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All right, here we go.
We are a minute in.
Here we go.
We are rolling on segment two in three two one Welcome back it is time now to talk a little more football and we are going to dive right in on the Badgers probably talk a little
other badger sports here in just a second as well.
But obviously we'll start with football because right now Wisconsin, uh, getting ready for big 10 play.
And we welcome back to the program after a couple of weeks away, Jake Kokorowski, a badger observer and badgerobserver.com.
Well, I guess the easy thing here to talk about first right away, Jake, is that we were looking at this third Badgers game, kind of wondering, you know, Hey, when's the team?
You know, what's the offense going to click?
When are we going to start seeing, you know, maybe some shades of a dominant performance?
And, oh, they certainly got a lot of points in yards against the directional school against Eastern Michigan in their most recent outing.
What were you looking for in their final non-conference game to maybe lift the confidence a bit of what the Spadgers team might look like going into the big 10 portion of their schedule?
Well, certainly not the first quarter where it was seven to three at the end of it, but
uh, I think the things that Give should give wisconsin badger fans more hope or a little bit more hype is The explosive plays and yeah, we saw the 72 yard run by abu sama You know the third against western illinois same thing with darion dupree with his touchdown run where he was able to break it there against the leather leather next but for for me really it is a I would say You know that the passing plays like we've been wanting to see
Colton Joseph start airing it out a little bit more Just you know because he had a great he could air it out deep at Old Dominion So as a reporter like okay, how's it gonna translate and Jeff crime's offense and how's it gonna?
Translate to you know, obviously a little bit more enhanced competition and so you saw that from him
You know, it was a little underthrown, but the conditions weren't great.
The 75-yard touchdown to Chris Brooks, Jr.
You saw the, you know, granny who was helped a lot by, you know, Jacob Harris.
He placed the ball nicely, but Jacob Harris had that one-handed catch, you know, and Jacob Harris nearly averaged 30 yards per reception, you know, against Eastern Michigan.
So you, those are what you wanted to see.
You still want to see a little bit of, I would say, a little more accuracy on those deep balls, but we all know, I mean, it's tough and it was, it was,
pretty rainy there in Madison on Saturday.
But I think also the other part would be the turnovers.
And I think that's a big key there.
You had the interceptions there.
You had the strip sack that turned into a Cooper Catalano touchdown in the third quarter that really put the game away even further.
Even the block kick at the end of the game, which I mean, that whole end scenario was kind of goofy.
But hey, you block a kick.
Freshman, Donovan, Denmark, go run that, man.
Go get your first touchdown, you know, three games into your collegiate career.
So that, you know, so I think that adds more.
The only other thing I'll say, though, is the special teams.
I mean, Gavin Loms, seven for seven this year as place kicker for field goals.
You also have a, you know, they're blocked.
They have three field or three punt blocks and then a field goal block within the first three games of the season.
I think that you, I don't know what more you can ask for that.
And they are putting pressure and that's going to be big.
going into an atmosphere like Happy Valley to see if they can tread ups at Penn State.
Yeah, Jake, we saw the badgers actually.
Kind of start to do what we've expected them to do and start to look like how maybe you would expect them to look against a directional school like this.
But obviously that's slow start, but a lot of good positives out of that.
As you do walk into Happy Valley, that's going to be kind of tough.
Very good football team over there and obviously not a caliber of team that the Badgers have gotten the last couple of weeks.
the first game against Western Illinois for sure was a lot left to be desired.
What is this game against Eastern Michigan kind of signal for the Badgers as they move into Penn State?
I think it's they did what they're supposed to do and there wasn't pretty I mean it wasn't pretty you know won the first quarter but also the run game didn't really get going now Eastern Michigan really could have sold out against the run which you know you're gonna stack the box you're gonna run blitz you're gonna try to stop what
Wisconsin's been known to do what they're trying to reestablish and you know, they're also all without Abu Sama the third but I would argue even Darian Dupri might be the best back to run between the tackles for Wisconsin right now because you've seen Sama try to bounce out, especially against Western Illinois, try to continually bounce out to the outside where he could have gained four to five yards on certain carries.
So I think, you know, they took care of business the way they should have.
I mean the 28 unanswered points in the
second quarter where they go crazy there.
I think that's a huge, huge win there for Wisconsin.
I mean, and the biggest thing too, I'll say it was complimentary football.
Yeah, it wasn't complimentary with the run game and the passing game, but you'll take what you get, what Eastern Michigan gives you.
So I think that's big, but the offense scoring points, allowing the defense to get rest on the sideline and then the special teams.
You know playing really well.
I mean, that's that's what you want to see and that's what we've been really looking for Consistently from this Wisconsin program since Luke fickle took over and so that's the thing I mean, and it's a very tough environment in happy Valley and you know, it's gonna be a night more of a nighttime game, right?
