Wisconsin Sports on the go with Trag
Wisconsin Sports on the go with Trag is a podcast/radio show aiming at bringing you Wisconsin sports news and opinions! Find the show Wednesdays from 5-7 pm on Sports radio 92.3 WOSQ or here next day!
Wisconsin Sports on the go with Trag
Dec 6 Show: BadgerMBB Recaps, Packers vs Bears Preview
Rivalries hit different when identity is on the line. We kick off our first Saturday show by tackling the number everyone keeps pointing at: Wisconsin’s low-ranked recruiting class. We unpack why NIL and the transfer portal change the scorecard, how late flips happened, and why the real issue is selling an offensive identity recruits can see on film. Short-term, it’s a portal-heavy plan to win now. Long-term, it’s building a scheme players want to join.
Then we head to the hardwood. Wisconsin’s win over Northwestern felt like two teams in one night: 15 first-half assists, zero turnovers, and John Blackwell sprinting into daylight, followed by a sticky second half where the ball stopped and the lead shrank. We talk roles with two score-first guards, why Andrew Rohde’s vision matters, and how Austin Rapp’s shooting off the bench pairs with Bielauskas’ physicality. With Marquette in a red out at 1 p.m., the keys are pace, purposeful movement, and early paint touches to keep the offense flowing for a full 40.
Finally, it’s Lambeau time. After a pointed jab at Matt LaFleur, Bears-Packers now carries top-of-the-North gravity. We outline the defensive plan without Devonte Wyatt: stunts to knife Gary and Parsons inside, Quay Walker and Isaiah McDuffie cleaning fits, and Evan Williams firing downhill while keeping contain on Caleb Williams. Offense stays turned up: a steady Josh Jacobs runway, motion and play-action on early downs, and Jordan Love dealing from a clean pocket. One stat to circle: Chicago thrives on takeaways; Green Bay thrives when it doesn’t give the ball away. Protect it, and the path clears.
Subscribe, share with a fellow Wisconsin fan, and drop your prediction: who needs this win more, and why?
This is Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trade. Your place for all things Wisconsin Sports. Now, your host, Trage.
SPEAKER_01:How are we doing, everybody? And welcome into Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trage. I'm your host, Trage, as we're coming in for the first ever Saturday edition of the show here. I hope you guys are enjoying your Saturday so far here. Hope you guys are enjoying your weekend. It's uh yesterday it was snowing, so not great, not a great start to the weekend. Got a little slick out there. I did not expect as much snow as what we got, but it got it got a little slick out there, got a little icy out on the roads. Hopefully you guys were safe out there on the roadways. I know the first snow and everything happens and people forget how to drive in snow. So it's always that real reason. You got to relearn it every single year, how snow works. So, anyways, anyways, that's enough about that. We have a lot to dive into today here on the show, and only an hour to do it. So, we're gonna talk badger hoops to start. We when the second segment of the show here, so we're gonna hit a break, we're gonna come back. We're gonna talk some badger hoops. Northwestern, talk about that game, recap that one. First half dominant, second half. Some people saw it as ugly, some people saw it as a letdown of a second half, and some people didn't like the the whole game just because of the second half. So we're gonna dive into it. Christian stopping by today. He's gonna be stopping by here after I get done with my ramble here, and he we're gonna discuss that game because we might have seen it in a different way than a lot of people. So we're gonna talk about that. We're gonna look ahead to Marquette, and then later on in the show, Ummer stopping by. We have some Packer talk to get to. Packers, Bears, the rivalry, NFC North battle for the top spot on the line twice in two weeks, right? I mean, three weeks. They got three-week span. They're gonna play them twice. Part one of two. It's ridiculous how like this scheduling works sometimes. But, anyways, we have a whole bunch to dive into with the Packers here today on the show. But without further ado, I have to introduce Christian here tonight today, right? Christian, how are we doing on this Saturday, first Saturday show?
SPEAKER_04:Good, good. I'm I'm excited for you, man. You're expanding a little bit, huh?
SPEAKER_01:We're working on it. Slow day. No, I'm not busy. Yeah, that's what they tell me, not busy enough. Yeah, well, depends who you ask on that one there. But but we're excited. We're excited to be here on Saturdays. I'm excited to bring you guys like Christian. Umr is gonna be stopping by later. They are some fantastic minds in the Wisconsin sporting world, and I'd love to get them out here on the airwaves for you guys. So, Christian, let's start out right away with the Badger football talk that we had. Not a whole lot that I wanted to, because we're gonna talk about next Wednesday. So on Wednesdays, the show is originally on Wednesdays, 5 to 7 p.m. Make sure you guys are checking it out on Wednesdays too. And now we're expanding to Saturdays, but on Wednesday, we're gonna dive deeper into this recruiting class. Christian, a lot of people came off this early signing period, and they looked at the number, and I think they're like what, 70th or something below, a lot of really bad teams in recruiting. The recruiting class isn't very good, and a lot of people are really worried about this team, about the direction of the program, and it made them feel worse about Luke Fickle, everything else. What are your thoughts to what you what happened, what you saw? Amari Lattimore ends up leaving. We lost Pettit weeks ago. But what are your thoughts on this recruiting class and it being ranked so low?
SPEAKER_04:Um, I mean, it's definitely a disappointment. I think it obviously doesn't help with the season that they have. They couldn't keep Latimer, they couldn't keep Pettit, you know. But I mean, at the same time, there's a lot of guys that it seemed like it seemed like it was they're just short so many times. They were in they're in the thick of it with so many of these recruits, like four stars. Um, and then like they make their final three, final two, and then ultimately they just don't get picked, right? So it's just one of those things where it's like they're always coming in second and they just couldn't quite get it together, and then pair that with the struggles they've had with the season. It's like, I mean, I don't know. It seems like no one's really all that excited about going to Wisconsin except for the guys they have, but I mean, but again, you can kind of take it with a grain of salt. I think in my head, Finkel's coaching for his job next year. He's I'm not gonna say he like completely ignored this cycle because I don't think he did, but I think he's not gonna be he in his press conference, he talked about having these true freshmen. He was more interested in the quality of the player rather than the quantity of the player, whether he actually and whether that's actually the reason or not, um, is whatever. But I think he's and he's even openly admitted that it's gonna they're gonna bring in a lot of guys through the transfer portal. So I think he's gonna depend more on that rather than you know true freshmen necessarily coming in and playing. So I think, like I said, he's gonna be coaching for his job. I think that's that's his top priority, is he needs to win next year. And this this cycle, this the 2026 recruits aren't necessarily going to be the reason he would win or lose, right?
