Luke Jones and Nestor discuss final eight and visions of AFC Championship Game in Baltimore next Sunday
Welcome home we are wnst am570 talson Baltimore and Baltimore positive. comom come on out and visit us here this week we got a heck of a football um celebration really uh we have a chance to do something here in Baltimore we haven’t done in 53 years an AFC Championship Game Houston Texans coming
To town this week we’re talking a lot of football around here want to remind everyone we have suspended the Maryland crab cake tour I know I am wearing my papis world famous crab cake shirt now open in Belair uh we are doing crab cake Row the week of February 5th um we will
Have Maryland Lottery I have a few o snaps a few peppermint payouts still left I gave some of these away at Hollywood Casino gave a lot of them away at Hollywood Casino on Saturday night watching Joe flacko get steamrolled and watching Port two at Tonga aloa realized
He was no longer in Hawaii anymore our friends of wi donation in conjunction with Jiffy L and the Maryland Lottery putting us on the road we’re doing the biggest charity week we’ve ever done for the Maryland Food Bank it’s going to be the week of February 5th we’re calling
It crab cake row a cup of soup or Bowl uh we’re going to be offering free soup for folks that come out and do good things in the community I’m wearing my papa shirt we’re going to be there on the Friday before the Super Bowl that is February the 9th February 5th we’re
Going to start the party at fad Le’s down Lex Market on the 6th on Tuesday we’ll be at cus Wednesday we’ll be at CoCo in lauraville Thursday we will be at State Fair in cville and on Friday we’re going to be at the the aforementioned papis in cocky
I need big locations Luke and the reason for that is I don’t know if you know they might be in the Super Bowl and you might be in Las Vegas running around on a junket at the M Casino with JT the brick rolling dice um we’re not that far
Off and here we go and it feels like it’s been a little while since they played meaningful football we sat around all night Saturday all night Sunday all night Monday which felt like a Sunday then it snowed on Monday and Tuesday felt like a Monday that it snowed so
This thing’s hopping up on us it’s going to be cold as hell on Saturday Texans AR aren’t going to travel well um I I don’t want to say it remains to be seen if the Stadium’s full I think it’ll be full I think the people that thought they were
Going to scout their tickets they Cole and I did a whole segment last week on that from Cole Roofing about hey I’m gonna get rich on my tickets no you’re not it’s going to be 20 degrees and you’re G to be lucky that folks want to
Go out there and sit in it and I think for all of us to sat and watch cold people over the weekend and it’s going to be cold here all week um weather’s going to be a factor in this one but uh you know over the weekend what happened
With Buffalo and Pittsburgh and moving games and all that um it’s it’s been an interesting tournament and a bunch of really bad football over the weekend this is the weekend where things usually shake out and we get better matchups you certainly hope so because that was not a very compelling weekend
Other than the weather elements in Kansas City and then of course in Buffalo as you alluded to with the postponement from Sunday to Monday I mean five out of six games were decided by multiple scores and you know a couple of those games okay Pittsburgh lost by
Two touchdowns did it ever really feel like the Steelers were really in that football game guess maybe right after the blocked field goal but beyond that I mean Buffalo was in control you know and I I said to you the only way the bills would lose that game would be if the
Bills play with their food a little bit too much uh as they are apt to do which is one of the reasons why they were six and six at one point uh but you know they for the most part took care of the football and they took care of business
But you know you look at these matchups I mean beginning with you know we’ve talked about Houston but just the dismantling of the Browns and as much as the focus was on Joe Flaco and he threw the two pick sixes and look Joe didn’t play well I mean there there’s no way to
Mince words about that but they they torched the Browns pass defense which was supposed to be so good and had been so good over the course of the Year and that ended up being such a lopsided Affair I wasn’t really surprised what happened with Kansas City uh against
Miami I mean I’ve said it for a few weeks now the Dolphins for as much as they have talent and some special players on offense the injuries on defense really caught up to them a huge big time over the last few weeks I thought that about
Chelin I thought that about TJ watt I’m thinking these their defens is ba I mean could we lose ran Smith this week and still win the Super Bowl maybe maybe I don’t know depends on who you know who the matchup is probably change things about Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce
Next week or you know or Josh Allen whatever you’re GNA see but I when you lose chub I thought that about the Steelers I thought this might have been a fair fight on a cold night if they had their full compliment of players in that they make make a mistake force a fumble