It's gonna be a five o'clock Eastern time four o'clock central time So I think if you carry it over that complimentary football that the creation of the turnovers, you know that you know special teams play that
Those are all recipes for success for Wisconsin on the road and for any team that's going up against a top 25 program.
Jake, looking at it on paper here, it stands out that this is a, well, not necessarily a thin defensive secondary for Wisconsin right now, but relatively compared to other position groups, like a massive defensive line and linebackers that have been overperforming a little bit, perhaps, or at least playing as well as you'd hope they would.
Coming up against a Nittany Lions passing attack that is not just efficient, but has thrown up some big plays.
I think they're averaging over 10 yards per attempt right now and playing some really clean passing football.
Are we going to be relying on the defensive secondary and testing
that or do you think it's going to be more about pass rush to get this get this locked up this weekend?
I mean, the pass rush has to get better.
I mean, I'll start with that.
That's how that you can really help a secondary that, you know, Kai Bates announced on, you know, his Instagram and injury that, you know, and Wisconsin listed them and is out on their availability.
You know, there's first and second availability reports already this week.
So you have that.
I would are, you know, and then, yeah, I mean, you have, you know, Javon Robinson, who, you know, he gave up that 18-year touchdown to start the game against Eastern Michigan, but he's still a leader in that group.
You know, Jameer Scott, really good.
He can play both the field and the boundary sides of the cornerback spot, so he can do both.
You like what someone, you know, like, gosh, like Eric Fletcher Jr.
can do on the field side.
He's speedy.
He's the one that blocked that field goal at the end of the game, but that's on the special teams, obviously.
So,
You know it is you need to help those guys out I feel like Matt Young and Marvin Burks Jr.
And Cairo Scanes have played pretty well in this you know as safeties, but you're gonna need I mean this is a very You know yeah, Matt Campbell is a new Coach in Penn State, but he brought over so many Iowa State players that there is some You know continuity taken over from his old Iowa State days and Robert steeples member the Wisconsin's cornerbacks coach
you know, he worked underneath Matt Campbell last year.
And so, you know, so that'll help, but you have to get that pass, Rushko.
You have to, you can't just have Sebastian Cheeks, you know, and he's had a stellar.
Start like we all saw it during spring ball and fall camp Sebastian cheeks I mean he's played himself in NFL contention just because of just how we can get off the ball how we can you know And he just off the edge like that now who else can do that who got you know?
We've seen denigral Cooper the transfer defensive lineman from Appalachian State get some pass rush on the interior But you need someone else on the outside can Nick Clayton can they can Wisconsin start past right?
You know utilizing him more in past rush because
and then cheeks are kind of one too in terms of that those capabilities.
The other part two I would say is yeah I mean can you get Cooper Catalano or Mason Posa involved off the outside or through the A gaps on or B gaps on Blitzes too you know can they use some stunts up front where they you know in with the defensive line.
So those are some of the things that we're you know that I'm watching for tomorrow or you know or you know on Saturday where just hey
this team, you know, like you need to have more than just one main pass rusher.
And so, and especially during big 10 play and you get the pass rush and that only helps secondary and allows them to make more plays.
Talking to Jake Kokorowski, Badger Observer and BadgerObserver.com where you can find coverage of all things badgers, recruiting, games, everything else that you need to know about Wisconsin.
Make sure you sign up for that.
Hit a big milestone lately, Jake.
I think you got you topped a big nice round number of subscribers to that.
So congrats on that.
I am curious, though, on your thoughts with Wisconsin heading into Happy Valley and, you know, just the atmosphere and that.
And we've talked a lot already about, you know, what's going to happen position by position and everything.
But, you know, this atmosphere is one of the more unique ones in college football.
And it could be
pretty overwhelming, especially for Wisconsin after, you know, playing a neutral site game and a couple of home games against, I hate to say it, inferior opponents.
And now they get to face a team on their level, on the road in a stadium that can pack in, you know, 100,000 plus.
Absolutely.
I mean, it's going to be a tough environment as just the way this goes when it comes to, you know, big 10 play and it's also, it's Wisconsin.
This is one of their, you know, Notre Dame was the big one.
You have
Penn State, you have USC, you have, you know, you're going to add Iowa on Halloween, which that may be the only road test that's more difficult than this one, but this is a, it's a formidable environment.
So many fans pack into Beaver Stadium.
And this is also, I mean, you're going up against the team where, you know, a lot of people were wondering what Matt Campbell could do at Penn State.
And I, you know, it was a great hire.
It's one of those really stumbled into it.
at the end where, you know, they, you know, they're obviously the reports of Connie Sataki from BYU and then other things like that, you know, and then just trying to find their coaching such an old Matt rules name was thrown around, you know, with the scuttlebutt, if that's the right terminology, the rumors and rumblings, but, you know, Matt Campbell is a really good coach.
