With the miserable exit of the Baltimore Ravens season on Sunday night in Pittsburgh, this is the week the franchise will address any major changes in leadership, coaching and a stated direction for the fan base (if they care about such things). Other NFL owners are speaking with local media around the league. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the offseason mess left behind from a wildly disappointing season and the clear need for owner Steve Bisciotti to come forward after eight years of neglecting to answer questions about his $5 billion franchise.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ disappointing 2023 season, highlighting the team’s regression from a 14-2 record in 2022 to an 8-9 finish in 2023. They criticized the coaching staff, particularly Greg Roman and Dean Pees, for poor game management and player development. They also questioned the front office’s offseason acquisitions, noting the lack of impact from first-round picks like Malachi Starks and Mike Green. The conversation emphasized the need for significant changes, including potential coaching and front office overhauls, and called for Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti to be more accountable and visible to fans.
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Write an article explaining why you were ejected/left in the cold at the Pittsburgh game and how that impacted access and coverage (publish in upcoming columns/publications).
- [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Continue investigative coverage and public accountability reporting focused on team ownership and Steve Bisciotti’s public engagement with fans, including follow-ups and columns pressing for owner response.
- [ ] Prepare and lead the next show segment focused on Lamar Jackson — his role, the coach relationship, and roster decisions — for the program’s follow-up episode.
Offseason Reflections and Player Performance
- Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss their experiences at the game, with Nestor noting he got more sleep than Luke.
- Nestor mentions the importance of the game for veteran players, suggesting it might be their last together.
- Luke Jones emphasizes the need for tough conversations and questions about the team’s performance and future.
- Both agree that the team underperformed, with no player emerging as significantly better than last year.
Decline in Team Performance and Coaching Changes
- Luke Jones compares the team’s performance from two years ago to this season, noting significant changes and losses.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the team’s failure to make the playoffs despite being favored, highlighting their inconsistent performance.
- Luke points out the team’s regression from the AFC title game to missing the playoffs, questioning the coaching and player performance.
- Nestor and Luke agree that the team’s offensive and defensive lines need significant improvements.
Player Regression and Offensive Issues
- Luke Jones discusses the regression of key players like Rashad Bateman and the lack of impact from first and second-round draft picks.
- Nestor and Luke highlight the team’s struggles with the offensive line and pass rush, noting the need for upgrades.
- Luke mentions the potential trade of Rashad Bateman, questioning his production and contract extension.
- Both discuss the team’s reliance on Tyler Huntley for wins and the overall lack of consistency in player performance.
Defensive Line and Injury Impact
- Luke Jones talks about the defensive line’s issues, including injuries and the need for new players.
- Nestor and Luke discuss the impact of injuries on key players like Matt Abigail and Broderick Washington.
- Luke mentions the team’s need to address the defensive line and pass rush to improve overall performance.
- Both agree that the team’s injuries and regression have contributed to their disappointing season.
Owner Accountability and Fan Frustration
- Nestor Aparicio criticizes the Ravens’ ownership, specifically Steve Bisciotti, for not being more involved and accountable.
- Nestor suggests that Bisciotti should speak publicly about the team’s performance and future plans.
- Luke Jones agrees that Bisciotti needs to address the fans and media, especially during times of struggle.
- Both express frustration with the team’s management and the lack of transparency from the ownership.
Future of Coaching and Player Personnel
- Nestor and Luke discuss the potential changes in coaching and player personnel, including the possibility of firing John Harbaugh.
- Luke suggests that the team might need a new head coach to connect better with Lamar Jackson and improve overall performance.
- Both agree that the team’s stars have not performed well in critical moments, questioning the coaching and player development.
- Nestor emphasizes the need for the owner to take responsibility and make significant changes to improve the team.
Impact of Missed Kick and Playoff Exit
- Nestor and Luke reflect on the missed field goal by Justin Tucker and its impact on the team’s season.
- Luke notes that the missed kick was the last memory of the season, highlighting the team’s failure to make the playoffs.
- Both discuss the importance of the playoff exit and the need for the team to address their weaknesses.
- Nestor emphasizes the need for the owner to be more involved and accountable, especially during times of struggle.
Owner’s Role and Fan Perception
- Nestor criticizes the Ravens’ ownership for not being more involved and accountable, suggesting that Bisciotti should speak publicly.
- Luke agrees that Bisciotti needs to address the fans and media, especially during times of struggle.
- Both discuss the impact of the owner’s absence on fan perception and the team’s overall performance.
- Nestor emphasizes the need for the owner to take responsibility and make significant changes to improve the team.
Team’s Performance and Future Plans
- Nestor and Luke discuss the team’s performance, noting the need for significant changes in coaching and player personnel.
- Luke suggests that the team might need a new head coach to connect better with Lamar Jackson and improve overall performance.
- Both agree that the team’s stars have not performed well in critical moments, questioning the coaching and player development.
- Nestor emphasizes the need for the owner to take responsibility and make significant changes to improve the team.
Final Thoughts and Offseason Outlook
- Nestor and Luke reflect on the team’s performance and the need for significant changes in the offseason.
- Luke suggests that the team might need a new head coach to connect better with Lamar Jackson and improve overall performance.
- Both agree that the team’s stars have not performed well in critical moments, questioning the coaching and player development.
- Nestor emphasizes the need for the owner to take responsibility and make significant changes to improve the team.