SPEAKER_01:I 100% agree. And that's your problem, right? You're you're basically a lame duck coach, and you're sacrificing your future program on his job. He has to sacrifice what he could do in the future for now. And and I completely agree where you could go out there and you could sign 20 guys, whatever it is, but they're not all gonna be ready to go next year. You need guys that are ready here, and you're not gonna get that out of a recruiting class, you're gonna get maybe two, three guys that could be ready, unless you get five stars. But those guys ain't coming to Wisconsin, they're heading off to Alabamas and Ohio States and everything else. So it's extremely tough. And I would agree, I think he's going to do most of his work through the transfer portal. That's a scary business, too. So it's not like it's uh a sigh relief, right? That he's gonna go get some talent that's ready to go now. The problem, I think, especially offensively, is what is the identity of the Wisconsin Badgers offensively? Like you're trying to sell a program, but what do you sell? I at this point, you're selling like uh a vision that's not there. Like you you threw up the Lego sculpture there and said, Here's here's my sculpture, but yeah, I can't like build it for you. I'm just gonna show you the Lego sculpture. Like, this is what it could look like. We don't know what it actually is supposed to look like. You know, like you had mentioned to me a couple weeks ago. You said Jeff Grimes has openly said, I haven't been able to open up my playbook to even like a third of the playbook's been open. And it's like, okay, but why not just open it up all the way so people can see, hey, this is what we do, this is what we got, this is you know what we can do with you, blah, blah, blah. We saw such a vanilla offense that what is Lattimore gonna do in an offense like that? He watched the struggling offensive line, he watched backs barely. I mean, until the Illinois game, what back really had a good game for Wisconsin outside of Dupree in that one game? It's like you're trying to sell a vision that's not there, right?
SPEAKER_04:But at the same time, it's like, man, these guys maybe aren't that good. I could get some early playing time, right?
SPEAKER_01:That's you you could almost use Wisconsin as a stepping stone now, right? As you know, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And then, yeah, isn't that sad or a stepping stone program now? So you can have a lot of things.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that I just made myself feel bad by saying that.
SPEAKER_04:It's like, what's his name? Oh my god, the receiver that came to Wisconsin from Cincinnati spent oh Greg or uh was it Will Pauling? Not Will Pauling, not Greg Paulis. That was a guard from Duke a long time. With Will Pauling, yeah, came from Cincinnati, had a really good sophomore year, uh, year last year, and then jumped up to Notre Dame now, and of course, Notre Dame's Notre Dame.
SPEAKER_01:So stepping stone program now, I guess. That's uh disappointing. Man, I we made ourselves sad here talking about stepping stone programs. That's rough, that's rough. I mean, yeah, we're trying to talk ourselves into understanding the recruiting class. I can see it from both ways. People who say, Wow, this recruiting class stinks. I can see 100% what you're telling me, right? You have an unproven quarterback once again in there. You have multiple that you got a safety, I believe. Where did he come from? Out of Houston, or what he was going to Houston, didn't he flip? I mean, you got you got guys like that, but you didn't get your your golden guys, the Pettit, the Lattimore. You didn't get those guys, and that's where a lot of people are concerned. I don't honestly like, I know people are upset about that, but when you saw Lattimore wearing an Ohio State logo for a game, didn't you get a little like, why is he doing that? And then he's like, Oh, I apologize. I didn't know that rub people the wrong way. Really? Yeah, you didn't think that rub us the wrong way that you're reping uh Big Ten foe and you're playing a football game, but you're committed here. It never truly felt like he was actually committed. So I don't know why it baffles so many people that he's like gone. I don't know why.
SPEAKER_04:The kid was flirting with like how many different schools he took official visits to like I think I heard Georgia Tech at one point, uh Ohio State, obviously, and then he stuck that one at the last second that like even the Wisconsin staff didn't know about to West Virginia, and then he came up to Wisconsin for the I think it was the Illinois game or whatever, and like just like I don't know, he already took his official visit before that, so like this technically wouldn't have been an official visit, so he would have had to pay his own way. And I'm sitting here thinking, do you think he really paid his own way to come up here? Like, I don't know. Like so it's like he completely just played the Badgers, and I don't know. I'm granted you could say maybe he did have the uh he was going to commit to the badgers, and then West Virginia came at the last second. From what I heard, they just started throwing money around like crazy. Do you see they have 48 commits in this class?
SPEAKER_01:I don't know what except for West Virginia.
SPEAKER_04:No, I don't know, like nothing, but money apparently. Yeah, but they have four they have 48 freshmen coming in, and I think what did I see at six of them are running backs. I don't know. Like that's the thing. I'm looking at their class right now. Of course, technically they have listed Amari Matt Latimer as an athlete now instead of a running back, but he's like their third recruit, their fifth recruit is a running back. It's just like I'm just like, I don't, I don't, other than them, just I guess the money they're paying them, I don't see the appeal, but whatever.
SPEAKER_01:Whatever absolutely ridiculous. That's all I know.
SPEAKER_04:So that's that's recruiting now, man.
SPEAKER_01:It is, it's a mess. That's college football, it's a disaster. We're gonna get more into that recruiting class come Wednesday here on the show. So make sure you guys are checking us out Wednesday here, 5 to 7 p.m. on 923WSQ. But when we come back from the break, we're gonna talk a little badger hoops here because the badgers, we're gonna recap that Northwestern game, and then we're gonna talk about the game coming up today, one o'clock against Marquette. We'll be right back here on Wisconsin. I'm your host, Trage, as we're coming back at you here for the second segment of the show here. I hope you guys are enjoying your Saturday. Christian stuck around here. We're gonna talk some badger hoops now. That game against Northwestern, Christian. First half, dominant. John Blackwell, fantastic. They had, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, in the first half, did they have like 15 assists that led to a bunch of buckets? Yeah, I believe it was like 15 assists there. It was not yeah, 15 assists in the first half. Ball was moving, heck of a first half. Second half, went downhill fast. We saw the sloppy play. And I I know, okay, so let's just start there. Let's start with the first half. Impressions coming off there. I would say my my two big things I took away from it. The no turnovers. We know this team knows how to take care of the basketball well. Then I had to go with their movement without the basketball. John Blackwell, what led to a lot of his points, his 23 points that he had in the first half, was his ability to move without the basketball, find open passing lanes, whatever it is, get himself open for shots. That's what I think a huge difference was from there to the second half. And I want to hear what you so just hearing what that, what were some of the things you took away from that first half that you liked?