And, you know, it's also for me, you know, trying to get something going on defense, an offense, I should say, where
You know, Wisconsin passed well, well that defense is only allowing like 90 yards per game passing through through games again cupcakes, right for for Penn State, but All signs point to having another, you know, just because they change ahead coaches mean the defense is really changing what what the standards are so Yeah, they're gonna have to deal with the noise.
They're gonna have to deal with You know, yeah, just the fans going, you know, it's a hostile environment And so some of the Luke fickle referred to during his Monday press conference.
So it's it's a lot for Wisconsin, but again
If you can win the special teams battle, if you can win, you know, you get turnovers, I think you need to be at least have at least two to three turnovers generated.
And if you win, you can't beat yourself up on those penalties.
And oh, it's very cliche, but if you have those three things, you're going to give yourself a good shot on the road against the top 15 team.
better football walking into Hattie Valley.
Obviously a really hostile environment.
Also a hostile environment is Wisconsin's own Fieldhouse Badger volleyball off to a nice start to the year.
I believe sitting at seven and four right now.
Jake, they just got their first match up against the Big Ten opponent taken down Oregon the other night.
I believe three sets to one.
The Big 10 obviously is such a gauntlet in volleyball.
It feels like practically every team in that conference is ranked.
And obviously their schedule reflects that that remains, but it kind of looks like that as well from their non-conference schedule.
There's so many ranked opponents there.
How prepared do you think the Badgers are for this really, really tough schedule that they've got?
I mean, they got number 10 Purdue, number 18, Indiana, and number 15, Minnesota.
That's just their next three games, Jake.
Are they ready for those opponents right now?
I mean, it's a great question because we saw at the end of the two non-conference matchups against Marquette and Milwaukee, you know, Kelly Sheffield was not pleased after that Milwaukee match.
And so, you know, Wisconsin came out, yeah, Oregon won the first set, but they're also the number 20 team in the nation, according to the ABC rankings for a reason.
And you saw them, I mean, Thursday gives more hope.
Because they came back, you know, and then that first set they could have taken that first set, you know, they came back and Almost won that first set against Oregon But they they come out Pretty much dominate that second set third set.
They're down 2215 rollback, you know and in great serves by Charlie Furbringer and Isabel Hoppe and then
Desolese champion when that set point for Oregon to go up to one has two huge kills and then you know organ falters with two errors thereafter and then Wisconsin just dominates the fourth set by hitting over 600 which is an astronomical number in volleyball and so for in my eyes, I think that did a lot especially against ring to point out Purdue obviously top 10 team, you know, yeah, this is a I mean, it's a
I'm not going to call it a murderers row because you're not seeing Nebraska in there or even Penn State at this point.
But yeah, you have to play Purdue on the road.
That's going to be a rough one.
It's going to be televised in the Big Ten Network so they're going to be able to see just what this team's made of in another hostile environment.
The thing that makes me intrigued in this, guys, is just the fact that
The non-conference really prepared them for this.
They went on the road at Texas and at Texas A&M.
They won at Texas A&M.
You know, I think that's the one that really stands out to me like that.
And, you know, they've got up against, you know, top 10 ranked Florida program too recently.
And so, then granted, I was at home, but, you know, they've found ways like against Florida.
like against Oregon, like against Texas A&M to pull out gritty type wins.
And they've responded after, you know, even getting swept after Kentucky in the season opening match at the ABCA first serve in Milwaukee, they come back less than 24 hours later and they sweep Louisville, who's, you know, a top 10 team right now.
So, you know, but it's also just, there's a lot of youth.
There's a lot of, you know, inexperience in, you know, this is a group that has nine freshmen on the roster.
So I think the big thing there is really just, you know,
may not be as consistent.
I think Wisconsin, you know, towards the end of this season could be a juggernaut just with Desley's champion coming in and instantly inserting herself five matches in.
And you have Audrey Flanagan, who's getting a lot better on the as an outside hitter as a freshman.
You know, Charlie Furbringer is one of, if not the best.
setters in the nation, if not the best setter in the nation.
And you also, like with the middle blockers, we're seeing, you know, JL August, when she starts coming back, you know, in the, you know, more match play, I think that's going to be huge too.
And, but there's a lot of youth on this team.
So it could be a little uneven, but it's one of those things where I think like last season where we saw the team really gel, that's, that's, it could be a really positive team, you know, just, yeah, there's a lot of positive things going on at the end of the year, but this,
Stretch is really going to tell a lot about this team in big template.
Jay Kokorowski, Badger Observer and BadgerObserver.com.
We appreciate all of your insights this week.
We'll be bugging you again next week ahead of Homecoming, which I'm sure you've got your own float plan for all that and the big parade and everything.
Looking forward to talking to you for football next week ahead of Michigan State.
Thanks for your time.
And again, as always, appreciate the awesome insight into the program.
I got a budget for float.
What did you leave?
You just had
1,000 subscribers, right?
You can tell me this.
But no, you guys have a great week.
We'll talk to you guys next week.
