What will it take for Ravens to win in Buffalo?

Luke Jones and Nestor make final preparation before Ravens take on Bills in Buffalo to start another season with Super Bowl expectations in Baltimore.

The discussion focused on the Baltimore Ravens’ preparations for their season opener against the Buffalo Bills. Key points included the health status of CB Jair Alexander, who has a history of knee injuries, and TE Patrick Ricard, whose calf strain may limit his involvement. The Ravens’ offense faces challenges without key players, prompting potential adjustments. Both teams enter the game with injury concerns; the Bills’ CB Christian Benford and WR Trenell Wooten are questionable. The game’s outcome is critical for both teams’ playoff hopes and seeding. The Ravens aim to start strong amidst a difficult early-season schedule.

• [ ] Monitor the injury status of Jaire Alexander and Patrick Ricard leading up to the game.
• [ ] Analyze how the Ravens’ offensive approach may need to adjust if Ricard is unable to play.
• [ ] Assess the importance of the Ravens getting a win in this game in terms of playoff positioning and tiebreakers.
• [ ] Compare the upcoming schedules for the Ravens and Bills to determine which team may have an advantage.

Final Preparation Before Season Opener

• Nestor Aparicio welcomes listeners to WNST AM 1570, highlighting the upcoming football season and mentioning various events including the Maryland Crab Cake Tour.
• Nestor introduces Luke Jones, who has been at Owings Mills all week, sponsored by GBMC.
• Discussion begins on the health status of Jair Alexander, noting his history of knee injuries and the importance of his availability for the defense.
• Luke emphasizes the significance of Jair Alexander’s return and the potential impact on the Ravens’ defense, considering the depth of other cornerbacks like Jacoby Woozie, Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins, TJ Tampa, and Keon Martin.

Health Concerns and Defensive Depth

• Luke Jones discusses the Ravens’ incredible health during the previous season, with only Arthur Maulet ending the year on IR.
• Nestor and Luke acknowledge the likelihood of injuries occurring during the season, despite the team’s current health.
• Luke mentions the uncertainty surrounding Jair Alexander’s participation due to his knee needing drainage and his extended absence from practice.
• Discussion shifts to the potential starting roles of Jacoby Woozie and other cornerbacks, depending on Jair Alexander’s condition.

Offensive Health and Strategy Adjustments

• Luke Jones addresses the potential absence of Isaiah Likely and Patrick Ricard, discussing the implications for the Ravens’ offense.
• Nestor highlights the unique role of Patrick Ricard as a versatile player, crucial for the Ravens’ heavy formation strategy.
• Luke explains the adjustments expected in the offense, including increased usage of Charlie Kohler and possibly more three-wide receiver sets.
• Both hosts agree that the Ravens’ offense remains potent, even with potential absences, and stress the importance of managing penalties to maintain control on the field.

Buffalo Bills’ Defense and Week One Matchup

• Luke Jones compares the health status of the Bills’ defense, particularly noting the groin injuries affecting their top corners, Tre’Davious White and Christian Benford.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the challenges faced by both teams entering the season opener, with significant injury concerns on both sides.
• Luke emphasizes the importance of the matchup, considering the potential playoff implications and the historical rivalry between the Ravens and Bills.
• Both hosts express anticipation for the game, acknowledging the unpredictability of the NFL and the potential for a closely contested matchup.

Ravens’ Schedule and Playoff Prospects

• Nestor and Luke analyze the Ravens’ opening schedule, highlighting the difficulty of facing the Bills, Chiefs, Rams, and other strong opponents within the first six weeks.
• Luke notes the importance of starting the season strongly to secure a higher playoff seed and improve chances of hosting playoff games.
• Discussion includes the potential impact of the Ravens’ bye week, scheduled strategically to allow for recovery and preparation for the second half of the season.
• Both hosts agree that while a 3-3 start is not catastrophic, it could affect the team’s playoff aspirations and seeding prospects.

Buffalo Bills’ Schedule and Seeding Potential

• Luke Jones examines the Bills’ schedule, pointing out favorable matchups and the opportunity to establish a strong record early in the season.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the Bills’ motivation to secure the number one seed, given their history of playoff failures and the impending closure of their stadium.
• Both hosts note the emotional significance of the Bills’ season, with the potential for historic achievements and the added challenge of hosting a playoff game in their final season at the current stadium.
• The conversation concludes with mutual appreciation for the intensity and importance of the upcoming matchup, setting the stage for a highly anticipated showdown between two elite teams.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Jair Alexander, Patrick Ricard, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, injury report, training camp, offensive line, defensive depth, playoff positioning, schedule analysis, home advantage, MVP candidates, NFL season.