SPEAKER_04:Oh, I mean, I liked and that's I guess this I think this game was just literally the perfect view of the Badgers. Like one half, they can be hot and hit absolutely everything. I think they were taking really good shots the first half. They kept finding Blackwell, who was hot. What was he, like five of eight for threes in the first half? Like you said, he's he was constantly moving, constantly finding windows, and the guys were looking for him, right? Roadie had nine assists all game, a career high, but you know, like, and he made a couple of really nice passes to Blackwell to set him up. Like, I think that's what the offense looks like when it's clicking, and I absolutely loved it. And even defensively, they looked half decent. They shut down Martinelli for I don't know, I don't even remember what he ended with, but yeah, I know he wasn't much of a factor in the first game. If yeah, he had 14 points total, and in the first half they held him. I mean, he had nine, but they really shut him down in the second half. He only had five. So I think, but then the second half, it's like all of a sudden there's where the offense go again. Like here's here's that drought. They started, let's say, oh I can't even remember. I gotta find them. What did they do in the second half? Second half they went two of ten from three. So then they just there it is, they went ice cold. So just that's the perfect. It's like that game is just like a microcosm of this team. I guess the perfect example of you know Jack O and Jack One Hyde, right?
SPEAKER_01:You know what the big thing I think I I learned out of this game is the Badgers still don't have a true point guard. They have two scoring guards. That's what they have. They have Blackwell and they have Boyd. Both of them want to score. Both of them, and that that's the problem, is that when you have Boyd, who all he wants to do, all he knows how to do is score. When he drives, all he wants to do is get to the rim. Well, there were many times in the second half where Blackwell is standing there waving his arm, clapping his hands, like, hey, I'm wide open at three-point line, and Boyd just completely like blinders on eyes at the basket.
SPEAKER_04:And you get four assists. I mean, you love it. Do you think it's one of those do you think it's one of those things where he saw Blackwell go off in the first half, and then he's like, All right, now I need I gotta get mine in the second half because he had 18 points in the second half, so it's like we had someone scoring the bulk of the points in both halves, but it's just like I don't know, maybe that's what he's like, well, I gotta I gotta get mine now.
SPEAKER_01:But do you think Andrew Roadie could be the main guard? Because I don't know if he can be the main guard, like bring the ball up all the time, kind of guy, but to facilitate the ball, Andrew Roadie's the most unselfish dude out there who can. I mean, his passing ability, I think people don't look at his passing ability enough. He sees things that nobody else does. Like when he makes a mistake, most of the time when you watch it, it's like he saw where he thought you should be, and you just didn't go there. And he sees those things that nobody else sees. And once these guys can click on that page, it's gonna be unreal. But Boyd is like, like I said, he wants to score it. He doesn't, he doesn't have that ticker in his head where he's a pass guy, so he's not a true, he's not a true point guard, which I don't know if that worries you, but it it just takes you back to the same point of last season where you still don't have that guard.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I mean, I thought that's what he was brought in for, right? He was supposed to be that guy to like take some pressure off of Blackwell, but I mean, which I guess he kind of is, because now he ruins another score that they have to worry about. But I thought he was gonna be more like Chucky Hepburn, where he wasn't necessarily gonna be a score first guy. He was going to be a get the offense rolling, find Blackwell, find you know, find Nolan Winter, find rap. And like when they like when everything I've heard about him was just how he can get to the hoop, he can drive. Like my first thought is he's gonna be driving in dish like crazy in this in the Big Ten, he's gonna drive down, defenses are gonna collapse, he's gonna be in a jungle of trees down there, he's not gonna be able to get layups off, which we see he can, which maybe to a to a fault, right? But then I think he's gonna be kicking it out to guys shoot for threes. But feels like I don't know, he's more interested in just getting to the hoop and scoring, which I mean I guess it's a little more Jon Tanja-esque, isn't it? Because I felt like he did a really good job of getting to the hoop last year. The only thing is he was considerably bigger than Boyd is.
SPEAKER_01:100%. You replaced John Tanja with Nick Boyd scoring-wise, but now you're still at the point of who's my point guard? Who's supposed to be my guy to facilitate the basketball? You still don't have that guy. I liked in this game seeing Austin Rapp off the bench. I like that. He played well, didn't he? He did. He had 13 points off the bench, he was good. I think because when you have rap out there, you have enough scores already. We just talked about Boyd and Blackwell's inability to play with each other. Winter still has to find a way to get himself involved because I don't think he's aggressive enough at times. But Bielowski brings the physical play that you need. When you had Steven Crowell, well, first off, it made Nolan Winter look a lot better because Steven Crowell was kind of oh, kind of like slugging or slugging along at times. But slow feet. He was slow feet, so it made Winter look that much faster. But Bealowskis brings more of an inside presence, more of a physical presence, whereas Rap doesn't bring that. Rap can bring a shooter off the bench. You've been worried about finding shooting off the bench. You have your Carter Gilmore almost replacement with Austin Rapp. Defensively, not there. Offensively, he can shoot it. Gilmore can shoot it last year. He was better defensively. I still wish Gilmore was there. But you have an offensive guy off the bench now, which is something that you've been looking for. Production off the bench. You found it there with Austin Rapp. And then Biel Wellskis, he didn't play bad in the starting role. I think he brings more of that physical presence. When you have Winter, Boyd, and Blackwell, you're you're sitting pretty good scoring-wise. You don't need to have another guy getting 20 plus minutes there like a rap trying to score because he has not had that production in the starting lineup. Coming off the bench, though, I loved what I saw there. So, I mean, any other any other things you saw in this game? I thought the defense looked a lot better. We've been talking about defense for weeks now. I thought the defense looked a lot better, like you said, especially in that first half, slowing him down there. It's just for me, it's just Boyd and Blackwell are my big two takeaways that they have to figure out how to play together and how to share the basketball and how to play unselfish basketball. I think that's the biggest problem with Nick Boyd is the unselfish play that he needs to learn and kind of get with if this Badger team's gonna go far. Because the tail of two halves is a lot of ball movement in the first half, not a lot of ball movement in the second half, and the difference is the score.