Thanks,
Jake
Ogieralski, a Badger Observer, and BadgerObserver.com.
Make sure you sign up.
Get all the things you need to follow the Badgers all throughout the year, regardless of the sport.
We'll have him back again here next week.
We are going to continue with the football theme next here on Make the Call, part of the Civic Media radio network.
Good
talking to you, boys.
Thanks, Jake.
Appreciate you,
man.
And yeah, well, I probably should have warned you.
We'll have you next week, too, because the guy from here, he doesn't do the road games, so we'll have you again next week.
But I believe he's going to all the home games, so we'll tap our insider guy, our inside the house guy for the games where he's actually at.
That's why we don't have you every week right now.
Oh, good, man.
No worries.
We're going to credential somebody to games.
We might as well use them.
Oh, no, I'm with you, man.
I feel you, but I'll talk to you a lot during basketball and stuff to you.
So it'll be good
Thanks,
man.
I'll appreciate you hanging out with us for a half hour.
Good luck tonight.
So hope everything goes well, man.
You guys take it easier, right?
Yeah.
Um, yeah, I don't have a Platteville game to worry about tomorrow.
So things do go poorly tonight.
Tonight.
Tonight's kind of a pre night.
So I just have to survive soccer matches tomorrow.
All right.
Well, take
it.
I don't have to
drive.
So I mean, if I've sit there in my chair and I'm not, you know,
Yeah, you know, if I'm a little a little under the weather, you know, it's gonna be a factor.
Awesome.
Well, you guys take care about see you guys soon.
What do you think high school coaches do after they get their asses kicked for four years straight?
Oh, no, it's exactly what I thought.
Yeah, we didn't even turn on film last week.
We turned on Archer.
We're like, we got beat.
And there's no point in going over this and saying, wow, we got just handed to us.
Yeah, it was miserable.
We did all of our film the next day when we were, you know, not as sad, but that was a 17 minute segment.
So let us take a chunk out of the show.
I would like to do the headlines in the first segment just to kind of get us to the back half and balance the long segments.
We don't have long, long, short, short.
I'd rather do short, long, long, short, just for the sake of the clock.
So the bottom of the hour still ends up kind of being the bottom of the hour.
If that makes sense.
So the first segment, we can just touch on brewers and then we can tease the Packers and then we can do a long segment on the Packers at the end.
So that okay?
Would you rather do the Packers segment first?
We know exactly how much time we have for the short segment.
I'm cool with that.
Whatever sounds smart.
All right.
Parker.
That's whatever you think is easier.
Yeah,
it's basically going to be just us saying the word bad for 12 minutes.
So we have 19 minutes to split between two segments.
So, you know, we've got plenty of time to talk Packers, you know, we we've been doing 10 to 15 on the longer segments.
This last one was 17.
Obviously, because Jake talks a lot and that's good.
I mean, I'd rather have Jake's insight and listen to me talk for 17 minutes.
But, um,
Yeah, this segment, I think we'll record segment three.
And that way, if we get to a point where it's like, okay, we have not enough time for segment one, like we can wrap and just get out.
But yeah, we don't have a game to preview really.
I mean, Tampa Bay is next, but that's a week and a half away.
So yeah, we'll see segment three then and just make sure, you know, I would say we can cap this at probably 15 to 16 minutes.
Like a normal segment and then we should we would still have About four to six minutes for Brewers or whatever else we want to talk about
Right.
So even if we
only hit like 12 to 13, we'll still be able to fill what's left.
Yeah, that's yep
Yep, exactly.
All right, we'll do segment three right now.
Then here we go And Parker just timestamp out the video here at about 22 minutes and we do this this will be the segment you'll be pulling stuff from here, so All right, here we go
in three, two, one.
We are halfway past here in Make the Call on the Civic Media Radio Network and we transitioned from Badger's football, which we are feeling slightly better about after a couple of wins.
Now to Packers football, which we are decidedly not feeling too great after three games to start the year.
The Packers, by all rights, should be 0-3 right now.
The comeback against the Jets.
The Jets handed that to them on a silver platter.
And it's looking more and more like after the Thursday night loss to Atlanta, like things might not be going so well in Green Bay.
October football as they posted is up next for the Packers, but the September football was very decidedly bad.
So let's start with the negative because we got to get all of this out of the way.
And we've set it for the last two green and gold recaps that we've done guys, but.
It's the offensive line is where it starts for me.
The offensive line is not functioning.
32, I believe, hits or sacks on Jordan Love through three games, which is the most in something like two decades.
That's not sustainable over a whole season if you want your quarterback to be in one piece.
No, not at all.
Not whatsoever.
One thing that really stands out to me is at least per pro football focus right now.
Love is currently getting the ball out faster than any quarterback in the league.
And yes, at the time of having this conversation, they've got one more game than any other team out there besides the Falcons, of course.
