re performing. You know, that’s where you looked at that fourth and nine. And you know, John Harbaugh may not, you know, he was asked about it in the post game, and kind of just gave it an answer. Of it kind of sounded like he didn’t give it much thought whatsoever to going forward on fourth and nine and, all right, that’s fine, and I get it, they were at their own 32 but that’s the time when Jordan stout needs to hit an absolute Boomer and and get you inside, you know, in Detroit, back inside the 20 yard line, he punted. He had a 38 yard punt that gave him the ball at the 30 Right. And, and that’s where you kind of looked at it and said, Well, maybe you should have gone for it on fourth and nine. And if you didn’t get it, Detroit, they score, but they’ll score more quickly. And then you get the ball back right? It’s the same that it almost becomes the same scenario that they had against buffalo with albeit a fourth and much shorter distance to gain, but But again, this goes back to when you have your defense playing the way it is. It is going to to force you to play differently. It might force you to say, hey, we’ve got to go for it on fourth down a little more often because we don’t trust our defense, right? I mean, John Harbaugh trusted his defense at the end of the Buffalo game, it was the wrong decision.

Nestor Aparicio  17:09

That’s interesting to me, because let’s talk about that, because Campbell’s big balls at the end of the game at the 50 yard line that they could have punted and said, All right, we’ll play defense. That was not going to defense playing well too. We’re not going to give the ball back to Lamar Jackson and a pissed off Derek Henry at in Baltimore with the crowd leaning down on us, because we’re one drive away from losing the game and we’re two yards away from sealing the deal, right? So, but that’s at the 50 yard line. That was like, you f up here, you’re going to give Lamar the ball at the 50 yard line, and then you fake a hand off and throw a pass over their heads, and Marlon Humphreys grabbing guys, and I that big balls play you’re talking about. I don’t smell that from John lately. I don’t smell that John would go into Buffalo and not punt at that point, maybe not last night without Matt abika. Maybe the feeling about the defense is different now three hours into the season than it was, well, two two hours and 15 minutes ago into the season, because the end of the third quarter in Buffalo, things were good since then. Oh, my God, it’s been we feel differently. We feel like, oh, we gotta get you just said we gotta go for it on fourth down, and we can’t put our defense on the field. That’s how quickly this thing’s disintegrated from a defensive mindset Well,

Luke Jones  18:36

and again, it’s it’s also just viewing it through the lens of being realistic about your defense at that point in time and again,

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Nestor Aparicio  18:43

but that’s what’s getting Lamar sacked. They’re behind and he’s running around, right? So, yeah, but, but

Luke Jones  18:51

again, it’s fourth and nine. I want to continue to say it’s fourth and nine, right? This is not if it’s fourth and one there. It’s a no brainer. You go, if it’s fourth and two, it’s a no brainer. You go however you have. You do have to look at it in terms of, all right, four and a half minutes to go, we’re down a touchdown, so we need to score a touchdown. So it’s not just we need to get the ball back without them scoring any more points, but we need so I get that. And the

Nestor Aparicio  19:19

mindset is different too. About touchdowns and field goals. They don’t just a Tucker anymore. Used to be a time when they crossed the 50. I’m like, well, they’re good for three on at least three. Don’t screw this up. Keep going forward. Don’t get a penalty or whatever. I don’t feel that way anymore, right? I mean, I just don’t, and we’ll get, we’ll do a whole thing on special teams, because it’s all over the place, just the kickoffs, the punts around the league. We talked about that, but in a general sense, they have to play differently because they don’t have a kicker that is going to instill that kind of confidence, that for the 38 yard line, they’re not playing a little bit more desperately on fourth down than to think, well, we’re going to just kick a 55 yard field goal, and we’re going to get three here because they they. Played that way for so long that I I haven’t gotten my arms around the fact that the kicker might miss the kick and maybe they shouldn’t kick the kick, and what’s a safe fourth down, and given the fact that they haven’t been able to bully ball, fourth and nine sounds like a long way. Sounds like a Joe Flacco, fourth and nine, all of a sudden, doesn’t