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SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 task Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. And it is positively on its football season for real. And if you don’t believe it, you can watch football on Thursday night. You can watch it on Friday night. You can watch it all day, Sunday or you can do, we’re going to do, wait till Sunday night. We’re gonna be doing the Maryland crab cake tour next week at the Beaumont on the 16th, on Tuesday, it’ll be after Joe Flacco comes to town. In the meantime, we are shuffling off to Buffalo and Luke Jones joins us now. He’s been out at Owings Mills all week long. It’s all brought to you by our friends at GBMC. We’re calling it the GBMC hotline. Here. We’ve also had some little bit of men’s health issues, but we’re going to be talking about health issues, and how about injury reports and health issues. Luke Jones and the GBMC injury report around here. Jair Alexander, exactly what we were concerned about when they signed him, right?

Luke Jones  00:56

Yeah. I mean, it was good to see him back on the practice field. We’re going to see, and John Harbaugh gave it a will see, was pretty tight lipped. And I actually think there’s some legitimacy to that. I mean, we know that there was a reason why he was available in mid June and why he was available for $4 million when this guy’s been healthy, he’s been one of the best cornerbacks in football. The Green Bay Packers paid him accordingly several years ago. But we also know availability is paramount, and for whatever reason, whether it was partly, you know, obviously it his knee was bothering him, it’s the PCL injury he suffered late in late October last year that cost him, really the rest of the season. I think he tried to play through it for a time, but really probably cost him his

Nestor Aparicio  01:41

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future Green Bay, right?

Luke Jones  01:42

Yeah. I mean, and let’s be clear, he’s had other injuries, right? I mean, he’s played more than seven games just once in the last four years. But again, that’s why he was available, and we saw with the Packers going out and getting Micah Parsons, it’s not as though they’re rebuilding or anything like that. They’re they’re clearly all in trying to win a championship. But Jair Alexander just has struggled to stay on the field. So he’s back on the field. I think there truly is a one, how does he look? And, I think two, how does he feel? Keep in mind, he had to need that knee drained. 456, days into training camp, and then he hadn’t practiced since August 9, you know, as they were trying to manage that thing. So you want to be prudent and cautious in August, and I understand that. So maybe he will play, maybe he will be fine, maybe he’ll play. You know, I don’t know, 17 games would be bold, but let’s say plays close to a full season. But we also know that about the possibility that he doesn’t, and that’s why they also have jadobia Woozi a that’s why they still have Marlon Humphrey, that’s why they have Nate Wiggins. That’s why they have TJ Tampa and Keon Martin, who made the team. So they’re hoping that they have enough depth, but certainly he factors into the upside for a defense that, let’s face it, I mean, the expectations are very, very high based off of how they finished off last year as well. You know, through the first 10 games last year, they had what the worst past defense in the league, or certainly one of the worst, and over their last six or seven games, when they made the changes at safety that they made, they had arguably the best defense in the league over the last month and a half of the season. So expectations are high for Zach or his unit certainly. Jair Alexander was a, you know, low low risk, high reward kind of a play where it’s $4 million even if he only ends up playing five or six games, it’s $4 million it’s not going to cripple you from a cap standpoint long term, or anything like that, but we’ll see on him. That’s really the only question on defense. That’s literally the only player listed on their injury report on the defensive side.

Nestor Aparicio  03:51

But you know, it’s a good training camp

Luke Jones  03:54

so far. Yeah, so far. So good, right? I mean, it’s wild. And you know how much I talked about this from the moment, even before last season ended, we talked about how incredibly healthy they stayed last year. And other than the timing of the zay flowers knee injury, right? I mean, it was a three or four week injury, it just happened at the worst possible three or four week period. But beyond that, they were so healthy. I mean, the player, the most notable player that ended last season on IR was Arthur Malad, right? And no disrespect to him, but he’s a so he was a

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Nestor Aparicio  04:26

sub package player when you’re nine months out and you played a playoff game without one of your starters, and we’re still talking about it. They weren’t, you know, it’s not even anything to even discuss, because there’s nobody in the league that was healthier than them and

