Welcome into the Ravens Press Pass Podcast. The Ravens took down the Houston Texans thirty one to two in Houston. The Ravens now improved to eleven and five on the season, and they controlled their own destiny in the race for an AFC North championship. And after the game, we had a chance to hear from head coach John Harpain.
Praise where the Lord is good, Merry Christmas, great win. Proud of our guys. These guys took this eleven this three games, eleven days and smashed it, obliterated and torn up and made it into a bunch of smithereens laying around everywhere. I'm proud of the guys. How they did it. They did a great job.
All right.
What question do you have, picture John, just to come out of this stretch, you were two back in the AFC North and to come out of this now a game up with a chance to clinch it on your home field, and you know, to win all these games by double digits.
What is that kind of say about the group as a whole.
It says so much, you know, and it says we're not done yet, because it's been done and the next thing is gonna be the next game. We need to be one to zero to win the AFC North and that'll be our focus after we get some rest. We'll have rest until we'll get the guys out. We'll bring them back on Monday and we'll get started for the Browns, which is always a very tough team, tough opponent, division game. So but it will be for the AFC North crown and we're gonna need to need to be locked in
for that. But the fact that they did it, they did it in this short stretch. I think our team probably handled it the best, arguably, I don't know. I guess the Chiefs did a good job too. So there you go. I got to give them credit, give credit with credit credits due. But I'm proud of our guys, man, I'm really proud of our guys for what they accomplished. Our coaches, our strength conditioning coaches, our nutritionist, our trainer, our performance coach.
John, did you come into this game thinking you were going to be able to control the game by.
Running the ball?
We thought we had a chance. Yeah, we thought we had a chance to run the ball. It's a good it's a real tough defense they play super hard, their dB show up, they played downhill. You know, I didn't know for anticipate paid coming out of the gate so quickly round the ball. Well, but I was really happy we did. I was happy with the guys.
You say about March's performance and what.
Can what could what could you say that with maybe parallel what he did, right? I mean, it's just just another phenomenal performance. I think he set the all time NFL record for rushing yards the National Football League Pro football. That kind of speaks for itself. It's just kind of what he does every week. Made some plays on Iran. These guys we had some tight coverage. They covered as well, but he was able to extend those plays and make those big plays in the passing game, which is kind
of what he does a lot of times. And it was great to see.
John Nahan's like, you know, he always amazes you, but does he ever surprise you at this point?
Yeah, sometimes I just shake my head and say, that was really a great play.
That was a great play. You know.
It's you see a lot of great plays from Lamar Jackson, you know, And I'm I told him I was proud of him. I'm not just Proud of him just because he makes great plays. Proud of for all the things that go into making the great plays, and also for all the things he's overcome along the way. And to put his mom in the same category, I think what they've overcome together, and all the narratives and all that kind of stuff, it's quite a remarkable story. I think
it's a stork. But you know, the story is still being written and there's a lot more to accomplish.
All early in the season when people were I guess, slinging arrows at Zach Gore and criticizing the defense.
How pleased are.
You how that group has turned around the season.
I'm very pleased.
I mean, we just the guys went to work and we knew that it was all correctable, but you got to get to work and you got to do it. And I think I said numerous times, it's a week to week league, you know, and it's important to keep things in perspective. It's good. It's a good lesson I think for everything else besides football too. Keep thinking of perspective. You can't improve, you can't get better. Proud of those guys, Zach obviously spearheading it all deanps helping us all the course.
But it's look at all the players and all the coaches. What a great job they've done. But you know what, we're just getting started, all right. Like we said, it's the January season. Now did Deceummer seasons behind us. It's the January season.
Now we do three more.
Where you asked about the mow breaking the fixed record.
I mentioned it, I wasn't asked about it.
I guess, Uh the goal line stop that you guys had fourth down our Dara's coming in.
How that a massive play?
I mean, I don't know the ball got down there in that passing friends, I want to look at it, but uh, you know, to get that stop. We've been good on the goal line all year, and we've give him some extra chances sometimes when we've gotten them stop with some some grabbiness, and we didn't do that in the passing game today.
I like that.