Luke Jones  20:23

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it? Well, it does. But again, at the same time, you have to look at the score. You have to look at how much time’s left, and I get it. You had timeouts like I understand that. And I’m not even saying that that this was a an egregious mistake by John Harbaugh not going for it there. But I think it’s way more of a conversation than than how he indicated it was when he was asked about it. You know, yeah, we’ll just put our defense on the field. No, yeah. I mean, I think in the past, yeah, at home, right with our crowd, sure, right? You kind of the cynical way of viewing that is okay, you’re going to punt it away. And again, it’s not fourth and 2/4. And nine is not a high percentage play. I’m not saying it is, but you’re not in a high percentage position at that point in the game when you’re down by a touchdown and it’s four and a half minutes to go. He’s also thinking he had three timeouts, though, too. I No, I understand that, and that’s why I said there’s absolutely nuance to this. I’m not trying to say that. Oh, he you know, this isn’t band saying all this, you know,

Nestor Aparicio  21:23

I thought that’s why we do Tuesday morning quarterback here, right?

Luke Jones  21:26

I I felt him not going for the fourth down in Buffalo. That was an egregious mistake, in my opinion. I think that was a bad, bad decision. I think this has more nuance to it. But I think when you start thinking about it, when you think about where the defense was it at that point in the game, what the scoreboard was, the fact that you only had four and a half minutes to go, the fact that Detroit has been able to lean on you. And I, you know, I think it allows you to get live another day. And that’s what John would say, that that and they drove down the field and scored a touchdown anyway, right? And then, but, but the argument, the argument, Nestor, for if you don’t get it, is okay, Detroit, more might score a touchdown, but guess what? You were down 14 Points anyway, and you had next to no time left to stage a comeback, whereas if you give up a touchdown there, you probably get the ball back with maybe three minutes to go, and maybe you can score more quickly, and maybe you try an onside kick, or maybe you can use your timeouts then and you kick the ball. So the point is, the point is, it’s not a high percentage play either way, but you have to look at it in terms of, if you punt it back here, there’s, there’s a pretty darn good chance that you’re not going to get it back again, and if you do, it’s

Nestor Aparicio  22:44

going to be a two score game. It’s exactly so that’s where you

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Luke Jones  22:47

let me be again. I want to emphasize fourth and nine is not a high percentage success rate. We all understand that, but your win probability is not high success at that of a high proposition at that point. So that’s where you do have to look at it a little bit differently, especially when your defense was tired and getting its butt kicked at the line of scrimmage. And like I said, You punt, Jordan stout didn’t give you a particularly, you know, it’s 38 yards. It wasn’t horrendous, but not his best effort. You know, instead of pitting them back inside the 20, they’re at the you know, they’re at their 30, and

Nestor Aparicio  23:22

I’m writing special teams down for a whole segment, because I think we, you know, we,

Luke Jones  23:25

I mean, I mean, I don’t think, I don’t think they had these major major, you know, it’s not like they had a punt blocked or anything crazy like that, but, but this is, this goes back to your point, though, when you’re talking about these close games, when you’re Talking about playing other great teams, whether we’re talking buffalo in week one, Detroit’s a great team right in a vacuum, there’s no shame in losing to the Detroit Lions, but just the way that it happened, the way you were bullied on your own field, the way that you gave up over 200 rushing yards, the way that they kind of beat you at your own game, and the way that you couldn’t get any pressure on their quarterback, and all of that, it feels way worse than what the the outcome in a vacuum, truly is. Because, I mean, go, look at what the record was last year. They won, what 15 games last year. I mean, they’re a great football team, but, man, you just in another instance of where they need to turn the tide, where they need to turn the tide, or make a game changing play. It was Aiden Hutchinson making the play, right? You know, it was David Montgomery busting a set, and it was Derek Henry playing the role that goat. It was Lamar Jackson who couldn’t get out of his own way and got sacked five times. And it was not making the play. And then Marlon Humphrey grabbing jerseys. It was just all of it, right? Yeah. I mean, there’s, there’s stars on either side of the ball in crunch time when it’s that gotta have it. You know, gotta have it. You know. You hear, you hear coaches. You hear NFL analysts that used to play in the NFL. They talk, they talk about those plays. They call it. Gotta have it. They’re not making those plays in these, these close. Games against you know, they needed a, got to have it play against Buffalo, and they didn’t get it. They needed a, gotta have it play against Detroit, and they didn’t get it. So that doesn’t mean that they’re suddenly that, I suddenly think they’re a nine and eight football team or anything like that. But, man, it’s not inspiring much confidence when you’re one and two, and the one team you beat was Cleveland, and the two teams you lost to, or the kind of teams you’re going to be playing in January, right? I mean, Detroit’s on the in the other conference, I get that, but that caliber of team is what I’m saying. So, man, it’s discouraging. I mean, this is a really discouraging