Luke Jones  04:39

right? And no one’s going to feel sorry for you. I mean, as I’ve said, I think very much could make the argument it’s the healthiest they’ve been in franchise history. And you could already argue that they’ve already dealt with more. I mean, going back to losing our Darius Washington back in the spring. So but that being said, and understanding the war of attrition begins of. Initially this weekend, and will continue in the Ravens case, they hope until early February. I mean, that’s the goal, but they also, I think you have to be realistic to expect. Yeah, you’re going to deal with some more injuries than they did last year, inevitably. But you know, Alexander, they signed up for that. So again, it’s not shocking. It’s not surprising. Hopefully he can play. If he does play, I think he’s going to be on a pitch count, especially this week. I mean, big time. You know, I would expect a woozy it would probably still start. Or at least, the very least, it’d be a 5050, split at best, for their snaps. But we’re going to see, you know, they obviously have until Sunday night. But the other two big names, the one not unexpected, I mean, Isaiah, likely is not going to play. We said from the moment he got injured, it’d be borderline miraculous if he was back for week one. So he’s not going to play. But the one that we hadn’t talked about but has lingered here over the last couple of weeks, and has lingered even into this practice week. It’s Patrick hard. Now, John Harbaugh, a couple of weeks ago, kind of gave the stock soft tissue injury answer that you hear in August, because there’s no injury report, and John’s just hoping that that they’re minor injuries, and typically they are when he describes it that way. But calf injuries are tricky. Calf injuries are tricky for veteran players, for veteran players who are on the bigger side, they are a high setback rate, kind of an injury. So it’ll be interesting to see if he’s out there. And when you’re talking already talking about missing one of your two top tight ends, and if you’re talking about Ricard potentially not being on the field, boy, that that tests your ability and your propensity for heavy formations, you know whether

Nestor Aparicio  06:43

you’re talking about appreciated, right? Like, in a general sense, because he’s, he’s a special player. He’s a chess piece that doesn’t exist on most chess boards for most teams, and certainly not with the framework of this offense the way they still at the heart, want to run the ball like but not just run it, run it the way they they even did 2018 they’d like to power, sweep things away and have a guy like Lamar Derek Henry or zay flower, somebody get the ball in space. He allows them to do something that most teams don’t have a player like that, carry a player like that, and certainly not design an offense around a player like that for a decade now, with Patrick Ricardo going back a decade. Yeah.

Luke Jones  07:27

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I mean, what? 2017 so, I mean, we’re getting up on that, right? There’s no question. So, you know, we’ll see. I mean, not a great sign when a player is not out there on a Wednesday, when they’ve already missed, you know, two and a half weeks he hasn’t practiced since before that Dallas preseason game. So it’s going to take a lot, you know? It’s going to take a major recovery and major progress for him to be out there Sunday night. Look, these are not excuses that this offense can’t still function at a very high level. But when you’re talking about what they like to do, the heavy formations, and it’s not as though records on the field 100% of this, like

Nestor Aparicio  08:02

they don’t have a player that does that job, though there’s no yeah, these are just amazed that won’t be in the playbook, right? Like, literally,

Luke Jones  08:10

I mean, some of them. And keep in mind, I mean, it’s not as though Ricard only lines up at fullback, and those are the ones you’d be talking about. But Charlie Kohler took a step forward last year as a blocking tight end. He did much more in that capacity. And when you consider no no Isaiah likely and potentially no Patrick Ricard, yeah, sure, they’ll elevate a tight end. They’ll elevate Zaire Mitchell paid and probably just to play on special teams, but it’ll be Charlie Kohler with with a bigger workload, doing some of the likely stuff and some of the record stuff, you know, and kind of a hybrid role. And I also think it means they’ll probably lean into a few more three wide receiver sets, because that’s why they got DeAndre Hopkins, right. So it’s not a complete metamorphosis, but it certainly hinders their propensity for wanting to go heavy and wanting to go with two tight end sets. So again, that’s that’s not an excuse, and that’s not to say that they can’t move the ball. Buffalo’s also banged up, and specifically they are banged up in the secondary Christian Benford, their top, you know, number one corner. It’s been limited with the groin injury and trenavious White old friend, former Raven, who’s back with the Buffalo Bills. He’s missed the better part of two weeks with a groin injury. So you’re talking about a bills team that already some questions about their defense, right? I mean that that was their weakness last year. I mean Brennan them, they did a good job against the ravens and in terms of forcing turnovers in that playoff game. But we also know the Ravens didn’t have issues moving the ball. They had issues taking care of the ball and finishing drives in that game. So even in week one, both teams dealing with some injury concerns, and that always makes things a little spicier than what a typical week one is, just knowing that there is so much. Unknown. There is so much that you really can’t predict. As both these teams are preparing for a new season.

Nestor Aparicio  10:06

Luke Jones is joining us here. We are doing pre football preparations around here for Sunday night football. You know one thing about running the football? He said that, you know, passing sets, more three wide all of that. It plays a lot better when it’s 70 degrees in Buffalo, then when it’s 20 degrees in Buffalo, right? So in that particular case, to think that the ravens are going to come out slinging it a little bit against the defense that has that issue with the weapons that they have in the offense. I mean, I’m always shocked when they don’t run the ball when it’s not Derrick Henry left. Eric Henry, right, but I would think they’ll come out and test them on Sunday night and throw the football around a little bit, see if the bills could stop it.