But even though he's the fastest to throw the ball right now, he's among the top three in the number of pressures and the frequency of pressures, which is just another way of saying that offensive line is completely collapsing.
And when things do go well,
It's usually because Jordan Love is rushing the offense and still throwing well.
He's got good rapport with receivers.
Matthew Golden, maybe the bright spot of that game.
Tucker Kraft had a catch or two, but absolutely nothing looks viable right now.
Andrew Whitworth was having a conversation with the other talking heads at halftime, and he pointed out that the Packers offense is predicated around a run threat.
And then you take shots when...
the defense is adjusting to stop the run, you take advantage of the gaps they leave.
And right now, there's just no running threat whatsoever.
Caleb Johnson might be having some of the most success, but Marshawn Lloyd is still getting the most touches and below three yards per carry.
It's just a non viable version of the offense.
The other thing right now, it was the fewest Packers rushing yards in a game since I think the year 2000.
And these are only sniff tests.
I haven't looked at the all 22 yet.
But sometimes the sniff test is I mean, we're Limburger levels, guys, this is
Absolutely non viable.
The other thing that threw me off and maybe this is this is what I'd like to hear from you guys about Tucker Kraft was commenting on the booze that came during the home opener.
And what you want to hear when a team leader is reacting to the home crowd booing is it starts with us.
We have to be accountable.
Oh my goodness.
The response I'm hearing is that Tucker sounded soft.
It's that they weren't talking about accountability.
People were paying over $100 as a get-in price, and now we're hearing complaints of booze when they were stinking it up that much.
Guys, do we even need to look past the sniff test here?
Parker, what do you think?
I mean, if you look past the sniff test, you just see more
Word I can't say on the radio.
It's not good.
There are so few good points right now in this team to look at that it's just infuriating to watch.
I mean, the Packers have got 146 rushing yards in three games.
Three games they have 146 rushing yards.
You know how many yards Bijan Robinson had last night?
More than that.
It's just...
I can't find anything good right now.
The good things that there are to see are how good the receiving core is.
Well, you'll ask Jayden Reed and your guys are dropping passes right now.
They're looking beautiful standing there like statues on the perimeter, not even getting accurate throws out of love right now.
And if the tendencies from this pass game or anything to go by, love was a little less accurate than he has been.
And I sit here wondering if those hits that he's taken already are starting to accumulate and show a little bit.
Speaking of, in case we didn't need any more bad news, at the time of having this conversation on the day that we're talking about this, Packer's center, Sean Ryan, currently being evaluated with an X-ray on his right thumb.
Now, I don't want to pile on these guys too much.
They're professionals.
They're good people.
I'm quite certain.
But at the same time, Sean Ryan is the only one performing at a mediocre level or better after Zac Baca-Buele was lost for the season.
And now it looks like we might lose him.
So all of my optimism about one-to-one backups, five backups, five starters.
Most of those backups are going to be starting for at least a significant portion of this season, and even the starters don't look capable right now.
My question is, Jimmy, maybe you can weigh in on this.
At what point do you think the Packers start to look at position coaches?
I know everybody's calling for Matt LaFleur's head right now, but there is an offensive line coach, and there's a question of whether player evaluation comes into this.
I spoke with Mike Clemens about that on Friday, and he said, look, anybody can run block, you pay guys to pass block, and it is just
not happening right now.
Jimmy, as a high school football coach, what are you thinking when you watch the offensive line, especially in those past blocking situations?
I'm not sure high school football coach is an up of a.
a resume to properly evaluate NFL work.
Give it a shot.
I'll say this first though, the Packers offensive line situation, I think people could have seen this coming when two of the five projected starters had injury issues going into the year between the former Zach Tom and then of course with banks, you know, also having injury issues.
So when you compound that with more injury issues, you know, you start looking, well, where are they going to find guys?
Well, the practice squad is mostly linemen, right?
So mostly
these guys.
There's a couple of guys that have experienced, but you're talking about replacement level players at one of the sport's most important positions.
And that is, you know, offense one, protecting your quarterback at the run game, going all of that.
So
I think a microcosm, what you're talking about too, with the offense, in that the run sets up everything, I just go back to the fourth and one call.
I mean, when it was fourth and one, I literally shouted across the living room at everybody else that was here with me last night, or Thursday night, with my wife, my kids, whatever.
I'm like, well, fourth and one, this is not going to go well.
And sure enough, they play faked.
on it.
They did a play action play and a rollout and threw it to absolutely nobody.
So when your run game doesn't exist, the teams can just tee off on you on the pass game.
I think there's where anybody, it doesn't have to be a coach.
You don't have to be a high school pro and a college coach to know that, you know, when you become predictable in any sport, when teams can just key and lock on to things, you know,
What did the Vikings do?
They just kept sending the house.
What did the Falcons start doing?
They just started sending Russia.
They were sending six on even the non-obvious passing downs, knowing the Packers weren't going to even try.