And our Darius has made what two in a row, two weeks in a row probably what you're alluding to, right, Two huge stops in a row on the goal line for us. It's just big plays. That's who he is.
Kind of characterized the significance of the turnaround in this defense to the point just question earlier, early on, there's all these questions and now you guys just keep seem to be a sender.
I can't say that it surprising, you know, it's not. We're not surprised. But we we knew and believe that we were gonna start playing better, and we knew we were gonna play a lot better. I think I said it. I mean, the good news is that we can play so much better and we're good enough to do it. We were healthy, we had our players. We did have to move the pieces around, that was good. We moved
some scheme pieces around, that was good. And the guys just kept working on fundamentals and trying to get better. But like I said, you know, yeah, we appreciate that, and we'll be thinking about, you know, the next game, trying to play great defense the next game.
Last wonder. We're good, good, good, Thanks guys.
We also heard from quarterback of mar Jackson, well.
I know you're not in the records, but I know bigs, you know guy, to be able to get that record there didn't.
Getting it away feeling umbal to be honest with you, meant, I just get all your great for macas that's the record, doesn't know that's a long time and one of my favorite fist.
Just what you saw on at them all for the right market is aid creating.
Of course, and months per hour?
What's your fastest funny in the NFL? Feel that way?
I was jogging. I didn't have to do anything. Well, I mean, what was it though?
Twenty one point something? Mouse prayer?
That's what they don't miss.
I didn't cook it, but that's what they don't It's.
Crazy, it's cool, lamar a sorry defense, and I mean to cut your sorry to the defense for that. We gonna take full responsibility.
Go ahead, what did you did that work down south?
And what did you see on the man?
Our defense?
Oh?
You talking about our defense? Right? Alright? Yeah?
Man?
They just been playing lights out last few games. I I believe it's starting to practice with those guys just communicating and how they're preparing for the games. And like I said, I'm sorry for the two points that we sorry offense.
Sorry, lord, you had two two touchdowns or two long past the day by in time on the mark with the touchdown to Isaiah m That aspect of your game I mean is that's something that you have worked on to take the nonhe levels it the instinct, cause it seems like you've never been better at doing that.
Right now, I'm just playing football. I'm tryna win. I feel like the rud know what. I'm tryna win. So that's sure. It's not every manads Clod.
Do you feel like other guys are reading you when you're you know, they seem like they keep themselves doing a good job keep themselves alive as well.
Yeah, receiver's tight ends or running backs. Everyone, everyone's doing a great job at uh keeping their eyes on me, you know, making defenders missing when I'm gona scramming joy cause I'm not just a tucky run quarterback. You know, I'm just gonna keep my eyes out, I feel. But the defense do a gord job by covering and I just do what I do.
How Mark, does the game feel easy?
Though at times it was?
Mom Flad?
Yeah, yeah, shit, you just having fun every Yeah, it's it's not easy, NFL.
It's not easy. I don't care what nobody say, NFL. I'm not easy. Mark, It look easy, but it nothing. My father is more.
How would you describe just you went through the Bible where you get it down two games to Pittsford, those questions, uh defast about hard.
How would you describe your turnaround?
And you guys just makes it, wasn't you spat?
I believe how seasons HA has gone in the regular season, it just explains how the NFL is, you know it. It really really don't matter how you start office about how you finish it.
I believe you finishing pretty well right now? Do you feel good about this team?
You know, going through what you're going where you wanna go, finally peaking at the right time?
Yeah, sh likely shit up? Yeah? Uh actually ga, yeah, do you feel like this team is is on the verge of having.
The formula to take careacters of the playoffs and and peak at the right time.
Yeah, But we we still got the Browns a lucky and you know we can't. We we clased the playoff birthday, but we just gotta stay locked in because we got the Browns coming up.
And that's what I that's another division opponent.
How tough was it?
The just these three games in the other days. Now that you're you're finished with it, how.
Do you ready to go home?
You know? But it it was dope, man, we was on Netflix. Uh, I never been on Netflix. Has everyone on that f Netflix?
But it was the by the way, did you yeah?
Did you sneak you out and get nah? I was lot there. See that was just for y'all.
See y'all.
Uh see, No, I was in here in the locker room preparing for this.
Are you sure doing?