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SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ravens offseason, Bisciotti, John Harbaugh, Lamar Jackson, coaching changes, player performance, offensive line, pass rush, Rashad Bateman, Justin Tucker, fan frustration, ownership accountability, playoff miss, team regression, future plans.
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Luke Jones
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 to Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positively still in Pittsburgh. Luke and I were at the game on Sunday night. One of us is more rested than the other. The host, I got 20 more minutes sleep than Luke did last night. I spent the evening out in the cold, in the stands. Luke was in the press box. Luke, you were you went locker room after the game. People can discern all of this, and we’ll get into the long offseason. I don’t know if there’s more meat on the bone for the game and for Tyler. Luke, but the one thing that all the veteran players always acknowledge, and it was something that Billick acknowledged, kind of famously in Purple Rain, one where you get in the room, you say, This is it. This is if we don’t win, this is the last time this group is going to be together. And I can’t lament this group in regard to other years where they had better football teams. I think we had a perception that this was going to be a better football team than it was. And I think there’s going to be hell to pay for the coach, for the for the for the quarterback, for his offseason negotiation, for all of that, for the body of work and the disappointment, the injuries, just all the way through that neither one of us and no one in that organization, is going to look person by person through the body of work and say that person emerged this year and became a better football player. There’s so little of that. And when that happens, dude might be the coachee.
Luke Jones 01:32
I mean, you’ve got to ask, you’ve got to ask hard questions. You’ve got to have really tough conversations. And certainly not going to look at this thing and say, Well, we’re just going to run it back right? And I think you look at where they were two years ago, and obviously they were hosting the AFC title game, and we saw how that worked. And look, I mean, Kansas City went on to win a Super Bowl, right? And there’s no in isolation. There’s no shame in losing to the chiefs. But you look at what happened from 23 to 24 Yeah, there were some changes, right? I mean, Kevin Zeitler wasn’t back, genevion Clowney wasn’t back. But it’s not as though it was this drastic change in terms of, you know, you I mean, they did lose some coaches, which, you know, kind of goes back to, you know, the last point that you made, you know how much of this is coaching, but you look at AFC title game lost next year, you go to Buffalo divisional round, lose, and then this happens. And while we draw parallels because of how agonizing and torments the word that I used, they didn’t even make it, man. I mean, they went eight, nine. This was a team that was the overwhelming heavy favorite, and really the consensus in the minds of so many people that they were this the Super Bowl favorite, and they didn’t even make it to the playoffs. And look better, stay with them the whole year, right? I mean, sure. I mean Vegas love them to the bitter end, right? I mean that you looked at where they were,
Nestor Aparicio 03:05
high point, favorite, on the road, in the cold, in Pittsburgh, when they haven’t proved much this year, they got their ass kicked by Pittsburgh a couple weeks ago, we just they weren’t as good as we thought we they were across the body of the work. And sure, I don’t know what point I stopped believing in them. Hell, you, you threw them out last week, like, literally before
Luke Jones 03:22
the game. No, I bailed long before. Then I bailed after. I mean, really for me, it was what happened on Thanksgiving night against Cincinnati, and then coming off the extra rest from that game and losing to Pittsburgh, they lost back to back AFC North home games right on the heels of the five game winning streak, when, at that point, not that anyone was convinced, because it didn’t look dominant, right? We talked about that. It didn’t look dominant in Cleveland. They didn’t dominate the Jets. And by the way, I mean the Jets, the way they finished the season. Holy cow, like you want to talk about bad. I mean, my goodness, but they weren’t dominating those teams. So there was a skepticism to it that, okay, they’re, you know, they they were back, in terms of coming back from one and five and all that, when they lost those two games, that’s just, that’s where I looked at and I’m like, they’re just not very good. And to their, to their credit, they did have the game in Cincinnati then, and we saw them do what they did last week against the Packers, and the Browns gifted them one last chance, and they just couldn’t take advantage. They weren’t very good. And what you said it, I mean, when you’re trying to evaluate this thing, whether you’re talking about the coaches, the players, and yeah, throw the front office in there. Eric to Costa, didn’t have a very good offseason. Let’s call a spade a spade. Jair Alexander Cooper rush, yeah. I mean, like, where were the, where were the big time upgrades? I mean, the draft is kind of a TBD, right? I mean, Malachi Starks started every game. Are we ready to say he’s an above average player? Mike Green showed some signs, you know, I I’m not saying they’re boss. Let me be very clear on that. But I. We’re also not convinced that those guys are going to be anchors for you, right? And when you’re talking first and second round picks, I mean, well, you knew that with Hamilton right away. Sure, you know exactly Linder mom, you knew that right away, right? So, so you just look at this thing and look you can