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Luke Jones  10:45

Well, I mean, they’re certainly not. They’re certainly not afraid of doing that. I mean, Lamar Jackson had his first 4000 yard passing season last year, right? So it’s not as though they were anywhere close to where they were saying 2018 1920, under Greg Roman, where, you know, in those games, Lamar might only throw 20 times a game, right? I mean, I’ll say this. I mean, if we just use the bills on a very simplistic level, Lamar didn’t throw a whole lot back in that week four game. Why? Because, well, Derek Henry took it to the house on the first offensive play of the game and ran for 200 yards against them. I mean, so there’s always a sense, even with this ravens offense, having evolved under Todd monk in the last couple of years, that if you don’t come out and do a decent job against the run, they’ll kill you. I mean, they just will. We know that, and I expect that to completely continue in 2025 but yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  11:36

controlling down and distance, and we just see that with this offense that doesn’t matter. You know what? I mean, they’re they’ll play four downs from anywhere on the field, so stopping them on first down and putting them in Second and eight or second 812, doesn’t you know, it always stops them for a play. It takes one play, sure, these guys, I mean, and that’s been the craziest part of this offense over the last seven years.

Luke Jones  12:00

No, question. And I mean even taking into account down in distance and and even looking at the bills in that playoff game, Derek Henry still had a good game, you know, 16 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown, but they did a much better job containing him than what they did back in week four, where as I said, I mean, the Ravens just ran all over them to the point where the game was kind of over by the third quarter.

Nestor Aparicio  12:26

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So you got to get them off the field. I mean, you got to get the Ravens off the field. You have

Luke Jones  12:30

to get them off the field. And again, these same principles do apply to every offense. I mean, I think every offense ideally, yeah, if you could run the ball, if you had Lamar Jackson, if you had Derrick Henry throw Justice Hill and even Keaton Mitchell into that equation. Because I think, you know, Keaton Mitchell isn’t necessarily going to get a ton of touches, but I think they’re going to try to sprinkle him in, you know, every third series, I would

Nestor Aparicio  12:53

be shocked if he doesn’t touch the ball five times by Monday morning, right?

Luke Jones  12:56

Yeah. I mean, unless this game’s gone very awry, very in a very unusual way. I mean, yeah, I mean, I think they’d like to mix him in. But, you know, it’s still about stopping a team on first down, keeping a team in second and long, keeping a team in third and long, right? Knocking a team off schedule. I mean, the ravens, one of their biggest Krypton you know, their kryptonite last year were penalties, right? I mean, they were so much so many of their mistakes were self inflicted. When you looked at, when you look across the board at how good they were in you know, even by the end of the season, on defense, how good they were, but they were still one of the most penalized teams in the league, and that’s something that they’re really trying to drill down on and be better

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Nestor Aparicio  13:41

about. Well, that’s what data distance gets you off the field.