SPEAKER_04:Yep. I mean, yeah. I think the defense was better, but again, recording against Northwestern. I think they got they gotta make sure they got stuff figured out because in a month they're gonna be posting Purdue, the number one team in the country. I mean, they got Nebraska, Villanova, Central, you know, they got some whatever. And now Nebraska without Connor Assegian. Not that he was, I mean, he didn't average that many, but I mean he was another shooter that you had to kind of worry about, right? Right. Once that's they got a brutal stretch. They got Purdue, UCLA, and Michigan's Michigan in back-to-back-to-back games. So they're gonna be tested in a month, so they better figure it out.
SPEAKER_01:They're gonna figure it out fast what they are. That's for sure. They're gonna figure it out fast what they are. And this it starts now, right? It starts this northwestern game, it is something to say. Open her in the Big Ten. Those two games in December can kind of get scary on you, right? They had that game against Nebraska. Was that last year or two years ago? They're up 19 and they blew the lead. I mean, you and I don't know if that was in December, but that's how fast games can flip on you. And when games flipped on you like that one, the season flipped on them, and then there was just a downhill trend from there. So just you pull off a win, it shows maturity, finding a way to win a game. You got outscored in the second half, you got outplayed, you looked like crap, but you found a way. So that's on that. Now, today you have Mark. Cat coming up one o'clock. You can look at this game if you're Wisconsin and say, wow, we're heavily favored, right? Ten and a half. You can't look at it like that. This is still an in-state rival. This is still Shaka. They know you. You know them. This is still a team that we know can score. You lost to Oklahoma in the scrimmage, whatever you want to call it. They lost by two to them in the regular season. So I mean, it's like they've played, like you said, they lost to they beat Velpo in overtime, 75-72, and then they lost to Oklahoma by one the week before that. That's how different, like how crazy of a difference that it can be from week to week with even a team like this. So I mean, how are you feeling about this game coming up today?
SPEAKER_04:Really quick, I feel good about it. It's a red out today. Make sure you're watching. If you are going to the game, make sure you're wearing your red. It should be a really good game. I think the Badgers should take it, assuming they come ready. If we see the first half Badgers from the Northwestern game.
SPEAKER_01:That's the thing. Come ready to play. They have to come out with a fire. They have to be aggressive. They have to get after it. They got to move the basketball. Keep the basketball moving. We just mentioned it there before. When the ball moon is there for this team, that's what matters most. And it's getting away from that stagnant offense is going to be huge. So when we come back, Christian, before I forget, I almost forgot. I almost hit the break. Christian, thank you as always for hopping on the show here. Let the people know where to find you out there across social media.
SPEAKER_04:As always, find me at Christian Borman on Twitter and uh all my work on the Badger Backer.
SPEAKER_01:Make sure you guys check him out. He's got fantastic stuff. He's he just got off recapping that uh recruits, everything with the recruiting, everything like that. So make sure you guys are checking him out there, The Badger Backers. So when we come back from the break here, Umber's gonna stop by. We have some Packer talk to get to. Packers, Bears, NFC North battle. We're gonna be talking about that when we come back here from the break. We'll be right back here on Wisconsin. Year ago, the Packers were they're on the verge of being 0-6 against the NFC North. They ended up with a blocked field goal against the Bears that saved them. One and five. Felt better, right? Ben Johnson goes in the offseason, and the comment was made. I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year, is what Ben Johnson had to say in his opening press conference when becoming a Chicago Bears head coach. Ummer is here. Ummer, when I tell that to you, when you hear that comment, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year. Man, that that makes it uh a little bit of pressure on him now to uh to win this one. Umr, what are your thoughts when you hear that comment?
SPEAKER_03:Well, first off, I'm happy that we're doing this on a Saturday. This is pretty amazing, I'm not gonna lie. And having you here talking me up and have and talking about the Packers before the game is is always a good time. That comment is something that I've bookmarked probably about 25 times uh from various people posting it, including myself. Um, I think that for him to go out of his way to show praise for Dan Campbell, the guy that you know gave him a spot as an OC, and then KOC and talk about how they're both coach of the year candidates, how they're such great coaches and blah blah blah. But then to take a personal shot at LaFleur when he has no personal relationship with LaFleur. And on top of that, too, like most times when Chicago Bear coaches come into the interrupting press conference, they talk about being the Packers, they talk about the organization, they talk about the whole kitten in caboodle. But no, this guy took a personal shot solely directed at LaFleur, no different than Sala, no different than Campbell, and they would beat us and they would make these comments about taking us to deep end. It was uh there's a Packers Twitter. I'm sorry, there's a Bears Twitter guy who basically made a comment that people that have not even been in the rivalry or haven't even played the team in the rivalry should make no comments. And he made this comment related to Micah Parsons kind of popping off. And I would say the same thing about Ben Johnson because Ben Johnson didn't beat LaFleur, Ben Johnson was a part of a team that beat LaFleur. Yeah, but he you know, if anyone could say that he beat LaFleur, was Dan Campbell. Dan Campbell has had his way. Ben Johnson was a part of that team, but he wasn't the head coach, and it wasn't like his offense was always stellar against Green Bay, too, right? But I I do find these comments I find those comments comical, I find them very little brother-ish, I find them trying to be like edgy and trying to get the fan base behind him. Um, but it was funny, even when he did that, it's like when a comedian laughs at his own jokes because they know that it may or may not hit. He did that in the press conference. He made that comment as a joke, and then like he kind of smiled and laughed, and all the reporters looked at him like he was kind of crazy, and they all snickered a little bit, but it just shows you and the day, we may not have won the North the last couple years, but people know who run this division, and when people come into this division, we are the prize, not Super Bowls, not championships, be in the Green Bay Packers. And I think that you know, the season last year's season was kind of up and down, and I know that you know we won one and five in the you know division, so people kind of tend to forget how good we really are and who basically made this division what it is, and so I feel like this year uh it's been a reminder of people understanding who the Packers are all about and honestly who the floor is all about.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, I like that. And then Micah Parsons with his comments coming after that, saying rivalries are for the people, they're for the fans. I just don't like them because I just see the disrespect that comes with the Bears. I play for respect. You know how to earn someone's respect is by beating the crap out of them. That's what Micah Parsons had to say. Packers didn't really want to post that on the YouTube, as you told me before that. They didn't post it on the uh the YouTube channel there, but it's across all the Bears networks now. So Micah Parsons, definitely a guy who likes to pack it up there, and he's gonna try to do it in this game coming up here tomorrow, there for the Packers. So let's dive right into this matchup. Because this is for the NFC North. This is for the top of the NFC North. They're gonna see each other again in two weeks. This is part one of two. This is, I mean, there would be, I think Bayard was saying it there from the Bears. This is a this is a heavyweight matchup. I mean, this is a matchup we've been waiting for. I I don't know. I asked somebody asked a question. They said, is it good when the Bears are good for the rivalry? Of course it is. I mean, of course it is. You want to play good teams in rivalry, you want it to be a good game. This is going to be a good game. I can't believe that the spread is actually six and a half. I couldn't believe that. I actually was like, I'm gonna take the Bears moneyline if I was a betting man. Like, I I'm not I'm not taking the six and a half for the Packers. So I have a question right off the bat. And I want to hear you guys' answers out there. 715-990-4914. That is 715-990-4914. Who's this game bigger for? The Green Bay Packers or the Chicago Bears? Amr, what do you think? In your opinion, is this game is part one of two, right? Is it bigger for the Packers in this one or is it bigger for the Bears?