try to explain away everything you want to with injuries or this or that. I mean, they had a tough schedule out of the gate, and that contributed to starting the way they did, at least being one in three, and then Lamar gets hurt, and they’re so injured for the Houston game and the Rams game, but they just weren’t good enough. And I think when you just look at it, when you do look at it from 30,000 feet, and you say, okay, AFC title game, home loss, road loss, in the divisional round the following year, and then you don’t make the playoffs in a division where Pittsburgh won it at 10 and seven. It’s not like the Steelers had like a Oh my gosh, Juggernaut kind of season, right? I mean, so you look at that, and how can you not ask the question this is like, why are you regressing? Why is this going in the wrong direction the last couple years? What needs to change? You look at their list of and we’ll get into this. I mean, once the dust settles in terms of potential coaching changes, whether we’re talking head coach, coordinators, position coaches, all of the above right away. It’s Black Monday too. I mean, we’re gonna be talking about all that, right, in some shape or form, whether they do or don’t do make changes. But like, look at their to your point. You look at the roster. You look at the number of players who either regressed or didn’t take a step forward, or guys that you were hoping to be a lot better. Weren’t like, what are they going to do about their pass rush? What are they going to do about their offensive line? I think now, like wide receiver, by the way, like zay flowers, you got a fifth year option coming up, decision coming up on him. Not necessarily that that decision is going to be agonizing, but that’s going to involve him making a lot more money come 2027 Bateman, I mean, you want to look at a very significant part of their offensive woes. Rashad Bateman, go look at his numbers last year, and then go look at what they were this year. I mean, he was a really rock solid number two wide receiver last year. Let me bring up the numbers, because I think sometimes you know, because we understand, even going back to the Greg Roman years of this offense that you know, you couldn’t always just look at the numbers as far as doing justice for how individuals contributed. But last year, Rashad Bateman, last season, 45 catches, 756 yards, nine touchdowns this year in 13 games. Now that was 17 games, 13 games, so he missed some time, including Sunday night’s game. Nestor, he had 19 catches for 224 yards this year, an absolute non factor. That’s That’s like number two wide receiver production dropping to, I don’t know, number four wide receiver, yeah, sort of Nelson Aguilar, yeah. Like, yeah, exactly, yeah. So and, and think about it. Like, where was that made up? Okay, like, zay flowers had another 1000 yard season, but he had 1000 yard season
Nestor Aparicio 08:14
last year. Well, there you go with your number one picks again, right? Yeah, you know, another wide receiver we, we go back to the perryman’s and just all the Travis Taylor’s and go through all that. It certainly feels like we’re at that point with that
Luke Jones 08:26
guy, right? Yeah. I mean, especially, I mean, they gave him another contract extension this past offseason. I mean, I think I said this to you off the air, one of my early predictions in terms of, like, you know, moves that they would make with guys that are under contract. I would not be surprised if Rashad Bateman is traded, dealt, may move on.
Nestor Aparicio 08:47
I wouldn’t get in for a guy with 19 catches. Come on to it.
Luke Jones 08:53
Not not saying they’re going to get a first round pick Nestor, but someone who sees the production he had last year. You know, could you swap fifth round picks, swap fourth round picks? And he’s in that. I mean, it’s funny, because we’re going to talk about trading to coach, but my point, but my point, but my point with that is, here’s someone who’s under contract that you gave another contract extension to in June. It felt relatively team friendly for what the production was last year. And you’re thinking, Okay, this guy is becoming not a number one, but a really solid number two wide receiver that you feel really good about, and he was a non factor this year, so, and I’m not not picking on him, but it’s one of many issues with their offense. And you know, same thing happened on the defensive side of the ball. I mean, what are they going to do with their defensive line? I mean, okay, they did lock up Travis Jones, great. You and I haven’t had a chance to talk to it. They did extend John Jenkins, who ended up playing a heck of a lot more than anyone would have thought. With Matt Abigail going down, and also he’s almost a completely forgotten guy. Broderick Washington barely played all year, right? Mean, he was out after three games this season, and and he’s a guy that’s been a big part of the rotation, so I’m guessing he’s, there’s a good chance he’s gonna be a cap casualty, based on how much he’s making. And you know what the production has been the last couple years, even before this injury plagued year. So they just, they’ve got a lot. I mean, there’s a lot. And let me be clear, I’m not saying that to be alarmist in the way that I think, like, oh, that they’re doomed and they’re going to stink next year, but there’s just a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of work and a lot of uncertainty to your point, beginning with the head coach and the quarterback. Until, you know it’s uncertainty, until it’s certain, right? It’s uncertain until Steve bashati comes out and says, John Harbaugh is my guy. It’s uncertain until they’ve got a contract extension, or some reworking of lamar’s contract, worked out that he doesn’t have a $74 million cap hit, that that is going to be very prohibitive to try to address these needs that we’re talking about.