Nestor Aparicio  25:37

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loss when you wanted to, when you’re going to Kansas City, and you’re if you lose, I want to be hearing about January. I want to be hearing about winning this week. We’ve talked so much about January and February around here still needs the requisite it’s September and they’re one and two and going to Kansas City. Yeah. And I’ll give you the Houston thing looks a little easier, and the Rams, you know, Houston looks bad, but, yeah, but like, I’m trying to level set to where they get to five and three. Well, you know what I’m saying? Like, fair, you’re one and two. How do you get to five and three? Forget 14 and three. It’s always weird with these 17. I know you know, like, it’s just so freaky. Deaky, by the way, I’ll throw this out because I’m an I’m a unpaid observer at home watching the games now and waiting for press conferences on television screens that they allow you and Jerry Coleman into on the screen, on the ravens.com screen. Last night, in their press conference, they had to score written, Baltimore, ravens, 30 Detroit, lions, 38 they wrote it backwards. And I thought, haven’t seen that since, like, the 70s where, like, the kids that didn’t follow sports read the score the wrong way. And I’m like, it’s kind of a bizarre who,

Luke Jones  26:57

yeah, come on, especially when you’re talking do better, Michelle, come on, you could almost understand that if, if they were the visitor, right?

Nestor Aparicio  27:06

And yeah, it’s, this isn’t a soccer score. We do it backwards. It’s Americans football. Detroit Lions go first because they won the game. John, hardball and all the post game press conference sound could be fan of that at Baltimore positive. I apologize. Go ahead, Luke, no,

Luke Jones  27:22

just along those lines. I don’t know how much of it came up on social media, but the ribbon scoreboards in the stadium weren’t working early in the game, like you could see the game, the time of game, but the score was still reading 00, and they fixed that, I guess by the second quarter, I think it was, but yeah, for all the light show and and, you know, the the pomp and circumstance of the pregame and all that fun stuff, something happened with the scoreboard that that they couldn’t get that working. You know, it’s kind of kind of funny to see it was seven, seven, and you look up and it still said 00, so, you know, that’s neither here nor there. But that was a issue since, since you brought up, like, weird things like that, I thought, Look,

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Nestor Aparicio  28:03

man, because I’m Baltimore positive, I’ll just throw this in at the at the ass end of this segment, before we get into special teams. And more on Lamar and taking sacks, and certainly more on non they met a BK, and that situation as we get ready for Kansas City, but for a Baltimore night, and I said to my wife, was a beautiful night, like tailgating night, and that we wish we’d still live downtown and not out on the farm. And I mean, I even thought, like it’d be fun to go down and have a sausage and a beer. And then I remember, like the tailgates aren’t as good as they used to be. Certainly not on Monday night. It was kind of falling apart a decade ago. I don’t even get pictures on my timeline of what it used to be 10 or 15 years ago, when Ray Lewis danced and all that. But they had queen out. They had mellow out, you know, I saw actors and actresses, then the Orioles show up like it was, you know, Michael Phelps is doing the Manning cast. It was a, it was a little bit of a coronation in love in and let’s be honest, for all of we love ourselves. We love Baltimore. Here. Everybody love Baltimore, except for Peter angelos, who got in the way of the parade 10 years ago. I forgot about that when he died, by the way, Keith Urban playing out in the middle of the harbor, and we’re playing in Denver. But big nights for Baltimore, big day, you know, like we’re going to get an all star game one day. We’re going to have an AFC Championship game again someday. And you can’t even plan on that. That’s a five day notice thing out these Monday Night Football games. When the Ravens get the schedule, they know about this before the schedule is even released, because they’re trying to Johnny Bravo the wristbands and the night and bring in the right celebrities and bring in the right reason to do. We’re going to do Ozzy and Ray and and and Ogden the first game, and then we’re going to do them. We’re going to do the alumni. We’re going to celebrate 30th anniversary. But it’s just such a downer when they have a night like that, because they don’t get nights like that much on Monday Night Football. All where Phelps is with the Manning guys. The whole world’s talking about Lamar. Everything stops. It’s not a Sunday, it’s a Monday, big game. They’re not playing the Cincinnati game later in the year, when the Cincinnati is way different. Now, three nine, it won’t matter, right?