Allen throws the ball around a little bit the weather wasn’t going to be good the begin with it’s be cold but you can’t win without TJ watt you can’t win without Bradley chub you can’t win without Lamar Jackson as we found last year you don’t win without your best
Players in January I mean your best guys’s got to be on the field yeah and I’d even add to that and this is why I didn’t give Pittsburgh even with TJ watt wasn’t giving them much of a chance you can’t win without good quarterback play and I mean Mason Rudolph was a nice
Story uh but limit limitations are evident you know I think that’s obvious uh and even in the case of tuatonga Vala for all the statistics he put up look he had a chance to to solidify his spot so to speak in terms of the quarterback
Hierarchy uh in the AFC and not just the AFC but the NFL and look at how he played you know he didn’t play well against the Ravens after you know uh the first 20 minutes or so did not play very good football did not play well against Buffalo and and was completely
Overmatched in Kansas City and I get it it was cold but it was cold for the Chiefs too and they couldn’t do it so I I think you’re right the injuries are are so key and and I think for Miami you know I if they had been fully
Healthy would I have given them a better chance against Kansas City sure but at the same time Miami proved over and over and over again this year whenever they went up against a good team they weren’t ready you know they they had one win all year against a team with a winning
Record and it was a Cowboys and we saw how that played out for the Cowboys uh hosting Green Bay on Sunday which I mean how about Jordan love I mean what a story that has turned out to be you know we’ve talked about CJ strad and what
He’s done uh in the AFC as a rookie but Jordan love not a rookie but his first year as a starter it looks very Aon Rogers replacing Brett fares you know I mean he he looks like he can really play and it it took him a little while took him
About half a season to really get his bearings but he’s been one of the better quarterbacks in the NFC you know for for the better part of about two two months now I mean go look at his numbers from about what week 10 on or week 11 on I
Mean really really impressive and overcoming what has what is a flawed roster you know not not a very good Green Bay defense so you know I I think uh this weekend really you know it illuminated just how important quarterback play is again and not not that anyone needed a reminder we know
That uh in this day and age but uh between that and then just seeing some of these teams that were a little more banged up you know you kind of saw that exposed as well but you know by and large was not the best weekend of football in terms of these matchups I
Mean Lions Rams was great that that’s the game I thought would be the game of the weekend you know I I thought that all along and in fact I thought the Rams would upset to Detroit and you know they came close to doing it but Lions good
Story right I mean first playoff win since 1991 I mean you think about all the guys on that team who were not even born yet uh who contributed to that Victory on Sunday night that’s a pretty good story and I think you know you look at the NFC
Now the 49ers it’s a similar message for them as it is with the Ravens with the Texans you know don’t sleep on the Packers just because they’re the seven seed but you know if you look at how that all sets up know it looks like it’s
A you know a road to 49ers lions in the NFC championship game uh which I think will be a really good matchup but other you know other than that Lions game let’s face it it was a pretty lopsided weekend overall I mean a couple of these
Games were games for a little while but for the most part you know the halves in the have knots were pretty evident over the course of the weekend you know I think about these wild card games and I think about like weekends like when the Jaguars beat the Dolphins like 52 to
Nothing and like really awful blowout games boy that flacko game on Sunday and whatever the Texans are and whatever they’re going to be this week they had that moment at home in a season where you don’t think you’re going to have it the Lions their fans had their party
Right Cowboys showed up nothing happened the Eagles my God I mean there there’s some real steaming messes even amongst playoff teams Tomlin jumping off the podium when he’s asked about his future right like you lose these games home or away playoffs I mean it’s one thing to
Be the Carolina Panthers or to be the Bengals where your quarterback gets hurt and I had Solomon wilcott on this week or even the Jaguars who sort of spit it up at the end of the year I had Sam cavas on last week who votes for the
Hall of Fame trying to get Fred Taylor into the Hall of Fame now and a Baltimore guy woodl long guy so I’ve gone around the league and sort of yeah licking the wounds of we didn’t make the playoffs we were expected to Cincinnati Jacksonville right or were a a mess New
England the Jets I mean if you didn’t make the playoffs and you won five or six games you’re a mess you don’t have a quarterback you’re a mess you fired your coach you’re a mess your fans are pissed off and nobody wants to come to the