The Packers are the most past heavy play call in the NFL right now, and it's not even close.
They are throwing something like almost 70% of them on their play calls.
So there's something happening this year early on that is not going according to plan.
And to me, it feels like if you're abandoning
The run abandoning a key part of what sets up the rest of your offense.
There is no way to have success for that.
So, you know, whether it's your play caller, which happens to be person to charge, but whether it's position coach, I don't know that you can lay this out the feed of even the position coaches because they're doing the most with what they can do with what they were given by, you know, the front office and, you know, going into the year, knowing that offensive line was going to be.
You know a big question mark with all the injuries and everything I just felt like they didn't do a lot to address it Which is why when you guys you us three sat here all through August and talking about training camp setup What position did I keep coming back to offensive line because I just wasn't seeing it?
When immediately one thing that comes to mind for me is back in March There was a story that made some waves when the NFL players Association released what might be their last round of publicly available player report cards We talked about it at the time because one of the things that stood out Matt LaFleur ranked among the bottom five of current NFL head coaches in terms of player Respect and people were even sitting there asking at the time.
What exactly does that even mean?
Well, I think we're starting to see the fruits of that kind of
of poison tree, if you will.
And it's beginning to look like, hey, or at least the question is starting to present itself.
Does Matt LaFleur have what it takes to get the minds right in the locker room using Tucker Kraft as a litmus test?
He's kind of blaming fans for booing, not blame necessarily, but he's got to be looking at himself and saying, hey, we have to earn the positive reactions from the crowd.
And he should be out there beating his chest saying, I have to do better as a team leader.
The closest I've heard to that is Jordan Love saying, everything has to improve.
And it starts with me when really, if there's anything that if there's any one player that's doing as much as.
can possibly done with what they've got, it's Jordan Love right now.
So that's something that I've seen Parker.
Would you say the Packers have any fire right now?
I mean, the most fire that I see comes strangely enough from the defense, even though they just got absolutely rocked the other night.
Lucas Van Ness is like a man out of a cannon, pretty much every snap.
Lucas Van Ness, like, has become my favorite guy on that defense while Micah Parsons is still sitting out.
And by the way, Micah Parsons, holy smokes, have you been seeing him on the sidelines during these games?
He looks like he's coaching up the guys, and I guarantee he is, and he's providing a lot of fire there.
So yeah, I mean, that's kind of where my mind goes for who's got a little bit of fire right now because...
We're all pitting much of the nail on the head.
The offensive line is not getting it done right now.
And I am going to assign a small bit of blame to the front office right now.
I cannot believe they have not made one move since week one.
You already saw that your offensive line was hurting.
You saw it even more last week that your offensive line was hurt after Zach Bacchalbele went down.
I don't understand how they have not looked at that and gone.
We need to bring in somebody if it's a free agent just to give us more depth.
I don't care how good he is.
Give him the some depth because you're going to need to be able to rotate guys out here and there.
That's kind of where my mind has gone on that.
But I mean, yeah, the defense pretty much has had the most flashes of good every now and then.
Matt LaFleur.
I think I might have said this last week.
Every now and then Matt LaFleur has a really good drive play calling.
like he did on that drive where he ended up going for it on 4th and 1 and rolling out Jordan Love on a play-action play to throw it to no one in particular.
That was a pretty well played, pretty well called drive up to that point.
It's just, to me it seems like LeFluor is in over his head almost.
Like there's just too much on his plate.
We've seen that with time management in the past, with using timeouts in weird spots.
He did that again last night, I believe at the end of the first half.
Couldn't decide if he was trying to stop.
the clock and get the ball back or not.
Yeah, he just seems like he doesn't have it.
There's too much going on for him, I think, to keep his offense going well.
And who knows if that's affecting that ranking of guys not respecting him enough or not?
I don't really know.
But it seems like a flaw to me.
And I would certainly like to see what our offensive coordinator is capable of, Jimmy.
Do you see the floor handing over?
The play calling keys anytime soon here and maybe reflecting it on himself that maybe we just need to try something new this way
I'm not sure that You know head coach situation that they're gonna he's gonna take things away from himself But here's the here's the reality and I think you us three and pretty much anybody who's watched this team Can attest to this there's got to be some sort of change that happens here early in the year because otherwise you're talking about kind of a
You know, you're talking about a lost season and you know, the Packers it's a long year, right?
We're three games in the Packers are one and two It's you know, there's a lot of still 14 games to play a lot can change You know, they could still go on a bit of a winning ride.
They can make the playoffs You know, it's easier to make the playoffs now with more games and more plus spots But I do think that you know at some point you do have to consider that You know, there's a lot like you said, there's a lot going on and whether or not the Packers have
Sort of capital to go around and deal with it.
I mean people are already talking and looking at next year An NFL draft that could potentially be pretty loaded in the backers on up a first round draft pick in it People are already looking that far forward, right?