Luke Jones  13:44

Yeah, exactly. And as I’ve said to you, I mean, even though they’ve been really good on third down, what do I always say the best third down offense is what they avoid third down altogether, right? Because they’re so good on first and second down, and the Ravens have been that largely over the Lamar Jackson, well, when they win, they are, when they when they are, yeah, well, and they want, they do a lot of winning when Lamar is on the field. So, so, yeah, so, and obviously they’re going to be in a hostile environment. You got to be sharp with your your your cadence. You’re going to silent count. It’s going to be very, very loud. It’s the last opener in that place, in Orchard Park. And certainly the bills are going to be fired up. And, you know, already you could hear just, you know, with Wednesday being the big media day, you could tell the Ravens were all right, let’s play this game. You know, Mark, whether it’s Mark Andrews hearing about buffalo, whether it’s Lamar hearing about buffalo. Roquan Smith, I mean, there was kind of the same, the common theme of, you know, it’s a new season. Can’t do anything about that. They’ve been hearing questions about buffalo since, since that game, but especially then when the schedule comes out in mid May and you say, hey, week one, Sunday night football in Buffalo. So I think everyone, and I think media and fans included, think everyone’s ready. Let’s play a football game. They will. He’s here, baby. It’s a game of the week. It’s time. Oh, no question. I mean, for as much as the pump and circumstances in Philadelphia for the opener, you know, this the NFL opener. This is easily the best game of the week. I mean, it absolutely is. And, you know, we talked about this, we hyped this, you know, in the divisional round last year. And I still remember vividly, you and I talking about this, and everyone was saying it was a legacy game. It’s like, well, hold on, whoever the winner is, congratulations. You go, you go to Kansas City to play Patrick mahomes. So that is still, you know, that cloud lingers and hovers over the entire AFC, but both these quarterbacks, I mean, you’re talking about the last two MVPs in the league, just phenomenal talents, two guys that are very much on a slam dunk Hall of Fame path with only one thing, one thing meaningful left to add to their respective legacies. It’s to get to a Super Bowl and win a Super Bowl. So you can’t do that on Sunday night. But as we’ve talked about, in terms of the importance of seeding, playoff positioning, assuming there’s a good chance you’re going to run into each other again come January, Sunday night’s immensely important in terms of wanting that game to be in your stadium, you know, come January. So lots of excitement. I can’t wait, you know? I i think this is a coin flip kind of game, you know, I think the, I think the Ravens have the better roster, top to bottom, one to 53 but the bills are playing at home. The bills have, you know, some a mental edge in the in the sense that they won the most recent meeting between these teams. But who knows, right? I mean, there’s, there’s still so much unknown. You know, you hear predictions throughout the week, and you can check out my thoughts at Baltimore positive.com and and all of that. You know I’m expecting. I’m predicting the Ravens will win the division again, third straight time, first time in franchise history. But we also know that, what, there’s at least four new playoff teams every year in the NFL, you know, you never quite know, right? I mean, there’s you have requisites, you you have your priors that you feel and certainly there’s sky high confidence for both these teams. But you never know, right? I mean, you don’t know. That’s why what Kansas City’s done in recent years has been so impressive. That’s why what the Patriots Did you know even, even with the questions about cheating baked in along the way, but what they did for the better part of two decades? I mean, it’s extraordinary, because we also know that there are the flashes in the pan. I mean, Washington, they make it to the NFC title game next year. If they don’t make the playoffs this year, would anyone be that shocked. I mean, like, who knows, right? I mean, it’s just, that’s just how it is, and that’s why the NFL is the ultimate theatrical experience in professional sports, and that’s why it’s everyone’s favorite. It’s why everyone will be tuned into red zone throughout the day on Sunday, even if, now, yes, they do include commercials, which certainly is a major bummer.

Nestor Aparicio  18:00

Yeah, how do they even do that? I guess we have to learn on Sunday. But that’s why the new season’s here. Luke Jones is here. He is Baltimore, Luke. He’s been out in Owings Mills all week. Any breaking news will happen first on the W, N, S, T, tech service, legendary and brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordian energy. My big thanks to GBMC, all of our sponsors, for this season. Liberty, Pierce solutions, of course, and of course, the Maryland lottery, we back out on the 16th at the Beaumont doing the Maryland crab cake tour. The tastiness countdown, brought to you by curio. Wellness is alive and well. We’re down to the top 10. So we’ll be eating some good food here this week. Luke, you mentioned, you know, let’s get it going. Let’s see how it goes. We’re gonna get the other Monday morning. It’s either gonna be Oh, and one or one and oh and that feels like the wildest ends of the spectrum. And I’m much more about Chris football. How do the older players look? How did any new players look? And the Ravens don’t have a lot of that, but they have a few positional players where they’ve made some changes. Obviously, the offensive line is always going to be an issue for them, but there’s something about like, counting up the losses when you think you’re going to be a 13 win team, a 14 win team, a 12 win team, an 11 win team, right? So the losses start to stack. They got those two early in the year last year, certainly the second week, still inexplicable, 51 weeks later. But you know, it’s hard to win in this league. And I look at that schedule, and I see all the Browns are coming in next week. Joe Fleck, who’s 100 years old, fine. They play in the NFL too, and they have to. They might not lose this week, who knows? And then the rest of the month to seeing where they’re going to be in these quartiles that Brian Billy talked about. The only one thing last year was dark, and then oh and two got darker, and the lights came on, and they were fine. They had an injury free year. They had too many penalties, you know, all the things that happened. They had five chances to win in Buffalo last year, to push that thing along. They were good enough to go to the Super Bowl. They were good enough to win it. They haven’t done it, but I just know how the momentum goes. If they lose by decimal points on Sunday night, and especially when there’s a goat, I mean, Mark Andrews back in January, a key fumble, you know, just something that goes wrong in the game that swings a 135, point game, the kicker, and you know, anything that’s a part of this. There’s so many storylines in this, but the storyline really is Josh versus Lamar, and one of these guys is going to be Owen one on Monday, and the Ravens are staring down a hell of a schedule the rest of the month. Like this is an important must win game on the road. You know, must win. You just don’t want to be all one. It feels must win, and it feels, you know, pressured for the ravens, that that have not reduced by and large in this era, but neither of the bills.