Campus caught you and running back.
Next we heard from cornerback Marlon Humphrey.
Please you know, he would saying when I was a looking maybe one or two shut outs and I was, I would telling y'all, man, it feels good to playing great good defense like we have some we have some things out there, but wells Marban, you can not have offense score man.
You gotta say you take pretty well.
And uh this is.
A testament to you know, it all kind of coming together.
I feel, you know, the coaching I thought was there and I just saw as players with what is the form that to continue to get high percentages of eleven guys doing eleven guys job? And obviously guys some mishaps.
There here and there are a couple of things.
That were guys with kind of wide open but man shut out even though not too it feels great.
I mean, you are you love that that it doesn't technically count.
And Will said, you know, I'm a little upset, but we're gonna let the garrets me next to the players.
And we're gonna let them slide. I mean, he's what a lot of yards for us, so it'll it'll be seas him. Yeah, you all good questions, you know, you know.
Coming full shirt, just a fun guys did this seeing the team seem just bringing them in.
For I'm not gonna lie. I think you know, when I have conversations with some of the guys going on one you want to it was something. It was some tough conversations. We were just like we still believed it.
That it just it did seem far away, just because it seemed like every sale guy just having a mishappened just the wrong time. And like I said earlier in the season, if it seemed like our luck just was not on our side. You know, I think when you watch defensive across the league, there's guys running open all the time and things, but it seems like whenever somebodys the inside leverage made up outside level football went there.
It just seemed like every time we were out of position, not called right, we were getting hit on the You know, I think football is a lot of skilled a lot sometimes it just straight up comes.
Out love and uh we.
We the luck has been outside and then we've as we spend like I said, just doing our job.
So the good thing is earlier in the season you get like, what are we doing wrong? What we're doing wrong? And it was it was it was semparate. Just you just gotta get all that.
The guys doing jobs and so like the coaching hasn't necessarily changed. A couple of pieces that have shifted, and uh that that's that's kind of been there, just getting up out and when we do that, we're really tough peoples.
We look average. And today I felt stad.
Music at the right time because you like this team people in the right time that we got to play.
Yeah, we felt like, you know, it's it's playoff time, so you know we you're losing your out. So we will are planning now is to peak at the right time. And I feel like we're doing that and we want to continue that.
Uh that every would be one went away from winning the pension.
You have to beat the Browns.
When we got the time.
That feels good. I know the Ralds are probably just as excited as we are to try to try to, you know, not let that happen. So it's it's very exciting to be able to enjoy this Christmas, enjoy.
The days off the man.
I'm probably I'll be honest with you, I'm going home Jordan baby and joy the wife. But I'm ready to keep back to work and I want that answer north n It feels able to get that habit T shirt. Hopefully everybody can enjoy a day or so and they're locked back in.
Marlon have be putting prepect you guys Game.
Hundred thirty career did win you?
And do you keep you guys?
Previous day this man, I think I really liked the plan that we had, you know, I plan mentally to to get the work in, but then also physically the walk through as we do, you know, winning a little bit fast, you know, I know I talk with Sam Rose, kind of one of our guys that does all the DARI and all the data with speed.
I fast, We're going in the catapult and everything again produced.
I think the player we had, I think it it was unmatched to what other teams did in my friend that we came out fresh ready to go. That quick turn around is about who can become the best, who can have the best plan, And I thought that we had a better play than them, and I thought we were a little bit fresher than them. So I think hats off to the middle weight room and all the guys doing all the cataport different things, because I thought.
Our players really well and Lamar fans that all the time to get to the quarterback, and you've ever.
Seen any quarterback run the ball like Lamar?
I need Lamar motivated, So I'm gonna say I think I have seen it. I think I've asked you even know, Lamara, that's a.
I'm sure that's a. That's a great thing, big time to pass.
Michael Vick. I know he's never satisfied, so I just I'll help with this non satisfaction. We need to do it again and keep doing it a little bit more so.
But that's super cooler that everybody wants to play my Vicula video game, So that's really cool.
You're listening to the Ravens Press Past podcast. Make sure you subscribe to this feed. Also head over to the Lounge feed and listen there as well. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back with you again later this week.