Nestor Aparicio 10:53
So you and I’ll fight about him. We’re going to do segments and segments, but because the point is significantly disagree and and I’m not, I don’t think I disagree with you, and I don’t even want to digress on to that, but I think there’s going to be evaluations within this organization that we’ve never seen before, because eight and nine and missing kicks and you know, on the back end, I mean, there’s their year. Last year began with the scandal that, first off, they lose, and then in the way that they lost with Mark Andrews and everybody hid, nobody came out. I mean, Andrews didn’t speak to August and and they had an off season that was, by the time we look at it now, underwhelming for acquisitions, for the way they’ve played, for the regression of players, for questions about whether the coaching not horrible. All of the coaching made them better. Yeah, not running Derek Henry at the end of games. That’s kind of on monkey, and we can blame that on horrible, but there’s just, it’s a lot. I don’t know who had a good year. I mean, I, you know, other than you and me, we’ve had a great year. Our numbers are up. I mean, we, you know, we’ve had a lot of though, that’s for sure. Yeah, well, it’s not because the football team and the baseball team stink, because, like, it’s not fun when you don’t believe in them. I mean, you stop. Look, I’ve known you a long time. You really didn’t believe in this team much at all the last six or seven weeks, and you were one of the first ones to say this isn’t good enough, and you haven’t been as hard on them as I have been. I think I’m a much bigger prick about all of this than you are in regard to how they play. And I don’t even know whether to tackle the Steelers game on Sunday night or to tackle the offseason, because we’re still in sort of Steelers mode as to how they lost the game, but they lost it the way. They lost the other eight games. They weren’t good enough. The ball went over their head. They missed kicks. The offensive line wasn’t good enough. The pass rush was horrific all year long. And all all of their scars, all of their deficiencies, kind of came through in the end, I think we saw the full palette of their weaknesses and did not see much of their strength this year at all, for anybody, stats, for for the record, for whatever. I don’t even remember the wins they had. You know, the eight wins they had. I remember blowing games, losing games, the wins they had were against chump teams. For the most part, all the good teams they played steel or swept them. I mean, I
Luke Jones 13:24
Yeah, think about it, man. And I’m not saying this to pick on Lamar Jackson, but it speaks to this football team. Tyler Huntley was the was the quarterback for their two wins all year against teams that were over 500 the bears Dude, that’s a freaking I mean, that’s wild, right? And you know, when I say that I’m not making that as much of a like Lamar Jackson indictment, that’s just the team collectively that speaks to they just weren’t good enough, and when they stepped up in terms of facing the varsity, especially when they, you know the defense, when they face the varsity quarterback, other than
Nestor Aparicio 14:04
they had to give him time. Yeah, every quarterback, Joe burrow,
Luke Jones 14:08
the second time against Joe burrows, the only time where they really got after a legit quarterback. And I mean, you know what was Joe burrow this year? You know what I mean? Like, he was Joe burrow, but not real. You know what I mean, like? So I mean, you just look at that, and, man, I I think back to and this is where you have difficult discussions, because you think back to where they were two years ago, and the disappointment of that, and at the time, you’re thinking, all right, how are they going to respond? And guys like me, guys like you, who follow, have followed the team, you know, whether as a fan or as a media member, for its entire existence. And you always try to draw parallels, right? You try to draw the comparison of what happened in 2011 and then you come back in 2012 you. This team’s done the opposite of that. They were so close in in 20 in 2023 and then they weren’t as close last year, and they don’t even get in the dance this year, in a year. And this is where we’ll we’ll bring back the big picture. And this is where it hurts more, where Patrick mahomes isn’t even in it. I mean, we’re going to have a brand new team planned in the Super Bowl out of the AFC, in the sense of, just like the contemporaries, right? I know the Patriots. It hasn’t been that long since they were in the Super Bowl, but that’s a completely different team. Now, you know, it’s not Belichick, it’s not Brady. So, I mean, you look at it through that lens. I mean, I’ll say this much. I mean, man, if the Buffalo Bills are ever going to break through Nestor. I mean, if it’s not going to happen this year, you don’t, you wonder if it’s going to happen, right? Because if you’re Josh Allen and you’re the bills, no mahomes, no Lamar, no Joe burrow. I mean, my goodness, but, but to bring it, you know, to bring the focus back on the Ravens. I mean, where do you go from here? And that’s where this is so tough, because it’s everything and nothing, right? I mean, it’s, you can try to explain away. Well, you know, if Tyler Luke made the kick, if, if Mark Andrews catches the ball last year, if zay flowers doesn’t fumble going across the goal line, if, to go back to 22 If Tyler Huntley doesn’t, you know, fumble, even though I don’t think that team was gonna go very far with Tyler Huntley at the helm and Lamar hurt. But you know, you you look at these moments in time, you look at it in isolation. You say, Oh, well, it was the offense, or it was the defense, or it was the special teams. I mean, it’s, it’s, there’s so much that, like, what do you what do you identify as you have full belief in that moving forward, and what do you say? I don’t know. I mean, kind of my takeaway, and you were alluding to this, is, I just don’t know if these guys are like this collective group, this mixture, right? I mean, think of it in terms of, like, a recipe and how it’s all been mixed together, and it just doesn’t feel like it works, the soups missing something, yeah, or, you know, like, do you need to, like, you know, separate all the ingredients again, and, like, come up with a different way of mixing it together and, and that’s, and maybe that’s, that might be the strongest argument for moving on from John Harbaugh. And you know me, Nestor, I don’t say that lightly. I don’t, and there’s no guarantee that you’re going to hire someone as good, let alone better than John Harbaugh. But at the same time, you can’t just keep looking at this thing and saying, just hoping that it’s going to get better, you know, in terms of like coming up big and in the crucial moments and not having critical mistakes, and not losing in these agonizing ways, and not blowing fourth quarter leads. And, I mean, go down the list. And no, that’s not all on, John. Let’s be clear on that the players have to be accountable too. And I wonder about this core of players in terms of, you know, do they have what it takes to to win, to win in January, right, to to win in those critical moments, to not make the critical mistake, right? And, man, it’s just, it’s really, really frustrating. And because you’ve seen how great it can look, not so much in 2025 let’s be clear. I’m talking about this in the big picture sense of the Lamar era. And you’ve seen how special it can look for extended periods of time in the regular season, and it just has not been that in January. And in this case, it wasn’t that even in the regular season. I mean, did they flash from time to time? I mean, sure they they came out of the gate the first three and a half quarters of the season opener in Buffalo looking exactly like the team we all thought they would be going into the season, but they lost, and it’s like they never really fully recovered from that. And, you know, there’s a mental and psychological side to that that is impossible for nerdy guys like me to quantify. But that doesn’t mean it’s not there, and that where, that’s where I think it is so tough for this organization to kind of figure out, where do you go from here, you know, and some of that might involve having to make some bolder, bolder changes, you know, I know, I think I wrote this last year might have been two years ago, might have been three years ago. I mean, like all the years run together in that way, you know, I’ve talked about the idea of needing to react without overreacting. Now, I almost feel like you might need to overreact, right in the sense of,
Nestor Aparicio 19:48
I don’t think there’s gonna be any calm here, after six home losses and the stadium emptying out and har ball being whatever he is at this point, Lamar being whatever he is at this point, which is right now. I’m not good enough because the pieces around him aren’t good enough. His health wasn’t good enough. And then the infighting that Preston reported about last week, that I have every reason to believe, is legitimate. You know, I love how these fans go out say, whoa. Lamar said he wanted to be here, so you must want to be here. Today is when, as Billick would say, time for pay, time for play. Time for play is over with. You missed a field goal Sunday night. It is all time for pay now for all of them, from now until, I mean, you better hope the Orioles are in a pennant race the next time they kick in September, because between here and September, they can’t do anything. Dude, that’s the hardest part. They can’t win. They can, oh, we drafted number 21 or whatever. We got a better draft pick get knocked out of the playoffs. So where they get a draft 1920, 18, something like, something like that, right? I mean, but it’s not going to be 27 this year, the way it’s been in the pair 24 this year, because they didn’t make the playoffs. They’re 12 teams in front of them. So that 19 is probably 1817, 1819, whatever it is, right?