Luke Jones  30:17

Like on Thanksgiving night, right? I mean, you’re thinking, I mean, when, that’s when that’s when that comes out on the schedule. You’re thinking Lamar against

Nestor Aparicio  30:23

Joe burrow play green bale Christmas night too. We’re holiday oriented, right?

Luke Jones  30:27

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No, it’s not Christmas night. No, it’s either the 27th or the 28th okay, that we sorry. No, no, I just, I want, it’s, it’s Christmas week. It’s just, they’re not on Christmas itself. But, yeah, I mean, look, I I think back and they, you know, me, I like the uniform stuff. I mean, it’s a bit fashion tweets all that, but you think about how jacked up fans get for when they wear the black jerseys, right? I mean, I can still remember the first game that they wore those back in oh four and every game and read, yeah, well, I mean, that that was very personal for me. That was the week my father passed away. I mean, like, I went to the game and, you know, went with his best friend and sobbed after Ed Reed returned, just because I was thinking about my dad. I mean, but I think about that aura, that Mystique, I think about what the record has been over the years when they’ve worn those black and they’ve lost some games, right? I mean, the following year, Peyton Manning and Indy came in on opening night. You know, when the, you know, on Sunday night football, and handled them right? And that was the Kyle bowler got hurt, and everyone cheered

Nestor Aparicio  31:30

game. I remember for the every game they brought me. This is back when I wasn’t allowed in the Kevin Byrne. This is when Kevin Byrne used to visit me and let me help sell tickets for him, but I had to pitch black. Host, yeah, of Ray Lewis, that’s 21 years 21 years ago, 2004 I’ve always kind of hated the black. I mean, like for me, I’m a fashion tweet perspective, and that’s fine. It’s not their primary color for me, but there’s absolutely a mystique to wear, because they almost always wear them in prime time, right? It sure. You know, it’s a nationally television it reminds me too much of Terrell Suggs to like it

Luke Jones  32:05

fair enough, but, but the point is, the fans really like it, right? I mean, they get fired up for that. So, you know, you kind of look at everything that aligns for something like that. And you know, it’s a chance to go two and one, a chance to, you know, move back to at least a tie for the division lead, and feel good about yourselves two and one, and then you’re going to Kc and say, Hey, we got a chance to make the Chiefs one and three. Now they still do, but now there’s the flip side to that. You know, if you’re two and one, you go to KC, we know the history there in the Lamar era, going to

Nestor Aparicio  32:37

arrowheads channel. Like you can win. You feel like the chiefs are vulnerable. Well, they,

