00:01I'm going to be honest here, Femi.
00:02I'm going to need a lot of optimism from him because I'm not feeling good right now.
00:09You've been in worse places, brother.
00:11They were 1-5 a year ago.
00:13They're 4-4 right now.
00:14They got to 6-5 last year at one point.
00:16We knew that.
00:17They did.
00:17They did.
00:18They had a chance to win the division with all the things that went wrong last year.
00:21Yeah, but the division's better this year.
00:23It is, but the wild card, I think the seventh wild card spot will be a 10-7 team.
00:26And I think they can get there.
00:28We can get to the extrapolation of that later.
00:29But let's talk about the game.
00:30Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:31Where are we at?
00:32Where are you at?
00:33Where am I?
00:37Yesterday, frankly, and take Lamar out of it, I thought the defense played better than I expected.
00:43We'll get to that when we talk about defensive takeaways.
00:46I thought they played well other than the first drive.
00:48The offensive line's a real problem.
00:50They were disgustingly bad yesterday.
00:52And then they had to go to the third quarterback.
00:54And when you do that, it's never going to be pretty.
00:57Yeah, I think where I scratch my head is that, and I want to start from the beginning prior to
01:03Lamar getting hurt.
01:04First of all, Tyler Luke kicks the ball out of bounds on the opening kickoff.
01:07I was going to break my TV right there because you can't give Buffalo anything.
01:12You don't give them anything.
01:14Okay?
01:16Second, once Lamar goes down, and the Bills have no respect for this offense, basically.
01:22And I don't know if it was they were going to play this way the whole game.
01:26But once Lamar was out, I mean, they pressured at a rate somewhere close to 65%, the highest since 2021.
01:32I mean, quarterbacks were under pressure 55% of the time.
01:36Next-gen stats.
01:37Listen to this.
01:37Pressures allowed.
01:38Ronnie Stanley 6, Roger Rosengarten 6, John Simpson 4, Andrew Voorhees 4, Cam Juergens 3.
01:43How do you win a game like that?
01:45But I'll tell you the game plan, though.
01:46I'll tell you the path that you needed to travel was right in front of you.
01:49You needed to be able to pivot because the thing that you needed to do was exactly what was going
01:55to help you get to Thursday.
01:57Once you're on your third quarterback and Derrick Henry and Justice Hill are averaging five yards of carry,
02:03they really didn't stop the run.
02:04I just think that Declan never changed the game plan to fit what they needed to do to survive the
02:09game.
02:10The other part of it is that when you throw the ball all over the yard like that with your
02:14rookie QB,
02:15you expose him to all kinds of things like Geno Stone in a robber that's going to pick a football.
02:19You have first-ing goal, and you go empty.
02:23You should be running the football right there.
02:25Why?
02:25One, it eats the clock away.
02:27Two, you dominate time of possession.
02:29Three, you keep the ball out of the Bills' hands, who had no respect at all for anything.
02:33They were four for 14 on third down, but they were four for five, I think, on fourth down.
02:37They did not care.
02:39That was blatant disrespect.
02:41You know what I mean?
02:42And so the reason why I was so ready to pivot on the game plan was because you get to
02:48Thursday,
02:48hopefully with Fignano standing up.
02:50Right now, you don't even know if he's going to be able to play on Thursday.
02:53You know what I mean?
02:53And so, like, to me, you're burning all your resources Sunday with no thought for Thursday,
03:02but the plan didn't even help you.
03:04That was not the path to victory.
03:06The path to victory was leaning on your running back and saving and preserving your defense.
03:11You played pretty good for three quarters because at different points in the third quarter,
03:14I think it was 16-10 and 14—16-10, is that right?
03:19In the fourth quarter or third—I'm sorry, in the third quarter, I think it was—
03:23It was 16-10.
03:2316-7 and 16-10.
03:25Yeah.
03:25Yeah, so you're still within shooting distance.
03:28This goes back to the fourth and two call against the Bengals.
03:31And my, like, similar thought process for me.
03:33How do I keep this team in the game as long as possible?
03:36How do I play complementary football?
03:38And look, I still think Declan's going to be a really good coordinator.
03:41You know, and Tim, you brought this up a couple weeks ago.
03:43Let's not anoint him too fast, right?
03:46There's a lot of work that needs to get done.
03:48And from the offensive line not playing well to exposing your rookie quarterback and pass protection.
03:54I mean, without those things, there is no future.
03:57And for me, right now, based on the research that I saw, I think Lamar's going to be out six
04:02weeks.
04:02That's what I think it's going to be.
04:03I don't think it's season-ending.
04:04All the different—and I think we've all looked at different things online, right?
04:07We've seen it all.
04:07Now, he can be back for either the Tampa game or I think it's the Steelers game.
04:14If it's a Tampa game, he'll be back for the last five.
04:15If it's a Steelers game, he'll be back for the last four.
04:17If you can tread water and get to seven and seven, in my opinion, and Lamar comes back, I think
04:21you have a chance.