Luke Jones 21:01
Yeah, well, they’re gonna let me get it honestly, yeah, yeah, we’re on the world. You put me on the spot, and I’m actually, you know, I’m interested in that. They’re, they’re picking 14.
Nestor Aparicio 21:11
I haven’t even looked at the playoff schedule yet because, like, we were up half the night and on three. I just knew they
Luke Jones 21:16
were gonna play Monday night, right? I mean, it’s gonna be a Monday night playoff game, which I’m not gonna lie with my lack of sleep with these recent prime time, this run of prime time games. I’m thinking, Oh, well, at least I won’t, well,
Nestor Aparicio 21:28
lose on the road to Pittsburgh the way they did, and everybody’s pissed off and all that. Lose at home like that, and have the kid miss a field goal next week against Houston or something. Oh buffalo. Or it
Luke Jones 21:37
kind of goes and it kind of goes back to your point. I mean, even if, if Tyler Luke makes that kick, I’m picking Houston to win next week. I mean, I just because, I because I don’t think the Steelers are good either. I’m like, this just wasn’t a very good division this year. And that’s where you look at it, and say, Man, you couldn’t win this division. You couldn’t get in the field when mahomes is
Nestor Aparicio 21:57
out three Hall of Fame quarterbacks in the division. Yeah, sure,
Luke Jones 22:02
yeah, no, yeah. I mean, I’m not, not arguing that, but you just kind of look at where things were, where they stood right now. And, I mean, it’s just, I’m really,
Nestor Aparicio 22:12
well, all four coaches could have gotten fired if nobody could have won the Division, right? Like, literally, right, yeah. I mean, firing Tomlin at halftime in the bathroom.
Luke Jones 22:22
They were, they were firing Tomlin when Tyler loop was trotting out to the field to make the 44 yard field goal, right? I mean, that’s how, how this works. So, I mean, it’s and, by and, by the way, there’s still, if they they lose by three touchdowns to the Texans next Monday night. I mean, this is, you know, this kind of goes back to the you and I were kind of arguing about the
Nestor Aparicio 22:44
Steelers will win next Monday night. By the way, that’s my opinion. My opinion is, okay, I’ll go with Houston, but we’ll see. We’ll see. I bet you a pizza, John’s pizza and a cheese steak. Hey, I’ll take that, because that
Luke Jones 22:55
means I can eat pizza John’s either way, either I’m buying or you’re buying, but, but not on Monday, though, not today, correct? But, but, yeah. I mean, you, you look, you just, I’ll go back to how I felt it, sitting there, standing, not sitting there, standing there in the post game locker room. I mean, the guys, as you’d expect, were just despondent. I mean, I think you just, you saw so many blank looks. I mean, roquan Smith went to the podium, you know, the little interview room they have adjacent to the locker room in the bowels of the stadium. And I mean, anyone who saw the pictures of them that, you know, if you saw the video, is clearly crying, had been crying, you know, the and there’s a human side to this. You know, we tend to not dwell on that too much, because we’ve got a job to do, to talk about it and to be critical when it’s warranted, and talk about the games and talk about the contracts and the business side and who’s going to be fired, who’s going to be hired, all that kind of stuff. But, I mean, this guy’s put a lot into it and for for it to end the way that it did, in the fashion that it did after the season that they had. I mean, keep in mind they were, they were a missed field or a made field goal away from being the fifth team in NFL history to make the playoffs after a one in five start. Now that doesn’t you know that doesn’t mean that you just wipe away all the issues and all the concerns and all the questions and all the problems, but that’s how close they came. So for them to that, for it to just be over, just like that, you know, he misses it, and it’s over. You know, prior to that, you’re thinking, how are you going to match up against the Texans defense, and how are you going to slow down Nico Collins and all that? And immediately you’re going home, you know, you’re flying back to Owings Mills, and you’re cleaning out your locker Monday morning, and it’s over, and it really is that abrupt, but I just, I don’t know, man, I’d like to think I could be smart enough to come up with what exactly is going to allow them to get over the hump. You know? Is it a new head coach? Is it new coordinators? Is it all like all the above? Is it adding a, you know, go out and get max Crosby, you know, to have a your first stud edge rusher since Terrell Suggs in his prime. You know, you go down the list of all these, you know, obviously improve the offensive line and but, you know, there’s, there’s something missing here that goes beyond that.