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Luke Jones  32:41

they should absolutely still feel that way. But the point is the flip side, when you’re two and one, if you do drop that game two and two, it’s not, you know, the sky’s not falling, right? You’re disappointed. But it’s not, you know, it’s not January, not any of that. Now, there’s way more of a we can’t go there and lose, you know, we, we can’t start one and three. I mean, can they over overcome one and three? Yes, of course they can, right? I mean, you’ve got 13 games after that, but this isn’t something you want to start testing, right? You don’t want to be in a position where you’re starting to look at this and meanwhile, you see the bills are still undefeated, or you’re looking up and you’re saying, hey, Indianapolis, they’re off to a heck of a start. And that’s not a very good you know, you start your favor two and a half point favorite. I’m not surprised by that. I’m not surprised by that. But at the same time, man, that the the What if you lose is way different now than if you take care of business against Detroit on Monday night. And like I said, it for me, you know, this is a game where you kind of question your aura, you kind of question, I mean, we’ve talked about it, and you and I are as guilty as anyone you know, January, January, January. But you do have to get there and right now, as this team is presently constructed, not knowing what’s going to happen with Matt abika status moving forward and assuming van noise at least going to miss Sunday’s game. I mean, you know, the reporting on that was, he was going to at least miss a couple games. The fact that they didn’t put them on IR is a good sign. But can’t stop the run. Can’t rush the passer. Whoo. I mean, and let me be clear, Detroit has a far more formidable offense in Kansas City on paper right now, there’s no question about that. Kansas City has struggled, you know, they, they found a little bit of a running game in the second half against the Giants, they found a little bit of a passing game. You know, Thornton made some plays for them. I think Xavier worthy is going to be back. But man, when you talk, they’re already in the you know, the skeptic, the cynic, you know, the their their harshest critic would say that they’re already in tend to be in their own head when they’re playing Kansas City, and now, when it comes off the of the heels of a performance like that against Detroit, man, it’s not gonna be a fun week. And, and, oh yeah, you’re playing on a short week too, right where? You know. I it’s not as much of the thing when you’re playing at home, but we’ve seen when the Ravens last year was a perfect example. They had a Monday night road game at Tampa where they they won’t got it got a little bit, you know, a little closer at the end than they wanted it to be. They didn’t finish quite as well as they wanted to, but they won, and they won by, I think, 10 points, whatever it was, do we remember what happened the following week? They went to Cleveland and laid the egg that they laid in Cleveland that that Sunday. So it’s not a fun week. It’s not that’s not a fun film review for any phase, right? I mean, the defense number one, top of the list, but they’ve got to, they’ve got to find a way to clean up some of these issues. And you know, when you’re talking about the O line, when you’re talking about the state of the pass rush, these aren’t necessarily easy fixes that you just say, Oh, well, we’ll just bench that guy and put that guy in. I mean, Marcus Williams, that was kind of the big thing last year that plagued the secondary, right? But you know what we saw from the defense across the board wasn’t an easy fix. And this offense, offensive line, this identity that they’re trying to carve out here, you know it’s it’s as prolific as it’s looked at times, and the points they’ve scored, it’s still been choppy at at some critical junctures for them that they’re still trying to figure that out as well here, especially over these last two games. So got a lot of work to do. And, yeah, it’s Kansas City, and that history that that’s all going to be in between the years as they’re preparing to kick off Sunday afternoon in

Nestor Aparicio  36:33

arrowhead. Look, Jones will be on the scene for the abbreviated week of practice in preparation for the Kansas City Chiefs in Patrick mahomes and Andy Reid and Spags Tyree kill and all that other good stuff going on as well. Yeah, I, for me, I, I the one and two part really feel sour at this point for, you know, for the fan base, and for the late night on Monday, I have Raven scratch offs to give away. We’re doing the Maryland crab cake tour. We’re getting back out tastiness is counting down. Brought to you by our friends at curio wellness. I’ve been chatting with our friends at GBMC about also I had, I did a piece this week where we pretended I might be a grandfather one day, and how I would actually handle that. My colonoscopy, however, is real. So GBMC has talked me into being healthier. Men’s Health turned 57 in a couple of weeks. I hope the ravens are 500 by the time that happens. Uh, Luke will, um, keep us informed of all things breaking news on the W, N, S, T, tech service that is brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordian energy. You know about it, how good it is. We’re all over the matter BK story. We’re concerned about his health, concerned about the running game, concerned about protecting Lamar, and certainly concerned about them going to Kansas City. I might even get any barbecue out of it this week. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. More football ahead. We are W, N, S, T AM, 1570 Taos and Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive i.