Games you’re a mess so but then I see that they all got $380 million of Television money and I realize why guys like Chad steel throw me out and why they don’t care whether anybody comes to the game this week week or whether they even plow their own stadium when they’ve
Sold tickets for $500 a piece and whether you have a place to stand and what time the game starts and what they’re going to do you like they are what they are peacock one word peacock well actually two words Hollywood Casino because that’s where I went to watch the
Game uh instead of getting peacock but you know all of the League’s excess um greed um fandom gambling Flags bad officiating it’s all sitting here here you I mean I dude what the hell else was I doing over the weekend I sat here like everybody else and I watched 10 hours of
Football Saturday 10 hours of football Sunday 10 hours of football on Monday man I watch 30 hours of football over the weekend and I see it in all of it and all of it’s coming through here this week and we were kind of had the weekend
Off and it’s going to snow and get the plows out and let’s watch the snow cam and in Orchard Park and all that now it comes here and it gets real heavy if you’re losing 10 to nothing as we found out for the 49ers as well and I would
Even go into Sunday where I think Sunday night look I think the Ravens will win they’re 10-point favorites I expect that at 8 o’clock I’m sitting around here watching Brock pry dirty and you know having a good time watching Jordan love and we’ll see how it goes out in Santa
CLA on Saturday night but I’m thinking give me the popcorn like Michael Jackson we’re gonna sit here old Sunday night and we’re going to watch these heavyweights go at each other and knowing that we only have to get one of them and man as far as the road paved to
Gold if I’m writing Purple Rain three and I’m not but you can Luke uh I got some purple ring twos and ones in the trunk if you want them by the way um I I would say that this it’s dreamy I mean even Andrews coming back what’s going on
With this team is they believe dare I say Destiny right I mean somebody out there is is it might be Houston it might be probably not because it usually isn’t rookie coach rookie rookie quarterback or whatever but there’s some good stories being authored including Jared gof and Detroit but San Francisco and
The Ravens had the week off nobody talked about them we’ve seen all the rest of this these stories over the including Tampa Baker Mayfield want a playoff game he’s a one-1 overall he’s not a joke right and I think we saw if you don’t believe in Detroit maybe you
Believe in Tampa right but this is going to be an interesting weekend of football and it never goes to script and I know we want script to be Mark Andrews comes back and there’s a parade here on Valentine’s Day and like and Lamar believed that and all maybe that’s the
Way it is but maybe this is Josh Allen’s time right or maybe it’s Patrick Mahomes doing it on the road for the first time yeah I mean it’s you just said it it doesn’t necessarily go to script I mean it’s that’s why we watch right I mean as
Much as guys like me enjoy and appreciate analytics and dboa and you know we all sit there and argue about Power Rankings even though we all matter you fumble right well we all say we hate Power Rankings but we look at them over the course of the year but you get to
You get to these games I mean it’s a it’s a one game season from from here on out it really is I mean we can sit here and talk you just said it I mean we’re we’re working under the assumption that the Ravens will handle their business on Saturday I expect them
To you know I I’m going to pick them to win you know going out on a big limb there right picking the best team in the NFL but yeah you do look in the opposite side of this AF bracket and it is fascinating from the standpoint of you
Have Kansas City Buffalo and the Ravens know that okay they’re not going to have to play both of them on their path to a Super Bowl but they’re gonna have to play one of them you know if assuming they win uh and beat the Texans on Saturday and it is interesting from the
Standpoint of as much as we’ve talked about the Ravens and their path and you just said it on paper it doesn’t get much better than this right Kansas City down buffalo had to win what six in a row just to get to this this point you know that’s how little their margin for
Err was Cincinnati is sitting at home because Joe burrow hurt his wrist in mid November I mean go down the list Miami wasn’t ready for Prime Time Joe flacko turned back into a pumpkin I mean go down the list of all these teams but on the flip side you have
Buffalo who is looking at Kansas City in the same way that the Ravens are right now and they more so than the Ravens they faced Kansas City in the playoffs a couple times in recent years and they fallen short you know they had the the
Gone in 13 seconds a few years ago and they lost to them you know uh so they’ve been in that position but they’re looking at it and saying we’re finally playing Kansas City in our building and yeah Patrick Mahomes and that offense isn’t as explosive as it’s
Been in recent years uh but and I’ve said this to anyone who would listen and look they’re other people I’m not the only one but for as much as people have been quick to be dismissive of the Chiefs it’s still Andy Reid it’s still Patrick Mahomes and by the way it is a