SPEAKER_03:And so, real quick, I just want to say something I forgot to mention previously, uh, when it comes to Ben Johnson's comments, Jeff Halfey's gonna make sure that uh he doesn't he eats those words. I need him to. And then Steno also made a comment about how can you not take it personally? Leave it at that. So I feel like there's some stuff going in internally, they're not gonna put out his bulletin board. But with that being said, I think that based on those comments, based on people taking digs at LaFleur, based on people taking, I guess, maybe some made-up digs at Parsons, kind of like Michael Jordan used to make things up, and Tom Brady used to make things up about opponents talking trash about them to have a little more unfortunate ones in a game. I feel like it's a big game for the Packers. I feel like they have been very up until just recently, they've been very inconsistent. And that the schedule, the remainder of the schedule is gonna be still a doozy. You still gotta go to Denver, you still gotta play Baltimore, and then you still got the Bears again, and then you got the Vikings. Vikings are probably might be done by then. You may have may probably backups at that point. But it's one of those things where this game we've gave up a lot to get Michael Parsons in the house, and he has come through based on that. Um, and this is a shot not only at the division, but also possibly at seed number one, and you don't want to leave anything up to chance or tiebreakers, which don't even apply to us anymore because we have a tie on our on our record. Um, definitely think it's bigger for the Packers. I definitely think I think that they need to continue this momentum going into the into the playoffs. Um, and the Bears right now are the next big test.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, I could definitely see that. I I I agree with you there. The Packers, and like I talked about off the top, the 0 and 0 and not 0-6 last year, but 1-5 last year. Oh, could have been 0-6. I mean, that kind of fuels it right now to say that it is bigger for the Packers because they're on that revenge tour. They're trying to prove that, hey, we're back and we can beat the NFC North. We can beat a team like the Bears who's playing pretty good football right now. That is something that the Packers have been trying to prove this entire year. And I mean, they got to prove it to everybody. I mean, you turn on national media and week by week, it depends who you're asking. I mean, the Chris Canty or whoever, they're gonna tell you, oh, well, the Packers lost. Jordan Love is the worst thing that's ever happened. And then the next week it's oh, Jordan Love can lead him to a Super Bowl. Why can't he? And it's like you can't once one week they're a Super Bowl contender and the next week they're not. I don't understand how it can change that fast. It doesn't change week by week, unless if you have a catastrophic injury or multiple injuries, it doesn't just change overnight. So I I they drive me nuts, national media does. But I can see I I do agree with the Packers. I I could see the Bears too, just because the Bears have a stretch now with the Packers twice, the Browns and then the 49ers, and then the Lions. The Lions could be fighting for their playoff lives when that comes around at the end of the year, there. Absolutely. It's a tough stretch for the Bears to win this one. And the Bears are also in a in, like I just said, the Packers have to prove that they're there. The Bears have a lot to prove now because everybody's looking at this Packers team and saying, well, the Packers still are odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl over the Bears. So this is a game where the Bears have it circled now to say, we have to win this game. We have to go to Lambeau and win this. Because if you can go to Lambeau and win this, you come back home to Soldier Field, a little bit easier. So this is a game where I could see it, I could like I said, I could see it both ways, but I could also see I'm I'm leaning towards the Bears, but it just feels like the Bears need this for morale, for just, I mean, all their mindsets to move, keep this season going right now because they have survived off of turnovers and they've survived off of you know teams screwing up on the on the lesser side there. The point differential, if you look at that, it's not very big for the Chicago Bears. They just survive. And that's where it's like, okay, now we have to prove that we can beat another good team because the Eagles, what's the story coming off there? Oh, it's a dysfunctional team, it's a dysfunctional team. Okay, but now the Green Bay Packers, you go into the Green Bay Packers and win this one, man, that's gonna that just skyrockets their season right there. I mean, that just makes a takeoff. So I could I could definitely see it both ways there. Let's look at this matchup now. Yeah, let's look at this matchup, some of the keys that we have in this one. The Bears, what do they love to do? Run the football, right? And my worry, and we kind of talked about this on Wednesday on the show, was the injury to Devontae Wyatt, right? What are they going to do without Devontae Wyatt in the room? I think Halfley is going to be the big key in this one. He's got a lot of schemes. He loves to draw some things up. And I have a list of guys, and then I want to hear what you think about this, Hummer. I have a list of guys who I believe are going to be the main cogs in making this thing work without Devontae Wyatt. Rashawn Gary and Micah Parsons. Those are my two guys coming up the middle because he does do these stunts where he brings them across and he ends up shooting up the middle. We saw that when on the plate, Devontae Wyatt side got hurt. We saw Micah Parsons come to that inside. I could see them bringing Rashawn Gary or Mike up the middle there to try to fill that middle hole gap. Quay Walker and Isaiah McDuffie. Both those guys. Quay Walker's gonna be the biggest one of that. Edrin Cooper seems to always be there. It just this season, it just seems like he's there, but he's been hit or miss for me at times, it seems like. But Isaiah McDuffie, Quay Walker, those are gonna be the two catalysts, I think, to stopping the run for the Green Bay Packers. I think Coop's always gonna be there. Quay Walker's always the biggest question mark when it comes to the run game. I think if Quay takes that step as he has been this season, I think they're gonna be just fine there in the linebacker room, controlling it. The big guy for me, though, Evan Williams, coming down from the safety spot. I watched the highlight reel this morning, play after play after play, game after game after game, of him slamming, slamming down into a hole there and just taking out a back in the backfield. That's just what he does. And he's been very good. One of the better, I would say, safeties in the run defense that I've seen this season. Evan Williams is gonna be a guy for me that when he comes downhill from that safety spot, he's gonna be a help control that run game. So it's gonna be a committee, I think. I think it's gonna be a committee. Because you're you're gonna put Carl Brooks in there, you're gonna put maybe like a cocks up the middle or whoever. You're gonna throw guys in there, right? Wooden, whoever's whoever's available. I think they just signed somebody off the practice squad there from the Giants or something like that. But uh, you're gonna those guys are not Devontae Wyatt. They're not even in, I think they're good. I don't think they're terrible. I think Angambari, right? He's gonna be able to help out in that room too. You're gonna have guys who can step up. I just don't think they're gonna be able to fill that void completely, right? It's gonna be like a Tucker Kraft with Josh Wiley now and Luke Musgrave. How do you how do you fill the void? It's gonna be by committee, but I think they'll be fine. I just think you have to have these guys, like I said, kind of fill into that role. What do you think, Umra? I mean, are those guys, or are there any guys that I miss there where you can see them kind of, or any kind of schemes where you can see them fitting in here where they can fill that Devontae Wyatt role, especially in a game against the Bears, where the run game is gonna be something that the Packers have to key in on?