Luke Jones  20:50

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Yeah. I mean, I obviously it’s, it’s really important. It not, not in the sense of, if you go, Oh, and one, your season’s over. I mean, we all understand that you have 17 games, and last year, the most recent example of, you know, you start, oh and two, and they still had no problem making the playoffs. They overtook Pittsburgh for the division. And obviously it helped that the Steelers collapse down the stretch as well. But I think we all knew, or at least I certainly had my doubts about and they have another Hall of Fame quarterback this year. It’s just Sure, sure. I mean, we’re going to see how that looks. I mean, I’m they’re more interesting than they’ve been since Roethlisberger mid 30s. I mean, I think Aaron Rodgers, at least has the ability to be better than, certainly, Kenny pick it a couple years

Nestor Aparicio  21:33

ago, better than Joe Flacco Russell, flip it right, yeah.

Luke Jones  21:37

Sure, sure. I mean, you know they’re both, both on the wrong side of 40. I mean, you know, they’re not Lamar or Patrick mahomes or Josh Allen, but hey, they used to be, you know, somewhere fitting into that

Nestor Aparicio  21:48

category. I’m not much your country, but good, good as once as I once was, or everyone, yeah,

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Luke Jones  21:53

yeah, but, but to go back to the schedule, I mean, obviously at Buffalo home against Cleveland, and yes, that’ll be perceived as a homecoming. I mean, literally, a homecoming for Joe Flacco, first time he’ll be playing in Baltimore. I mean, that’s gonna be fun, right? I mean, regardless of how the game goes, that’s going to be fun in terms of the build up. But home against Detroit Monday Night Football, then you go to Kansas City for the following Sunday. So that’ll be on a short week, going to arrowhead, Houston, who only won their division last year. And then the Rams, and then you have your bye week in contrast. And this is something that I had seen a few people point out. I kind of looked at it when the schedule came out, but the bills after Sunday night at the Jets home against Miami, home against New Orleans, which you know might be the worst team in football, home against New England, at Atlanta, then they’re by right. I mean, so contrast,

Nestor Aparicio  22:50

compare playoff team in there is there in

Luke Jones  22:53

that pack. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  22:56

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I certainly don’t think the Jets are right, yeah, Miami.

Luke Jones  22:59

I mean their division opponents in the same way that the AFC north. I mean, hey, for all the all the making fun of the Browns that people do around here, the Browns beat the Ravens last year. The Browns beat the Ravens two years ago in Baltimore, right with Deshaun Watson and Jamis Winston at quarterback. So you never really know, but yeah, I mean, New Orleans, New England, I think New England will be better. I’m not ready to put them in the playoffs. And at Atlanta. I mean, Atlanta, what does panics look like? I mean that, that’s the big question there. So that’s

Nestor Aparicio  23:28

your point on buffalo, is it they should be six and Oh, in their division? I mean, you’re good enough to be that way, that maybe the Ravens could be six and O in Division. Never works out that way in the division. But you talk about Kansas City, you know, the the Chargers were coming, and then they’re not. People think Denver’s coming, but who knows? I mean, it’s more about giveaway games, that if buffalo can get over the ravens, They could be six and out to your point, right? And the Ravens might be three and three at that point. You know, just lucky to get there by the time we get to Columbus Day. And that’s the scheduling is really a thing. And when you’re in a division, I mean, New England benefited from this for 15 years. Sure, the other three teams just stunk, you know,

Luke Jones  24:05

right? No, no question. And again, I think New England under variable, I think they’re going to be better. I I kind of like their quarterback, you know, I think Drake make quietly, was solid last year. You know, you just had nothing around him, you know, I watched, I even watched him play. I think it was week 17. I think it was and you could tell, I mean, he just offensive line. Didn’t have skill players, but like he he looked competent. He looked like, hey, there’s something there. So we’ll see. I mean, again, it’s so much unknown, but, but yeah, you look at Buffalo schedule, and you can compare that and contrast that to the ravens and Kansas City if I was handicapping it, and that’s why we That’s why this game on Sunday night so important. I would kind of be inclined to say buffalo should have the inside track on paper in terms of scheduling to be that number one seed. I mean, you. Again after this week one game. They don’t they play Kansas City November 2. They have them in Buffalo. They have Tampa Bay at home in mid November. They go to Houston in late November, the week before Thanksgiving, they go to Pittsburgh November 30, but then they finish up Cincinnati, at New England, at Cleveland, home against Philadelphia, all right, defending world champions, and then home against the Jets. I mean, that’s that’s not a schedule where you look at that and say that there’s going to be a ton of losses there. Yeah, I can see 1213, wins there if they stay home. Yeah. So, so and again, who knows? This is also our priors here. Some of those teams I just mentioned might end up being really good compared to what they were last year. And we also know that there will be teams that fall off, but for the ravens, I mean, this, these first six weeks, will not determine whether they’re a playoff team or not, but it very well could determine how seriously they’re in the mix to be the number one seed. I mean, we that’s just just own two last year cost them any realistic shot of being the number one seed, because Kansas City started, what 15 and one? You know, they rested their starters in week 17 and lost, but they were 15 and one prior, but they were lucky. I mean, they’re the they’re the most prepared, luckiest team ever, right? I mean, there, you made a point a few minutes ago, and it’s, it’s so apropos when it talk, when you’re talking about the chiefs, you talked about not losing games, right? You talked about not giving it away, not doing the things to shoot yourself in the foot that, frankly, the Ravens like leading the league in penalties, leading the penalty. Frankly, the ravens, and they haven’t done it, you know, they’ve won a lot, right? I mean, it’s a credit to them how talented they are,