Much better defense than Kansas City has had in recent years so as much as the focus for the Ravens is on Houston this week but for fans because you know fans of media we can look ahead because we’re not playing uh but you you do look at
That and you know the other side of the bracket that’s you know there’s that’s interesting in terms of that Dynamic with both Buffalo and Kansas City and Kansas City I mean I just think back to all the years all the years we would talk about Brady and bellich and oh it’s
Finally over and they’re not that good and they they can’t do this or they can’t do that or they’re really injured and then how many times did you see them back in the AFC Championship or back in the Super Bowl when you’re we’re talking about them again on radio row all those
Years so but there’s not many years when you’re the one and the two and the three are a one a and a one b and they have to go play each other and anytime that happens if you could avoid that conflict you win you you know when you get Ben
Rothberger and pton Manning going against each other if you’re Tom Brady you only get one of them and this is that year and that’s why I keep saying you better win you better win you better win you better win and I’m gonna be a prick about that you better win because
I’ve sat here and watched the Orioles win 101 games and not get out of their way in October and then just think you’re going to win 102 next year I don’t say it never happens it’s a 10% chance that last year is a stepping stone to next year when last year was a
One seed like literally when last year was a one seed if you thinking this year you’re going to be a one seed with a bullet man that’s Yankee stuff that’s that’s not reality I mean the Colts did it for a while the Patriots did it for a
While a couple of those Elite teams we’ve never had that around here maybe Lamar is that and maybe they’re going to draft well enough they have enough young players they can control their cap maybe they really can win 13 games two out of the next three years maybe they can but
Somebody else might win 14 and it might be CJ Strat it might be Trevor Lawrence getting a defense it it it could be anything but people getting in the way and where Allen is and where Allen is perceived to be and where he’s been playing lately right and we’ll get to
Him fake sliding because I I don’t want to let that go You and I gotta talk about that um and momes to only get one or the other CJ s out aside as a rookie and a 10-point underdog this week on a cold day um purple ring three dude I got my I
This pen see I have these pens here I I do big pens this one here actually has a purple in it so I I’m inking my purple rain right now for for you Purple Rain three this is how the book is written I mean this everything’s fairy tale so far
For them right to now yeah but but I I’d also point out to you Purple Rain one and two did not constitute a a number one seed and being the heavy favorite throughout I mean that so that right there shows how often it doesn’t go to script how often it is
This this script has never been written in this way here well I I think I mean just look at the history of the franchise now of course 2000 that was the first time they’d been in the playoffs so you didn’t really have other than just saying that the Ravens hadn’t
Won anything in their first four years you didn’t really have any kind of a Redemptive story uh you know it through you know on from an onfield standpoint but 2012 I mean think about what it led up to that I mean you go all the way
Back to 2006 and the failure there first time they had ever had a first round buy and what happened to them against Indianapolis and how that was very quickly you know very rapidly I don’t you know Beginning of the End however you want to classify it for Brian bilck
In that era of the Ravens right uh but you know obviously the Ravens in 2011 they had the first round buy they lost to to New England Billy Cundiff Lee Evans so 2012 they did have that Redemptive story so you know the Ravens have been in this position before in
Terms of being the favorite but you know does this you know it’s been this has been a four-year story now for for Lamar Jackson in this era of the Ravens uh after what happened in 2019 but you know the 2012 team they were 10- six we we all know what happened that December
Right so you know it happens in different ways so this is unique for the Ravens in the sense that you know they haven’t often been the team that you point to as being The Hunted you know they haven’t been the team that’s been the heavy favorite uh in the way that
This team is in the AF and they’ve never made good on it in this era yeah yeah well I mean like I said I mean the other times they’ve been the first round buy look at how it’s gone 2006 2011 they had a first round buy with by the way hou
Hosted Houston in the divisional round that year and if you recall that was a choppy effort you know that that was the game where Ed Reed made some not so flattering remarks about Joe flacko the day you know a couple days after that was a controversy for 5 minutes about