And that's pretty crazy because there's still 14 games of play this year But I do think that things will have to change up for the better and I'm not sure what that change entails I don't think it's gonna be as drastic as dismissing a head coach But I do think that there will be something that ships there has to be something that ships here now with this
week and a half between games that they can get them back on track because honestly what you've seen in the first three games, they should be 0-3 by all rights, what you've seen here in the first three weeks and we can see it right now in the Parkfall studio with the flag in distress there with the the Packers there, the flag being hung upside down, something will have to change at some point because honestly it isn't sustainable to continue as they are.
I think that's fair to say Jimmy the way I would put it if it forced to and I'm not forced to but I'm going to anyway Is that I think so far the season is defined by how necessary some clear major adjustments really are which then lends itself to the question Do we have the leadership to make those adjustments?
Matla floor by record on paper is one of the most successful coaches in NFL history over I think through six or an especially seven years
wait He's a highly successful coach is what you're saying
You will yeah, no no no by
win record alone
your reference
for those who
is it really?
Oh my goodness.
Yes.
I'm a bad packer fan I'm afraid I might have been a little bit too young back in the Mike McCarthy days But no, it's it's something that it's something that really just leads itself naturally to that question Do we have the people in place to make the changes that need to be made?
Is the culture of Green Bay pointed at?
Making the moves that need to be made quiet transaction wires and waiting till the offseason to make large adjustments Kind of the hallmark of the Packers, you know developing internally as opposed to bringing people in from outside Micah Parsons not withstanding it I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible to squeeze success out of the same rock They've been squeezing it out of for years now, and I think the answer is looking more like no than ever before
The Mike McCarthy reference was at a press conference where reporters were questioning
Whether the kind of the same ball Packers were struggling and he came up to the podium and he's like, I'm a highly successful football coach.
So that was
that's my best.
Mike McCarthy impersonation.
All right.
Well, we are out of time because we have to get to a high school recap and a sports week in review.
But this has been our weekly green and gold recap here as part of make the call.
There will not be one on Monday because Packers have already played this week.
So if you're looking forward to that Monday, it'll return following the game against Tampa Bay on the first weekend of October.
Guys, thanks.
Thank you for your time today.
It's great to talk sports to you guys.
Enjoy.
We've got the Badgers and Penn State on tap.
Whitewater is the only D3 school in Wisconsin.
The WIAC going this weekend.
Parker's thrilled.
So we got
back
as well.
We're going to go beat up on those keystone cops.
Appreciate you
guys.
Have a great
weekend.
And we'll be talking to you again here a week.
No.
Thanks,
guys.
Thanks, guys.
This is Make the Call part of the Civic Media radio network.
Well, a little less than four minutes for this other segment.
That's fine.
I can edit a little bit.
I can cut down that response.
I was distracted because a med flight helicopter went over my house.
I lived next to a hospital.
So I don't know if you guys could hear it, but it was very loud here.
No, I didn't hear it at all.
It was distracting for me at
least.
Alright, let's record the last segment so you guys can get on with your day.
Oh, here's a fun one before we jump in that blocked field goal last night.
The Felton's at 10 men on the field.
Can you do you have a bat to hit me over the head with?
Oh,
it's going to be a
bad year, man.
It's.
Use the edge of the racket.
You know who looked good with Skymore?
He looked good.
Kicker Turner.
Good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're a
little less special teams.
He was looking good.
I'm like, I'm watching the special teams like, hey, you know, they are doing a couple of things right now.
I saw the block field go like, oh, wow, that can't happen.
That one to me I'm looking at I'm like, you know how I would have coached that the same thing I told my players You can't give up your inside shoulder and the guy who was blocking him totally gave him a free lane to the ball it was Like you could just see like there's this big gap because he went and blocked the guy to his outside You have to protect inside shoulder.
I feel go PAT so Complete fundamental breakdown
I like that we didn't even reference that the Packers were four and a half point favorites and hadn't lost a home opener in 13 years.
We need Denzel Washington in there.
You smiling?
Why are you smiling?
Worse PD.
That's going to be me if we lose our rivalry game tonight.
I'm going to be like, why are you smiling?
We got people 50.
I'm just going to make them all run.
Right there after the game in front of all the parents and kids, like, wow, we just got it handed to us by a team that is starting three freshmen and is going to eight player football next year.
I'm already sad, guys.
I can't talk about high school football right now.
Let's talk about happier things like the Brewers winning a whole bunch of games and having essentially an exhibition series this weekend.
So talk about that.
Like they can get rested and get healthy and all the things.
So
did they clinch home over the Dodgers?
Yes, they are the one seed.
So
all of them
will be they have clinched it.
So
I knew there were
games where like you probably want to get guys some work, but You don't need to put Mr. Rouski in for seven innings or anything to clinch it or whatever Everything's clinched.
All you got to do is stay healthy at this point.