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Nestor Aparicio  26:45

how because they can get themselves out of first and 25 Kansas City.

Luke Jones  26:49

And look, Kansas City was so it was uncanny, especially last year, right? How many one score games they won last year, I’m guessing. And there’s been a lot of talk and chatter in Kansas City, obviously, they use some meaningful resources to upgrade their offensive line. They’ve talked a lot about wanting to push the ball down field a little bit more. You know, they they went from the Tyree kill era, where mahomes is chucking it 40 yards downfield every other play, it felt like to just being underneath, underneath, underneath. So they’re trying to do more of that, but they were just unbelievable last year in terms of not shooting themselves in the foot, and then their opponent finding a way to constantly shoot themselves in the foot. So can they sustain that degree of it again, or do they need to get back to being a little more explosive on offense? I think it’s the latter, but that’s also saying, hey Andy Reid and Patrick mahomes and their front office, their coaching staff, they’ve had an entire off season to recognize that, but, but that’s if you’re the Ravens. You got to view it through the lens of all right. Buffalo schedule. How many games are they going to lose over the course of the season Kansas City, you say that every year. So they’ve got to start fast, you know. And it starts with getting a win on the road on Monday night. You do that. Then, don’t get me wrong, shouldn’t be getting ahead of ourselves, and anyone talking about going undefeated or 16 and one or anything like that. But man, it, it puts you on the path to one, feeling super confident about yourselves. And two, you’ve already have had that head to head tiebreaker with buffalo in your bag, right? I mean, you bank that after one game, and that’s valuable, you know, so

Nestor Aparicio  28:30

but, but you also the thought that they’re not going to be six and, oh, in the middle of October, no matter how good they are. And if they are that good, they still can’t win the Super Bowl in October and make it even worse in January, but it would put them in a position to, yeah, you want to host the AFC Championship game no matter how much pressure it brings. You want to do that, but this schedule is problematic in the beginning, and they are lucky. They are as healthy as they are, right? So we at least begin this by saying they’re getting the full complement of players out at this important juncture in the season where a three and three start wouldn’t be good. It would just it, just because somebody’s going to be five and one.

Luke Jones  29:09

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Yeah, I mean, the three and three start again in in no way or shape, shape or form. Does that truly jeopardize their ability to make the playoffs or their ability to win the division, in my mind, but if

Nestor Aparicio  29:22

your free losses are bills, chiefs, rams, that makes sense. That mean, it makes sense that you would lose to those teams because other teams aren’t playing this kind of schedule. And that’s not crying for the Ravens. That’s just the reality of what their task is. And you know their task is at Buffalo bus Sunday night. And you know, MVP versus MVP, the league set it up, and somebody’s going to be on one on Monday, and that’s the way the league designs it, you know,

Luke Jones  29:47

yeah, unless we get that rare instance of a tie, which no one wants that, right? So, but, but, yeah. But on the flip side, if you can get to your bye week at four and two, you know, something like that, where you’re. Off to a good start. You’re feeling really good about yourselves. Then bears at home at Miami, Thursday night game. So, you know, Thursday night road games are tricky. At Minnesota, that figures to be a challenging part of their second half schedule, you know, I guess, technically not second half, but post by schedule at Cleveland, so they have three straight road games. So that’s, you know, that’s tricky. There’s no doubt about that. But then home against the Jets, home against the Bengals on Thanksgiving, home against Pittsburgh. So you’ve got some home cooking there. And then you have, you know, we’ve talked about the beginning of the schedule, the end of the schedule at Cincinnati, home against New England, and at Green Bay at Pittsburgh. So three of four on the road, three of you know, those three games being against teams that, I think we’d at least say playoff contenders, right? I mean, well, they