That that was a little overblown but at the time it was you know made some headlines uh but you know and then there’s 2019 and we know how that turned out so look there’s no requisite you know it’s not as though you need to be the
Number one seed or as you mentioned with the Orioles that you need to win 100 plus games to win the World Series far from it you know the Texas Rangers proved that and reminded us of that this past year even though in the middle of
The Season we all feel like we need to be number one in the power rankings yeah um what you need to do is have a home game have healthy players and have a good matchup and Not yeah and and then go out and execute do all the things that you’ve talked about doing and the reason everyone I talked to last week you go through the full docket of all of these real there wasn’t anybody I had on the show last year that hasn’t been doing this for 30
Years like literally Clark judge Sam gavaris Mike Flynn I mean the guests we had all of them there is a level of expectation because of how good this team has been dvoa I had Aaron shots and Mike tenir on last week talking dvoa and talking about
Historically that a team that has a lead at the two-minute warning in every single game they play and that could have closed it out in that way and been a perfect team in that way and didn’t that they have never rolled out of bed on the wrong side where they’re there’s
Any thought that they’re going to be behind 13 to three at halftime this week right like that’s not that’s not conceivable because it hasn’t happened yet but it’s conceivable you get a punt blocked um you fumble you throw a pick six the ball squirts up in the air you
Get a bad call you know like all of those things that we saw happen over the weekend that conspired to blowouts everywhere I don’t expect that nobody expects that from the Ravens and I think the other part that I get from everyone and I don’t know whether this is even
Legitimate or not because they didn’t play from behind at all all year long like they just didn’t so but the perception is they could if they needed to and that’s a totally different place than where they were against Tennessee or the Char I guess the charers were still in San Diego now
They were in La they were car were the they were in where they are now Purgatory Harbaugh Ville um but I would say for those games trouble begat trouble begat trouble be got let’s go on fourth down let’s not make it they don’t they haven’t played that way this year
Ever it would be out of character and if they were behind 13 to three at halftime on a 21 degree day because they had three turnovers and Tucker missed the field goal whatever they could come out and they could overcome being down 10 points yeah they they can that’s that
Still doesn’t mean you want to be in that position though because of of what you just said because that yeah right well I mean they trailed for a good portion of the Rams game you know I I I think you know you kind of look at that
As being and look I mean even that game you know went to overtime they won on a punt return for a touchdown so you know you you kind of look at how the season is played out you’re right I mean there’s no question about it I mean but
Like I said and I’ll keep coming back to this 2019 was they hadn’t lost since what late September That season you know it was week four when the Browns beat them and you know might as well have been a different team at that point in time they traded for you know after that
Happened they signed Josh bindes and they signed LJ Fort and they traded for Marcus Peters and you know we we saw them reel off 12 wins in a row and and look dominant in doing it the point is all it takes is one performance to be
Out of character you know you wake out of wake up out on the wrong side of the bed you know you come out a little overconfident you come out you know a little slow out of the gate because you haven’t played a really meaningful game
In in two and a half weeks three weeks so you know those are just the potential pitfalls I think that’s a big reason why John Harbaugh you know they practiced all week they practiced in pads on Friday even though I don’t think it was this over-the-top hard-hitting training
Camp like practice but they did practice in pads uh they went to the stadium on Saturday for you know an hour and a half practice I think that was as much a mental and psychological thing for them as anything else to kind of go through hey let’s go to the stadium let’s
Practice let’s visualize being here a week from now hosting Houston or whoever they thought it was going to be at that point in time so you do those things you try to avoid those pitfalls as much as you can but still have to go out and
Play the game and at this point in the season yeah even talking about Green Bay who barely got in even talking about uh you know talking about the the Texans who needed to win at in week 18 to to win the division you look where the
Bills are the bills are hosting a home game now this week that they have Mahomes coming in because they got their business done against Miami in the end because they were going to be the seven seed they were going to be out of the playoffs five weeks ago six weeks ago
Now they’re hosting a game and if Houston pulls off a miracle they can host an AFC Championship game if they win right and they’ll be in a position to know that before the game starts on Saturday night as to whether they’d have a trip to Baltimore or Houston coming in