Nestor Aparicio 25:24
Well, that’s when now you’re talking about the coach and or you’re talking about Eric, or you’re just talking about, hey, all this stability, that’s beautiful, and he working right now, and it hasn’t worked. I mean, at some point, and we love Eric, and we love Steve, and we love John, and we love the operation, and we love the fact that we don’t fire coaches, and we like dude fans. Forget Luke and Nestor. Nestor was thrown out by Chad steel. There’s going to be a whole off season to talk about that. I’m going to be writing about why I was out in the cold and you were in the warm the other night, and what the Pittsburgh Steelers did to provide professional hospitality, they helped you. Do you want to thank them? They helped you in the locker room because Chad Steele doesn’t want to help you. So it they’re a disgrace as an operation. Steve bishodi, who will hide he’s not coming Carly or say speaking tomorrow for crying. You know Jim IRSA, his daughter, knows enough to speak to her community after they stole our franchise 40 years ago that Steve bishati doesn’t have the sobriety to think forward, to think like, this is important to the fans. Steve’s divorced from this. He’s in Florida. He’s out of it. People are pissed at horrible they should be pissed at bashati for hiding like, literally, this is the time for him to come at. He’s the one making $100 million a year off of this operation and hiding like a coward. So to me, it’s the bashati period of time, as much as it’s whatever Harbaugh is going to do. Because if har ball gets fired not to be shot, he’s got to get his neck out of the hole like the groundhog we haven’t seen in eight years, and come up, and he has to have an opinion, because he’s the one taking everybody’s money at the end of the day. And I don’t know, you know, I haven’t heard him say anything about, has he ever spoken about Lamar Jackson, eight years Lamar? I mean, I have not heard him literally go.
Luke Jones 27:16
The last time he spoke was that, was that the the 2022 owners meeting. So, I mean, you know, he was asked
Nestor Aparicio 27:21
about more years ago. No, I’m two MVP since that I I’m not. It’s a disgrace. I mean, as a franchise, they have fallen so far, and I know people that love them and and do their Christmas tree. I was one of those guys. I was one of those guys. I saw Ravens fans in the stands bleeding their heart out in Pittsburgh on Sunday night. I was that guy, and they are a poor franchise right now. They’re having trouble selling tickets. And by the way, Pittsburgh had some empty seats up in the top too, but it was definitely there were plenty of empty seats. Yeah, there were probably 1500 empty seats, maybe 1000 empty seats, like legitimately empty, really
Luke Jones 28:00
late arriving crowd too. I mean, 10 minutes before kickoff, there are a lot of empty seats, to the point where I’m like, wow, this is but it did fill in.
Nestor Aparicio 28:08
But, and second half, it gets real quiet. I mean, everybody’s out in the bathroom, like that first drive when Pittsburgh got the ball back, the place is empty. So I’m just saying for the ravens, for what they want to do, what they want to charge their black wing, how they treated publicly people like me. You can love me. You can hate me. I have all the 10 listeners. There have been four and a half million people on our Facebook page the last four months, dude. So like I There are plenty of people out there who know how I feel about it, but he doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about the fans. And this is a time for Steve bishati To play owner, you know what I mean. So I’m, if I’m writing about anything, the time for pay and the time for play. If you want to blame this on anybody, the owner has to get his head out of the ground like a groundhog and come out and face meanies like me and Mike Preston behind his little pay wall. And you know, Hey, dude, you’ve made $5 billion off the football team. The people have given you $600 million so that the Kevin Byrne press box can be built up into the corner so we can beat up on Lamar, beat up on the coach, players. This is it’s time for the owner. Now, it’s time to put pressure on the owner. Now, if
Luke Jones 29:22
you should talk, he should talk, and it should have meaning, and it’s not even talk to, you know, talk to the media, talk to your fans, like, talk to your fans. That’s who it’s really about, right? We’re just, we’re the middleman. Talk to the talk to your fans. Look, there’s, I think, I think there’s a line of thinking that if things are going well, you know, the owner can stay in the shadows, right? All that, right or wrong, there’s, there’s at least a perception of that, right? But, I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 29:54
last night with I saw this on the scoreboard. I know you’re not paying attention to it, because, like, it. A totally different game in the press box in Pittsburgh. Having done that the last 15 years, the last time I was in the stands was the palomalu Pick that I remember. But I’ve been in the stands a dozen times in Pittsburgh, maybe more than that. Like I’ve been in the stands as much as I’ve been in the press box over 30 years, like half and half and so, you know, I’m not too prissy to sit you can’t see anything from the lower deck. I can’t believe anybody ever gets a seat in the lower ball. But there was a point second quarter I looked up on the scoreboard. Art Rooney standing on the field. He has a season ticket holder think tank with like, 12 fans who are on the board of season of season ticket holders. And there he is out on the field with the 12 people in this consortium who meet with him. By the way, from what I understand, I’ll look into that to see what other owners in the league are doing. Because our owners poor. I mean, our we have a poor just putting Chad steel out in front of this, putting Sashi brown out in front of this. It’s It’s abysmal. It’s abysmal. There, it’s a time for pay and a time for play. It’s the play is over with. We’ve talked about what’s happened on the field. We’ve done that religiously. Now it’s time to say, what are you doing with your business? What are you doing with the goodwill that this community has given you over 30 years, other than throwing media members out in the biggest game of the week, that that’s what your your your brand manager was focused on this week making sure that I couldn’t be there to ask questions of Tyler Luke after he missed the field goal and you couldn’t be in both rooms. So the owner, the owner owns that. The owner is the reason I’m not in the press box. That’s not lost on me. And this is time for Steve bishati to show
Luke Jones 31:37
up and it comes down. Obviously the focus in the short term is going to be John Harbaugh and whether he’s going to be back, whether you make a change any of that, yeah, his boss needs to talk to either tell us why you’re sticking with John and why he continues to be the right guy moving forward and to answer for that, or if You are making a change to then spell out why you’re making that change and how, where do you go from here, right? I mean, either, either outcome warrants the owner talking to the fans and answering for that. And, you know, will we? I don’t know. I know it’s been a long time. I mean, the last time that Steve bashati answered questions in Owings Mills from reporters was 14, two, no, no more recently than that, two months before Lamar was drafted. It was the Deb. I think it was early February of 2000 years. It’s been eight years, yeah, so eight years, and it hasn’t been many, you know, even the instances of him talking at the owners meeting since then, you know, we’re obviously a select few go and cover that from the local media. You know, even then you’re talking about a very, you know, very small, what, just a couple times, right at most. So, and not since 20 into 2022 so, yeah, I’m not gonna say, look, it’s always a good thing when the owner of any franchise
Nestor Aparicio 33:10
talks with the fans, by the way, was he even at the game in Pittsburgh? I’m not sure. I’m not sure the road games for the most part. Yeah, it hasn’t even come to all the home games.