SPEAKER_03:I think um you mentioned a lot of the guys, like uh I feel like having Rashawn Gary, who may not have had the greatest, greatest like pass rushing numbers, he, but he's probably one of the best run defenders we've had on the team. Him being in there, and he did play a lot of interior line when he was in Michigan. So I wouldn't be surprised if they try to kind of figure out different ways to kind of put him on the line on the outside as well. Too Brendan Cox coming back. If he does, he's questionable this week. So if he comes back, it may allow them to kind of have the ability to put in guys like Carl Brooks, Kobe Wood, as well as Rashawn Gary in the middle. I think having the fact that Brenson and Stackhouse have been getting a lot of snaps next to Wyatt, and maybe they can start understanding the ropes and getting a better idea of playing that position. Jordan Riley was the guy they got from the Giants. And I would be remiss not to admit that back in 2010, when the Packers needed defensive lineman, they picked up Howard Green also from the Giants. So not saying there's anything going on there, but Jordan Riley, former Oregon guy, uh seventh round pick, 338 pounds at 6'5. So he is a pretty big dude. And if he can play the run as well as he is built to do now, based on some of the tape that I saw on him, uh when he got picked up, he could be a now, he won't be Devontae Wyatt, but he could be a good big body to have in the middle. Um, I have to admit that uh Cheese at TV said this too. Like Colvin Wood and him gaining the weight and him being the replacement for TJ Slayton has actually worked out pretty well. Um, I definitely agree with you. Jeff's Jeff Hafley knows how to scheme up a defense. I know that run defense for us has not looked the greatest, but because if we have complimentary football where our offense is scoring points, our special teams is playing well, just like they did last week and the week before, then it does allow the defense to kind of make that offense one-dimensional. And we've seen Cal Boyams will have uh a wow throw here and there, but he's probably one of the most uh inaccurate quarterbacks in the league right now. He does does not have the trust of his coaching staff or his head coach, who even said as much that the passing game isn't where he wants it to be, hence why they focus on the run so much. And we can't forget that all the times that Ben Johnson was in Detroit and he would try to do a lot of clever, schemey, sneaky stuff in the run game, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. It didn't work against the Giants, uh sorry, the Washington Commanders last year in the divisional game, and it didn't work against us in Thanksgiving that one year. So I feel like if anything, Halfley does is gonna have to figure out ways to uh disguise and confuse Caleb as well as try to force them into positions where they got like Caleb beat them. And I think having primarily having like Carl Brooks coming back this week, I don't think we'll have Lucas Van Ness, which kind of sucks. But again, you know, everyone knows how I feel about Lucas Van Ness. And truth be told, and you kind of hit a lot of the guys I was gonna say, but I think the biggest ones is Quay Walker coming back. I think his ability to play in coverage is better than Isaiah McDuffie's, but McDuffie is another guy. That's the last guy I'll say. McDuffie last week against Detroit, he filled so many holes. Him and Cooper were so outstanding on run defense. We're gonna need that same thing this time.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. No, I 100% agree with you. And like you, you completely mentioned it there. The trenches is where this game's gonna be. The trenches is where the game's gonna be won. And you mentioned it there, and I it was another key that I had is the pass rush for the Green Bay Packers. Getting downhill and getting to the quarterback. How are you gonna get Michael Parsons in there? How are you gonna get Rashawn Gary in there? Because this is a really good line for the Bears, too. It's not like it's a pushover line anymore. They have a rookie starting, I believe, at left tackle, I think is where they were talking about the rookie starting out there. I can't remember his name off the top of my head, but they're gonna have a rookie starting out there. But the pass rush has got to come up big for the Packers because if you can put pressure on Caleb Williams, that could completely change this game. So we're gonna come back from the break here. We're gonna hit up a little bit more Packer talk here. We're gonna keep previewing this Bears game as we wrap up the show here for the day. We're gonna get into the last segment of the show here when we come back from the break here on Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trade. Back into Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trage. I'm your host, Trage, as we come back here on this Saturday, as we're getting close to the end of the show here. Last segment of the show here. And we just went to the break. We were talking about this Bears-Packers game for the for the top seed in the North right now. Technically, the Bears hold the number one seed in the NFL or in the NFC right now, not NFL, NFC right now, over the Rams, tiebreakers, everything like that. So this is a big game for the Green Bay Packers, big game for the Chicago Bears. And we were talking about the defense when we went to the break. And if you guys have missed any portion of the show, make sure you're following us across social media. You can find the links to the podcast there. Otherwise, Wisconsin Sports on the Go Trades next day. You can find us there. Follow us across all the socials. Nothing is better, nothing helps us sell more than when you follow us there. And also, if you want to be involved in the show, make sure you text us 715-990-4914. That is 715-990-4914. So we were talking about that defense, and the big thing that Ummer said, and we kind of were wrapping it up as we went to the break, was talking about the pressure on Caleb Williams. And when we went to the break, we were kind of talking about it and we were looking things up. Caleb Williams holds the ball more than any other quarterback, giving him time, letting him process the game, right? And that's something that I think the Green Bay Packers, I don't know. Are you Amir? I let me ask this question. The Packers aren't a team that likes to blitz a lot, right? They like to stick with the four. They like to bring four. In a game like this, where you know the Bears are more than likely they want to run the football. And if they're gonna throw it, they want to give Caleb Williams his time to be able to make the throws, make the right decisions. In a game like this, if you're Jeff Hafley, are you drawing up some are you are you blitzing him? Are you bringing the house at times just to throw him off? Because it seems like with extra time, he's okay. When he gets rushed, he might get a little wild with him, might throw you some interceptions. In my opinion, I'm I'm going after him. Just because I'm hearing the stat that hey, he holds on to the football more than anybody, and I know this is a pretty good offensive line. Like we were talking about before we went to the break. There's that left tackle you set out of Boston College, right? The guy that's going to be filling in the rookie. So you can probably take advantage of that side, but across the rest of the offensive line, some pretty good names and some pretty good offensive linemen there. So it's gonna be hard to get pressure and get some constant pressure. But bring in a couple extra, maybe bring Cooper, maybe bring Quay. I I'm in the boat of doing it in a game like this, just because you can almost sell out for the run at times, just because you know it's probably coming. Um, what do you think? In a game like this, are you bringing A little bit more heat than usual to try to rattle a guy like Caleb Williams, who you know does better with more time.