And that’s what the stakes would be for them but they were they were giving up for dead the bills were giving up for dead when the Eagles were 10 and one and the Cowboys were nine and two and now look at it now look at it yeah exactly I mean that that’s why
You know we we always we we joke about overreacting week one and week two right you know every every year we talk about that the overreaction week one and week two but really that that’s a year-long thing you know a week to we we talk
About it it’s a week- toe league but we always forget that it’s a week toe league and how we assess and how we React to what happens and that’s why the Ravens they’re so highly regarded because week to week they’ve continue to be the best team in the league or one of
The best teams in the league at any point over the course of the season I guess okay no one thought they were the best team in the league when they lost to Pittsburgh back in week five you know as we were getting ready to watch the Orioles in game two of the division
Series and and they had that inexplicable loss in Pittsburgh other than that and certainly since then they’ve been the best team in the NFL and uh they’ve been that consistent but that has to C carry over now you have to continue that and you have teams who
Everyone’s good who’s left I mean even Green Bay Green Bay you talk about them they barely made it right nine and eight and they didn’t look like a nine and8 team against the Cowboys and look the Cowboys are fraudulent as they are year after year after year and they’re probably
Gonna undergo a bunch of changes but they still were the number two seed it was that we put on them when we went down there you and I remember that remember that little Seance we had outside the locker room to put need to put Cowboys they were already hexed
Right right so and I mean you look at Tampa Bay even though I’m a little less inclined to compliment Tampa Bay too much because because the Eagles are just disastrous disaster Ian I mean boy there how does that unravel in six weeks that the coach is gonna get five I mean what
They were in the Super Bowl 5 48 weeks ago 49 weeks ago they were regarded as the best team in the league through the first 10 10 or 11 weeks I I don’t know how you look at that without concluding that there are some very serious stuff
Going on behind the scenes and look coaching they lost both their coordinat and I’m glad you know I’m glad we we shifted here because I think this is another important point for the Ravens as much as you’ve been about by the way we to do a whole segment on that where
You’re about to go for sure I think you look at where the Ravens are right now and let’s be clear I don’t want to be alarmist about this if you have a healthy and upright Lamar Jackson year after year after year it’s been proven
You have a chance you have a heck of a chance anytime you play that that’s we’ve seen that for five years now that’s said you have your defensive coordinator who’s been interviewed by what five or six teams at this point already Tod interview right he’s getting
The job you would think so you would think so uh you know is it possible not this year but he’s gonna get a job sooner than later and by the way if you win the Super Bowl that’s when monin that that’s when they they go out and
Lay 52 on Houston this week right Nicole like all of this can unravel quickly too I remember Marvin was going to get a job then he’s back here coaching again right like you never know you never know right yeah but the point is everything about this team moving forward now
Coordinators not just the coordinators but I know even some unreported you know some off the Record there’s a lot of interest in their other assistant coaches as there should be when you’re talking about a team that’s the best in the NFL and so highly regarded as far as
Their coaching staff so it’s not just potentially your coordinators but losing some guys that could potentially be replacements for them down the line uh you have have that salary cap situation while it’s not the worst in the NFL it’s not going to be easy and it’s not going
To be easy moving forward when you have a $260 million quarterback uh that’s that’s just reality that that’s not an excuse but it’s part of the conversation you look at all the free agents they have you look at Philadelphia think about how highly regarded the Eagles
Were I mean they lost by a Nat’s eyelash to to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl last February I mean it was that close right a holding call you know a of holding pass interference whatever it was and what was the the sentiment at that point
In time oh I mean this team set up so well then they lose their offensive coordinator they lose their defensive coordinator uh some of their veterans on defense got old overnight over the course of this season uh you know they they their quarterback who looked like
You know other than Mahomes best in the League last year doesn’t look like the same guy this year and I think coaching is a part of that I do wonder about health as well point is that the Eagles on paper looked like they were set up to