Nestor Aparicio  30:49

better be ahead of schedule by the time they see Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, because you don’t just drift off to those games and think that they’re going to be pushover games. Because, you know, the six and O’s in Division don’t happen. I mean, I’ll give them Cleveland next week, they’ll beat Flaco. You know, I’m good. That’s better when that Monday morning you lose by decimal points, we at least come back and say, even it up against Cleveland. Then get, you know, get back on it and hope, hopefully you’re dusting off and you’re not injured on Monday. But it’s just a treacherous way to start the season. That’s all, you know. Let the treachery begin, really,

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Luke Jones  31:19

yeah, and again, I mean, everyone’s gonna have their games as I said. I mean, okay, Buffalo’s schedule on paper, yeah. I mean, they for them. It kind of seems like no excuse not to be excellent this year. They’re another team, right? I mean, we’ve talked a lot about the Ravens with home field. I mean, the Ravens have had home field twice in the last six years. I mean, they they stubbed their toe with their two opportunities to have home field, right? And 19, they didn’t even make it to the AFC Championship game being hosted in Baltimore two years ago. Of course, the chiefs came in. But buffalo, think about, think about the success they’ve had in the regular season against Kansas City, but come January, they’re always playing at arrowhead, right? So if I’m a Bills fan, looking at that schedule, this is the year to be the number one seed, right? I mean, if you don’t do it this year, then you question when it’ll ever happen.

Nestor Aparicio  32:12

Well, I mean, I talked to Vic Carucci all my buffalo mafia this week. You can find that at Baltimore positive, or listen here at W, N, S T, this the end of the stadium there. So you’re going to hear that from the beginning of the game Sunday through the end of it. And is it the last ravens visit? Well, maybe they’ll be here again in January in Orchard Park, whatever. That stadium such a hole. I mean, it’s there’s nothing to recommend that stadium in any way, to go see it before they rip it down or anything. But to Buffalonians thinking about the last game in that stadium being a winnable playoff game is very, very realistic. You know, imagine if we were shutting down Memorial Stadium here all over again and had a chance to be a 12, 1314, win team. And knowing you’re expecting to have a playoff, at least a playoff game in January. You can’t expect to have more than that, because you have to win the first one. They have a second one or third one, right? But in this particular case, the fan base expectation there for this season, the storybook part of this, all that goes back to OJ and Scott Norwood and Jim Kelly and just all of that they’ve never won. So it’s just a different level of fandom, and it’s a different way of life. I know you went to school with Syracuse 30 years ago. They still haven’t won. You know, they haven’t won. So this closing the stadium, there’s just a lot of emotion about it, I think. And it’s always a tough place to play, cold or warm. I mean, it’s going to be loud up there on Sunday night, and their fans are foaming at the mouth to host an AFC Championship Game. Win It, win a Super Bowl.

Luke Jones  33:48

No question. And what the weather? I think I saw, it’s going to be around 60 degrees, you know, as the game goes on Sunday night. So it’s going to be cool, but certainly not January weather in Buffalo. So, so you have that, but, yeah, I mean, they’re looking at that schedule. They’re looking at where the bills have been in the same way the Ravens have been in that same category, right? Coming up short against Kansas City, coming up short against Kansas City. I mean, the Ravens come up short against buffalo in January, even after beating the pants off of them back in week four last year. But they’re looking at that and they’re saying, Hey, this is our year to be the number one seed. This is our year to host an AFC Championship game. This is our year to get back to a Super Bowl for the first time in three plus decades. You know, they’ve got the reigning MVP. The Ravens have the man that they feel should have been the reigning MVP. In my opinion, should have been as well. But man, week one, this is fun. I mean, two years in a row, right? You’re playing the team that ended your previous season. I mean, that is that it’s challenging, especially playing on the road, but that’s also, man, that’s just that, that’s what the NFL loves, right? The theater of it, and certainly it figures to be theater on Sunday night as both these teams. Dollars. Have sky high expectations, and neither one wants to start. Oh, one

Nestor Aparicio  35:04

injury reports, breaking news. Pat Ricard, Jair Alexander, all at W n s t on the W n s t tech service, all of it brought to you by Cole roofing and Gordian energy back on the grid. We got the Buffalo Bills, and it is football season around here. We’re going to be doing the Maryland crab cake tour on the 16th at the Beaumont and Catonsville. I’ll be joined by Pat young councilman, Pat young, who’s going to be running for Baltimore County Executive as well. Plenty of things going on. I’m eating lots of food. All that brought to you by our friends at Curia wellness. Luke will be monitoring all things buffalo on Sunday night. We’re looking forward to getting ready for some football. He’s Luke. I’m Nestor. We are W, N, S, D, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, we never stop talking Baltimore positive. I.