SPEAKER_03:So, yes and no, I'm with you on that. So, I think we talked about how the left tackle is from Boston College, and I think he may have been there when uh Jeff Halfley was there. So, if anything, he he may know a little trick or two how to get around that guy. I think that the thing with Caleb Williams is that he does like hold the ball a lot because he has like some really nifty scapability moves, and because of that, if you blitz and you don't get home, now you're putting like the rest of your back end of your team that's out there covering man or zone, you're kind of putting them in a precarious situation, right? So you have to find a way to make sure that if you do blitz, that you get home and you get them down. Um, I think we need to get we need to, I feel like this is one of those games where we need to take the ball, we need to score, and then we need to get a three and out by their offense, right? We need to get the and then come out to basically get a two-lead score, which is the you know the the the dream of every team, right? But yeah, like a two-score lead. That way, then you can get them into get them out of that their very much run-centric offense and force Caleb Williams to beat you. And when you're doing that now, yeah, he's gonna he's now gonna press. He doesn't like playing within the scheme. That's the reason why Ben Johnson can't stand him because he doesn't want to play with the scheme. That's why when he was with Jared Goff, Jared Goff would run his scheme to a T, hence why Jared Goff was so successful with him and basically got Ben Johnson the job. I think that I don't I don't think you're wrong because uh a part of me feels like that offensive line, the interior of their line is amazing. They they paid so much money to get you know Dalman and Thuney and um who's the other guy? Uh is it Smith, though? They another guy, too, um, to basically shore up the interior of their line. You have the rookie on the left tackle, you have Darnell White on the right tackle who's been kind of hit or miss. And so for me, yeah, I'm fine. I'm with you. Like, I think you find a way to our defensive line against their offensive line, we do have the up on that. And if you get pressure of four, go for it. If you need to send a fifth or a sixth defender just to ensure that you're gonna get Caleb Williams down, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I think I see what you're saying because you know how you play those guys that are running quarterbacks, you do like mush lane blitzes, right? Yep, yep. Where like you like you you like just thinking about the bears just makes me sick, right? Uh but you you you you don't overpursue because a guy like Caleb is gonna try to flush out, he's gonna try to roll out, he's gonna try to find a way to get oh, you know, get some space and make a throw down field, right? Like you have to kind of contain him in the pocket and then force him to try to play within scheme, or at least play within the the chaos of a pocket, yeah. And with you saying that doing that and also blitzing somebody, like if you have your front four just doing that and you got a blitzer coming in, I think you're I think you're working with gas at that point.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, 100. I was just gonna say that you have to contain him. I was just gonna I was just gonna mention that when you were talking there. They are going to have to find a way to contain him in this game because he does like the playoff schedule, he does like to get out of the pocket, he does like to do his use his scrambling ability. And if you just bring heat and you don't get home, but you also lose that contain, you have all your backs running downfield. Well, now you got green grass in front of you and yards to run there. So it's something that it's a you gotta play both sides. You gotta watch it there in that one. Yeah, Joe, I just looking up Joe Tooney, he's got no penalties all season, according to this. What I just received heat. That's impressive. That is very impressive there. And the Bears, hats off to them. They did a really good job fortifying the center of that offensive line this season. They did a really good job. Like, I don't like to give them credit very often, but I'll give them credit right there because they did better than Goody because you know, I we've all talked about Aaron Banks before, but they didn't know he's doing better, he's doing better. He's doing better. Let's get hey, you know me, I'm a big banks hater, but he's doing better. Okay, he's doing better, but he's improving. Would you rather have Joe Tooney? Probably. So, yeah, please, anyways, yeah. Anyways, anyways, please, bro.
SPEAKER_03:Is that even exactly? That's a rhetorical question, right?