Luke Jones 33:18
I can’t say home games. I can’t say with certainty that that he wasn’t there, but I I didn’t see him, you know, which doesn’t mean a whole lot, per se, but
Nestor Aparicio 33:28
maybe selling the team. I just want to say that out loud. Maybe
Luke Jones 33:32
I don’t know, I don’t know, but
Nestor Aparicio 33:35
I’m just gonna say that out loud. Maybe he is, man, you know. I mean, I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t want to be involved anymore. I mean, when you spend eight years not speaking to your fans, dude, that’s poor, that’s weak, that’s weak. That’s Peter Angelo, shit, really it is. That’s weak.
Luke Jones 33:50
That’s all I’m gonna say. Fair enough bullet cut. I would love Steve bishati To talk more frequently. I think, I think the fan base appreciates it, especially when it’s times like this again, it can come across a certain way in terms of, well,
Nestor Aparicio 34:07
he’s an arrogant man, I mean. But my point is, if
Luke Jones 34:10
things are going really well, then, okay, I’m not saying I agree with it, but you can stay in the shadows if things are going really well, right? And then some people will interpret that, hey, you don’t. You’re not looking for all the glory. You’re not looking for all the praise. And you know, there can be a certain, you know, admiration, the accountability for that. How about the accountability? Well, that’s what
Nestor Aparicio 34:31
I’m saying. To go to games, by the way, that wasn’t lost on me in Pittsburgh, when they were firing Tomlin at halftime, there was a guy in the bathroom yelling about Tomlin at halftime, fire. We pay all this money for this, you know. So I heard a little bit of that, and I, you know, I don’t want to say, I don’t think about the money I’ve spent, believe me, when I die poor, it will be from giving the NFL money the last 30 years, you know, like, so, you know, I get what it is and but this franchise has a. Been exposed in a way, you know, I think this year, and this is where, if they’re as good as they say they are as good as they think they are, circle in the way we have the best quarterback in the league. We have a coach is going to the Hall of, okay, well, then come support that, because that’s not what the fans have seen the last four months. That’s not what the media has seen. It certainly is not been my human experience dealing with some of those pricks out no one’s mills. That has not been my experience that this is a quality, front facing community organization. It’s it’s a fat, bloated, arrogant organization with a lot of empty seats and people like streaming out and a coach who is belligerent sometimes. You know, the front facing part of all of this is not, hey, send the send the form out for for my re up for next year, and I’m just going to sign up for it. Those days are kind of gone. They’re going to have to come out and win their fans a little bit after an eight, nine season. And sure, we’re in the early look. I mean, games not even 24 hours old. I’m not throwing dirt on them, but whatever their crisis management is in regard to answering more questions from Justin Tucker and I have plenty, not just missing field goals because they have been hiding from the Justin Tucker the shame of all of that, and they’re they’ve been involved in some bad stuff, and it’s the off season now, and they can’t be involved in anything good on the field. They can’t win again until Labor Day, like now they have nine months to stew on, not just the missed kick, just how good the season was. They didn’t, wasn’t a good season. The Miss kick is, is it’s paramount. It’s front and foremost. It’s a 22 year old kid.
Luke Jones 36:48
It was the last, it was the last memory of this, this, this year’s team, and it was the last thing that happened.
Nestor Aparicio 36:54
If you’re going to do a thumbnail of the season, that’s it, right there, missing a kick in Pittsburgh when you had a chance to win when you weren’t very good, but the other team was trying to give it
Luke Jones 37:04
to you, and it couldn’t take it. And as I wrote and as we talked about it last week, I mean, if you did win, and if you did, which meant of winning the division and having a first round home playoff game while you and I kind of debated whether that was going to mark a successful season or not, I said, No way. But I understood, I understood the point you’re making. If nothing else, it gave you an opportunity to reset where you say, Hey, you’re in the tournament. Who knows what’s going to happen? There’s no Patrick mahomes. This thing’s wide open. There’s no dominant team in the AFC, at least in terms of, like, established dominance all that. And they didn’t, they didn’t make it. So I want to hear from Steve bashati, because I’m at a loss at this point. Yeah, you answer the people that you know what I mean. Like, seriously, I people, because I don’t. I don’t know exactly what it look if you want to tell me, like, Okay, you need a new head coach. Fine. I’m not. I’m not gonna sit here and argue with that at this point in time, at the same time
Nestor Aparicio 38:02
with that point would be like, how are we going to get better than horrible? Hey, dude, Steve, you’re, you’re the smart guy you found, you found your hall of fame. Coach. It was 18 years ago. Find another one. Well, it’s time to go find a young Ben Johnson.