Be fine and and to win a couple Super Bowls over the next four or five years and now a year later just a year later we’re talking about the future of the head coach uh their coordinator Situation’s been a mess on you know with either either replacement it hasn’t
Really worked out very well by the way when bemy left Kansas City that’s messed with them too sure yeah I I’ll hear that you know I mean that whole that whole debate about who called plays and you know is it Andy Reid or Eric bi the point was that was a collaborative
Operation right he clearly sucessful very sucess exctly so anytime you’re changing variables you run the risk of something becoming lesser you know something that dissipates something that is you know regresses however you want to describe it and oh yeah when you are in that position teams are gunning for
You and and teams are trying to figure things out that’s one reason why Greg Roman after a while it ran its course right I mean I I think you know I’ll never subscribe to the idea that Greg Roman was their only problem whatsoever but I think it was clear that it was
Time for this offense to evolve it was time for someone else to work with Lamar Jackson uh and Lamar Jackson needed to stay healthy and that’s a big part of it too compared to the last couple years but the point is for this team I’m not sure it’s going to set up
Any better for them at any point here in the not in in the future you know the next three four years it’s not going to set up any better than it is right now now that doesn’t mean they can’t win you know if they lose in the AFC Championship that doesn’t mean they
Can’t come back next year and have a Redemption story but chances are they might not be the number one seed they might be a wild card they might way that Redemption story will go back to being negative Nester Lamar can’t win which is oh you think you’re G to go into the
Playoffs and play a home game and then go to Buffalo and then go to Kansas City and win I tell you what you know Kansas City’s trying to do that right now now right Kansas City is trying to ah we you know we swatted away Miami in a Five
Below night now they’ve got to go to Buffalo and if they survive that they’ve got to come here and I tell you what if Kansas City’s out in Vegas Au you won’t be out there you’ll be with me eating crab cakes and have some have some crab
Soup like a good Maryland boy you you should be even though you’re Pennsylvanian sort of kind of um I I would say if Kansas City does that man you off your cap if they’re in here next Sunday night at 7 o’clock and Patrick Mahomes is going to another Super Bowl
In a visiting Jersey in our Stadium they did something to go on the road and do that because that’s really hard to do and Joe Flaco will you know I know he’s no good and he stinks and he threw picks and he’s old and like he did it I
Watched it I was there I watched him go out to Denver I I watched him go up to New England beat pton Manning beat Tom Brady beat two Hall of Famers on the road it’s hard to do really hard to do hard enough to win from home is this
Team’s going to find out next two weeks yeah and I mean you say the same thing about Josh Allen if he F if even if they’re playing in Buffalo if they finally take down Kansas City in January which is something they’ve been trying to do and have been unsuccessful and
Then they go on the road and beat the Ravens and be a great story but it’ll be a great story for Lamar Jackson even if they’re playing at home you know at this point in time and again they’ve got to take care of Houston first we understand
That right I mean we don’t need to keep saying that like we’re players you and I are not playing on Sunday on Saturday so we can look ahead but if it’s Lamar Jackson even if at home you’re finally taking down Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen you know in the casea Mahomes you
Haven’t even played them in January but the Ravens you know he they’ve been in everyone’s way in the AFC ever since Tom Brady walked out and went to Tampa Bay it’s been Kansas City I mean that’s just where it is I’ve already said that’s the heavyweight fight I mean we all think
We’re just going to win we’re 10 okay great we’re gonna win we’re g to sit around Saturday night eat popcorn get ready party wo getting ready boy Sunday night’s gonna be slobber knocker and if you’re if you’re a Ravens fan if you’re John Harbaugh if you’re Lamar Jackson
You’re hoping that game is a slobber knocker to your point and it goes into overtime I hope it goes toen maybe double overtime yeah you know so I mean that’s where it is so I mean the Ravens are at are at the advantage here playing
At home and also and this is where we come back to it you know as much as we kind of talk about all these different paths that these teams have you know whether you’re a wild card playing on the road the entire time as the Ravens
Frequently did in the first half of the Joe flacko era they have for most of their history I mean let’s face it you think about Ravens playoff success it’s been on the road I mean that’s that’s that’s their story you know some of their biggest disappointments have been
Their home playoff gam oh they’ been hurt feelings at home bro yeah yeah exactly so never won a home playoff game that matters you know Colts game but not like you know we haven’t walked out of the thinking we’re going to the Super Bowl and I think we’ve all to your point