04:24I'm a very introspective person to a fault, and I couldn't help but think yesterday—and, of course, everyone's bringing up
04:31this—
04:31is there a possibility that that was Lamar Jackson's last snap in Baltimore?
04:35I do not think that that is the case, and I want to say that out in front.
04:39Yeah.
04:40Is there a non-zero percent chance?
04:42Of course.
04:43Yeah.
04:44But what I am convinced is that injury happening how it did, I think it sort of closes an era,
04:55closes a chapter of Ravens football.
04:59In terms of, I'm not optimistic that they're going to make the playoffs.
05:04Am I ready to throw in the towel and just—I'm going to watch every game?
05:07Root for them?
05:08You know, it is what it is.
05:10But given the outlook of this team, they're $45 million over the cap for 2027.
05:17That is the worst cap situation in all of football.
05:21We know Lamar Jackson's cap hit.
05:23I'm saying it's end of an era because I envision a big overhaul of this roster.
05:32And some of that could happen prior to the trade deadline.
05:36Most of it probably will happen in the offseason.
05:39And when you think of key names that have been huge for them over the last handful of years, like
05:48a Roquan Smith, like a Marlon Humphrey, maybe a Ronnie Stanley, there's going to be a lot of change in
05:57this organization.
05:58And I think that Lamar is going to be here on the other side of it.
06:03But I think part of an era of Ravens football ended yesterday in Buffalo.
06:09So I'll try to be—put this in the most simplistic terms.
06:13This team is built around or built with Lamar Jackson being Lamar Jackson.
06:19If he—and we have—he—in seasons where he misses chunks of games, they're not a Super Bowl contender.
06:26In seasons where he's healthy, they're a Super Bowl contender.
06:29It's that simple.
06:30Like in 2021, they missed five games, they missed the playoffs.
06:33In 2022, he missed five games.
06:35They still made the playoffs, but that was the Huntley game in Cincinnati.
06:38Then they're good in 23 and 24 because he's healthy.
06:42Last year, he missed his four games.
06:43They missed the playoffs.
06:44This year, he's now missing a chunk of games.
06:48I'm concerned that they're going to be able—and I—is there a way they can do it?
06:53I'm concerned that they can tread this water while he's out.
06:56And I just—I—I just wonder what it looks like when he does return.
07:00I think that that needs context, though.
07:02So, the fact that they were a play away from winning that game in Cincinnati needs to be said.
07:07And they were a play away from winning that game last year against Pittsburgh needs to be said.
07:12No, no.
07:12But the point is, is they were in position to.
07:13I hear you.
07:14It wasn't like it was all a loss and it just all fell apart.
07:16That didn't happen.
07:17But they—but in neither season did they look like Super Bowl contenders because they didn't have Lamar.
07:22Yeah, but they're like—that's my point.
07:23I think the 2012 team won a Super Bowl.
07:25They didn't look like Super Bowl contenders.
07:26There are teams—the Giants were 9-7, didn't look like contenders.
07:29They won the Super Bowl.
07:29What I'm saying is, is that, look, I'm not ready to project anything other than what's happening right now.
07:35People can make all the proclamations they want.
07:37They can say what things look like.
07:38Things change.
07:38I've seen it too much.
07:39I've been doing this for 30-something years.
07:41I've watched it all happen.
07:43No one's going to convince me about what's going to happen three months from now, two months from now, or
07:47one month from now.
07:48It's not happening.
07:49All I care about is can you put a product on the field that can allow you to win games
07:52so that when your star quarterback comes back, you're in position.
07:55And if he comes back and you're in position and you fail, so be it.
07:5831 teams are going to fail.
07:59That's the NFL.
08:00But that's the problem I have, Femi.
08:01I don't think they're a very good football team without him.
08:04I don't know what they are right now.
08:05I know they're 4-4.
08:06I know they're 4-4 and I know they're struggling.
08:08But what does that mean?
08:09What is the route?
08:10What is the path?
08:13This is a genuine question.
08:14Are we selling?
08:15I'm not selling anything right now.
08:16I ain't buying.
08:18I might.
08:18I might buy.
08:19It depends on who, when, where, what price.
08:21Give me a scenario.
08:22I'm not ready to make absolute statements about anything right now.
08:26The sky is falling for everybody.
08:27Everybody wants to give up.
08:28People want to give up on Lamar.
08:29No, go ahead.
08:30Do that if you want to.
08:31I'm not doing that.
08:32If people ask me specific things, I will give you specific answers.
08:36But the whole kind of 30,000-foot doom and gloom, no, you know I don't do that.
08:39I don't play that game.
08:40No, I know you don't.
08:41That's why I'm glad you're here.
08:42Because I'm like.
08:43Because I'm not happy with what's happening either.
08:45But I'm also not going to be like, oh, it's over.
08:47It's done.
08:47No, I'm not.
08:48No.
08:484-4.
08:49Like, they're not 2-6.
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