Luke Jones 38:13
And maybe it is, but x kid, you know, but at the same time, you’ve had a lot of players on this roster that have come up small in the biggest moments, right? You know, Mark Andrews, a flowers, Marlon Humphrey, I mean the deep You know, the defense collectively. I mean, you know Lamar at times. You know not Lamar in the fourth quarter on Sunday night. But you know, we, we’ve talked about it. You know, this era of the ravens, the Lamar Jackson era, their stars have not been stars at the absolute most critical times. And how much of that is on
Nestor Aparicio 38:46
the head coach? Well, Justin Tucker, Joe Flacco, made the throws. Anquan Boldin caught the ball. Ray Rice got the extra yard on fourth and 29 right like Ray Lewis showed up, made the tackle even when he was 100 years old. Like so their best players haven’t been great, good enough. I mean, that’s, that’s the truth of this era. They’ve been good in October, when they’re winning 40 to 10.
Luke Jones 39:08
They’ve even been December at times, yeah. I mean, San Francisco, yeah, sure, yeah, yeah. But it just hasn’t. And again, that’s where we’re still saying that. But they didn’t make it. And I know, yes, technically, January, you know, Sunday’s game was January, but it was a regular season game, but they didn’t even make it. They didn’t even make it. They didn’t even get the opportunity
Nestor Aparicio 39:30
for that to happen. I heard Pittsburgh fans yelling Cancun at them, you know,
Luke Jones 39:35
yes, but that’s where I look at this thing. And I’m just like, Man, this is not going in the right direction, like the Captain Obvious. That’s a captain obvious thing.
Nestor Aparicio 39:42
But AMC titled, Why is it the quarterback? Is it the coach? Yes, it’s all of it.
Luke Jones 39:46
It’s everything. It’s everything in some shape or form. Now that doesn’t, that doesn’t mean I think they should get rid of Lamar Jackson, hardly. But do you need to have, do you need a new head coach that maybe connects with Lamar in a different kind of way? And just different, right, in the way that it’s just not even like better,
Nestor Aparicio 40:06
but it’s different way I’m going to play John Harbaugh’s role in that. When our next segment, we’ll talk about Lamar,
Luke Jones 40:11
and I’m just like, I’m asking the question in the same way we’ve talked about, you know, Greg Roman to Todd Monckton, and is Todd Monckton going to be back? You know, was that relationship as good as it needed to be compared to the first two years, right? Todd Monckton didn’t have a great year. Now, it wasn’t as for me. It wasn’t as glaring for him as Zach Gore with the defense, for example. By the
Nestor Aparicio 40:31
way, the first touchdown to zay flowers was an unbelievably brilliant play call where everybody went right and and flowers ran over the top. I mean, that was just, that was a thing of beauty. I mean, yeah. And I also love the quarterback draw on Third and nine. That a penalty wiped it out. But that was a great call, I mean, but it wasn’t that that offense didn’t hum the way that it did last year, the year before. You know how much of that’s on monkey, and I don’t, I don’t you know how much of that’s on Eric to Costa having a crappy O line, your line, right?
Luke Jones 41:00
I mean, and there we go. We blamed them
Nestor Aparicio 41:03
all good we did. But I’ll
Luke Jones 41:04
leave you, I’ll leave you with this one last point. But part of the concern is, when there’s all that blame to go around, you run the risk of no one being accountable. Then, you know what I mean? Like, it’s like, oh, it’s that, it’s that, it’s that, it’s that. And you say, Okay, well, it’s not John, it’s this, this, this and
Nestor Aparicio 41:23
this news account about the owner. I’m going to stay on that sure the owner, this is the time for the owner to be accountable. I agree. I agree. He is Luke Jones. He’s Baltimore, Luke. We are in Pittsburgh doing sleepy radio. It’s all brought to you by our friends at Maryland lottery and the GBMC. We’re into a new year. I want to thank everybody. Give him some love. I had a really good time at the game, like it was a great I haven’t been to a game in three years. It was outside, it was cold, it was raw. The Ravens had a chance to win. You could feel the energy go up and you could feel the air come out of the place. And I turned to the kid next to me 10 minutes in, they played 10 minutes left, they played Renegade, and like, at the four minute mark, when they got the ball back, and we’re driving to I said to the kid, they don’t play renegade twice. He’s like, they never play renegade twice. You only get it once, that’s it. And then when they got the ball back, at the end, the Ravens got the ball back. I said to the kid, I’m like, Dude, this is for a playoff spot. You can’t play two renegades. They’re one Renegade, only one renegade in Pittsburgh, so they didn’t even bring the second one out. But I’d like to say it was a fun, great season. But, you know, I’m on to the Minnesota Twins, and opening day, it’s almost March. He’s Luke, I’m Nestor. We’re back for more from Pittsburgh. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with us.