We’ve done a lot of things around here that’s one thing in your case you haven’t seen the Orioles win you know as I look at World Series press pins from time to time um you know just getting through this game your whole Pinch Me moment would happen at 7 o’clock if
You’re in the winning locker room this week just knowing they’re going to host an AFC Championship game next week that unto itself would be a big accomplishment a big achievement no matter who comes in here red or blue next week uh I mean it just it would be
Special we talked about this a couple weeks ago I mean it’s the best thing you can do in your own stadium knowing that okay not talking about like the the Rams winning a Super Bowl in their home stadium but in terms of just like the regular setup of a run-of-the-mill team
In the NFL the best you can do is to host a conference Championship game and win a conference Championship game in your own building you know again acknowledging the the Super Bowl scenario for some select teams but you know for for Baltimore I mean how special would that be I mean that’s
That’s something again hasn’t happened in 53 years think about what’s happened I mean that was another franchise ago right not just Generations it’s it was another team ago as it pertains to Baltimore hosting that game uh so you know there there’s definitely uh a really special element to what the
Ravens are playing for that goes beyond just this season and the excitement of this team and trying to win a Super Bowl for the first time in 11 years and Lamar Jackson trying to win his first Super Bowl uh you know so there’s there’s a lot on the line on Saturday there’s no
Question about it but to your point you know assuming they do take care of business and I expect them to you I think you know I fully expect them to take care of business and win on Saturday then yeah uh put put your feet up and but be ready uh because uh you’re
Going to have the winner of that game Kansas City and buffalo you know they’re going to be uh that’s a team that’s going to be very weathered in terms of you know they’ve gone through something you know they’ve really gone through something so uh you know we we’ll see
How it plays out but shaping up to be a really fun couple weeks here uh the Ravens just have to take care of business you know and it’s going to be a really fun couple weekends here in Baltimore and yeah there there’s I I already said it and I’ll continue to say
It especially assuming the Ravens do win Saturday that the idea of a conference Championship an AFC Championship in Baltimore it’s another one of those bucket list items that I think a lot of fans even talking to one of my best buddies who went to the Super Bowl in
New Orleans and has been to so many playoff games you know we we talked about it on New Year’s in fact and and he said that you know that that would be different that would be special doing that in your home stadium having that opportunity to raise
The Lamar Hunt Trophy and know that you’re going to the Super Bowl uh even though the Ravens have done it they’ve done it in on the road to do that at home that’d be really special so that this is a really unique opportunity that will go back to will continue to say
Doesn’t come around every year so this is a a chance to do something really special uh that that they haven’t done before so it’s going to be a lot of fun on Saturday and you hope even more fun the following Sunday we’re gonna be doing something really special the week
Of February 5th uh it’s going to be cup of soup or Bowl week um all brought to you by the Maryland Lottery conjunction with our friends at wi donation and Jiffy Lube I’ll be giving away uh Raven scratch offs Maryland’s lottery scratch offs Not Raven scratch offs o snap
Scratch offs I also have some uh some peppermint payouts but I have some fresh ones as well we will be doing a week of live broadcast to benefit the Maryland Food Bank I’m going to have a whole bunch of details about this uh coming forward just a little teaser big
Appreciation to all of our sponsors and bringing this thing together that week so beginning the week of February 5th you come out say hello um have a uh a cup or a bowl of Maryland crab soup or or a cream of crab soup I I did have a
Request for chicken noodle over the weekend so I I’m going to be working on that Mark brinsky the blade wanted chicken noodle soup so I’m like all right that’s good for the soul from what I understand Ravens football all week long around here we’re going to be
Talking uh with lots and lots of experts lots of football people Luke’s going to be out KN Mills there’s any breaking news you’ll get it first on the wnst tech service I remind everybody to stay warm out there this week we will have a a whole theme uh about warmth and hunger
And abundance and all that stuff coming up in the month of February as the Ravens try to bring back a third Lombardy Trophy and the first one for Lamar Jackson who uh who guaranteed us a Super Bowl just like Jo Joe Amoth we we’ll see they are two hours of football
Away from playing in Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas I am Nester he’s Luke we are wnst am1 1570 talson Baltimore and we never stop talking Baltimore positive