So Yeah, then you don't play until next Saturday.
They have a week off.
So
Yeah,
that's an interesting balance.
We'll talk about it here
I have a time where it's on mine.
I have it at 30 to 39, but there are some gaps in spaces.
I'll cut out.
It always shrinks sometimes significantly, especially the guest segment.
So I'm going to say what we have exactly four minutes here.
That's going to be my call and then I'll cut if I have to from that.
So we're short in the high school segment.
So I'm going to time this segment to four minutes and then
Yeah, I mean Parker as far as pulling clips goes starting at 22 on the video recording on I think any any of the Packers responses from you guys works I don't think mine are great.
I got a little feisty at one of them, but Honestly like it We came we all came to the same conclusion like the offensive line is a problem and it's like to receive the past catchers when you have more drops and catches from your mega bucks tight end That's a problem.
Then he blames the crowd and
Wines about it
like
just terrible optics.
I don't know what's going on there terrible all right When you're ready, I
Don't have to record anymore did this is all you
oh Okay,
I'm taking the audio from stream here four
minutes for the intro in three two and one
Indeed another weekend is upon us.
It is make the call the civic media radio network.
I'm Jimmy Cusk is sports director here and Along for the ride today are gray Gunderson in the north woods gray.
What's up, man?
Bad things Jimmy bad things
is that why the Packers flag is upside down
That that is precisely why the Packers flag is upside down.
That's why my whole being is upside down
Okay.
Well, we'll bounce back from that.
I'm sure there is some glowing optimism coming from Parker vertical Olson in the capital city of Wisconsin.
Parker, where's that?
I need the glowing optimism right
now.
I'm in distress, Jimmy.
That's why the flag is upside down.
We're distressed.
United
in distress.
Clearly,
we need something to get us right.
So, you know, I was gonna sit here and talk like, hey, let's recap.
The Packers game.
Let's get get ready for bat.
I think we need to cheer up a little bit here at the start of the show So how about this guys the Milwaukee Brewers for the first time ever and the first MLB teams is 2023 have won 100 baseball games furthermore the Brewers have clinched the best record in baseball and they have home field advantage through the entirety of the postseason That has that's got to lift your spirits a little bit guys.
Come on.
Let me let me know like it's lifted your spirits right a little bit
That helped a lot.
Yeah, I definitely watched the Brewers win their 100th game rather than the Packers for the start of it.
No, when I took my Packer hat off, I put on a Brewer cap because it's like Homer Simpson sinking into the bushes and coming back out with 100% that.
Well, it is exciting for the Brewers.
I think there's an interesting dilemma there with the Brewers because now the weekend series with St.
Louis becomes more or less exhibition.
They don't need to.
win any more games they've clinched um but the on the other side of that they don't play until next saturday at the start of the nlbs and i i guess that at that point you're kind of managing rest versus rostin away um but regardless the weekend series uh all of a sudden
You know, you don't have to, you know, get up and down with every run.
I mean, the Brewers have clinched everything they needed to.
And I would say going into the year, I don't think anybody would have expected that not only with the Brewers, you know, I think maybe we thought they'd be play us, but to be over 100 wins and have the top record in baseball, that's crazy, guys.
Yeah, I mean they have definitely overperformed because I think we were thinking yeah at best it'll be as good as they were last year probably and this is even better than they were last year and they've got the pitching to kind of make you think oh they might really do something in postseason here I am pretty interested though when this is last couple of three games that don't matter really at all I'm interested to see who gets any time pitching right because we've kind of seen auditions for guys like Dustin May
other guys are going to probably get to pitch a bit more earlier the last week or so.
We heard that Mizorowski would have a kind of a longer start than his previous one, which is only three innings.
I'm interested to see if the plan has changed at all now that they're not playing for literally anything.
Well the Brewers will have again home field advantage throughout the entire postseason They'll start with the NLDS that'll be a week from Saturday depending on when you're listening to the show So about a week that they'll be back in action.
They're playing the Cardinals of course this weekend, but we'll have the Brewers on our
Milwaukee Brewers Radio Network stations here in Civic Media.
We've got five of them, so pretty much any part of the state you're in, you're going to find the Brewers on the radio dial.
We'll have all that coverage for you here again with Civic Media, and obviously we'll be locked in here this postseason.
We'll bring in some guests.
We'll talk a lot of baseball as the Brewers make a push for their first ever World Series title.
In the show today, jake kokorowski, a badger observer will join us.
We're going to talk a lot about the badger's football team off to a two and one start after beating up on a couple of directional schools.
They get penned state on saturday.
If you're listening to us after the game saturday, you'll get a glimpse.
I guess you're going to go into the past and do a time capsule and see what we had to say about that matchup going in and of course later in the show because the packers had a thursday night game
our green and gold recap and we'll do all of that here later in the program as well as a sports weekend review with Mike Clemens.
This is Make the Call, part of the Civic Media radio
network.