SPEAKER_01:Pretty much, pretty much, pretty much. It's like, how much do we really like them? Not really, not really. So let's jump over. Let's look at the Packers because I thought you said I thought you said something great there. The Packers jumping out early, right? I want to see Matt LaFleur not fall into the trap that is. I'm scared to make mistakes. That's where I don't want him to get in this game. Against Dan Campbell, against the Lions, he just said, Here's it, here it is. I'm gonna go at you and beat me. And he went for it on fourth downs. He was he was just it was all gas, no break. It was masterful, yes. And in a game like this, where you go against a team who leads the leagues in takeaways, right? They have the top guy, uh Kevin Byard there, leads the league in interceptions. Wright is next to him there with five. Byard's got six. Very good uh defense there, very good secondary. I don't want to see Matt LaFleur say, oh boy, they're really good out there. Jordan Love, I'm not gonna trust you in this game. I'm gonna take my, I'm gonna take my, you know, I'm gonna tighten that leash back up. I'm not gonna let you loose again. I'm gonna tighten you back up. We're gonna focus just on this. We're gonna try to beat them side to side with short stuff. I don't want to see that. No. I want to see Matt LaFleur and the Packers jump the Bears. I want to see them jump them. Like you said, jump them, be aggressive, don't settle, get gas on the pedal, none of that, take chances, do all that stuff. I still want to see that in this game. Because the Bears expect Matt LaFleur to be, oh, so conservative with it. Because we've seen this trend out of Matt LaFleur. I want to see Matt LaFleur be the Matt LaFleur that I saw last week on Thanksgiving. That's the guy I want to see show up to Lambeau against the Chicago Bears in primetime at 420, 325, whatever it is, 325, 425. Either way, whatever. Whatever. On Sunday afternoon, I want to see him show up and just say, here it is. Here's my here's my high-paid quarterback. Here's my great running back. Here's my darn good wide receivers. Hey, welcome back, Jaden Reed. Let's get it going. Jaden Reed coming back to this offense, I think only makes them better because they're missing something from what Tucker Kraft was. And that's that guy who can make guys miss in the open field and do those little things underneath. That's Jaden Reed. That's what he does. He's just not as big as Tucker Kraft, but heck, he can still do it. So I am in the boat right now. I'm right. Where are you at with Matt LaFleur in the play calling in this one? I just want to see him be aggressive and just go after him. That's what I want to see in this game.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think you're 100% right. I think that people forget how potent our offense was with Jaden Reed those first two weeks. I mean, he literally had a touchdown that was called back when he broke his collarbone for like an offensive penalty. Like that guy, Jaden Reed, is uh Steno said yesterday in a press conference that there's parts of the playbook they haven't even touched because Jaden Reed's not out there. So that just tells you right there how much of a focal point he is. And now that Target Kraft is gone, we've definitely made more usage of guys like Wicks and Watson. And then adding Jaden Reed to that, possibly even adding Golden to that, it gives now the floor the opportunity to really open up the playbook. I think there was something you said about him staying aggressive. I think he will. And I say that because the Bears' defense, when it comes to our offensive line against their defense line, we have the we have the also the lead on that, right? They based on a stat that I read, uh Zach Cruz put this out there that that they're one of the lowest ranked pressuring defensive line in the NFL by a mile, like the lowest on third down. Okay, but then they also have one of the higher completion higher percentages of not letting third downs turn to first downs because of like the turnovers, right? But having turnovers is not something that's sustainable, like three and outs and shutting people down is and so basically with that being said, what I feel like is in those games against like the Carolina Panthers, against the against the Cleveland Browns, there was games where there was a there was a bona fide playmaker on that side of the field that the floor had to plan for, right? Miles Garrett, Derek Brown. I mean, those guys that they had to kind of watch for on the Bears, really, there's nobody there on the defensive line. The linebackers have some pretty decent players, but there's no like Brian Erlacher or Lance Briggs over there, you know what I'm saying? So I feel like you're not gonna see that much of a like, I need to emphasize on this one guy. Like Montez Sweat's not bad, but I think Montez Sweat's gonna have any chance against Zach Tom. Heck no. And with all that being said, I feel like this is also a stat too that Jordan Love is one of the best quarterbacks in the league, even better than Drake Main from a clean pocket. Now, if the Bears have a hard time getting pressure and they're letting Jordan have a clean pocket, he's gonna be able to wheel and deal all game. Do I think this is gonna be a Josh Jacobs game? 100%. But I think that when Jordan needs to go in there and make plays like he had to on third Thanksgiving, he's gonna make those plays. And having all his full competent of receivers, I don't see I really don't see LaFleur taking a step back at this point. I think he knows what he has, I think he has more confidence than Aaron Banks. I think Sean Ryan has really solidified that center position. I'm not saying he's better than Elton Jenkins, but I'm saying from a run game perspective and just maybe have some continuity there, he is. Belton was the worst of the all the linemen last week, and he still had a more of a promising force as a right guard than Jordan Morgan. So I think that with what you're asking for, it's gonna happen. I think they're gonna remain aggressive. I don't think it, I don't think the Carolina game plan is gonna come back into play. And I really feel like they're gonna really take it to him because you know Jalen Johnson was out for most of the year. He's still coming back from an injury, even though he did play last week. Kyle Gordon, same thing. And then Tyreek Stevenson, their third corner is out, and then Nashawn, I think his name is Nashawn Wright, who's like the this could this corner has the most interceptions on his on their team, and he's also giving up the most touchdowns.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, yep, yeah, right. Right's the right's the guy.
SPEAKER_03:So I think you we're gonna get what you want. I think we're gonna get an aggressive game plan by LaFleur, and I hope that we have that same type of game plan on defense, too.
SPEAKER_01:I I'm 100% with you. And like you mentioned there, the run game does have to get going though. In this game, the run game is going to be something that opens everything else up for the Packers. And a big thing that you mentioned there too was protecting Jordan Love. And it's also what Jordan Love had to say about this game is that he has to be better or good in this game at protecting the football because we've known Jordan Love can get a little crazy at times. Yeah. If he's being aggressive, there's oh there's aggressive and then there's overly aggressive. There's that was a bad throw, and then there's that was a silly throw. There's multiple different like types of interceptions, I guess you could say. Jordan Love needs to avoid the silly mistakes in this one. The oh crap. Like those mistakes in this one. That's what he's got to avoid. Ball security is gonna be a big thing because the Bears survive off of takeaways. They want they take the ball away from you. I think they are, I think they are like undefeated when they have two takeaways in a game, and the Packers are undefeated when they don't turn the ball over at all. So there you go. There's your there's your big key in this one here.
SPEAKER_03:It's gonna be one doesn't give it up and one takes it away. So something's gotta give it.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. Limiting terminovers, something's gotta give in this one here, and the Packers have got to do it. They've emphasized it, they know it. LaFleur emphasized it going into this one, but and like Josh Jacobs said, this is the ultimate test heading into this one here for this NFC North battle. This is going to be a massive matchup that I can't wait to watch here on Sunday. I mean, I it's been a while since the Packers Bears have had this kind of juice. It's been a while. It's been a while since it's been uh in the national media as being like this is a huge game here between the two. So, Amer, I mean, any final thoughts that you have about this game coming out?
SPEAKER_03:I think that um it's gonna be a good test for the Packers. I understand the Bears are the Bears, but they're 9-3. They're not 9-3 by mistake. Um, I think that we're gonna really see who the Bears are about, who the Packers, if they can continue their success that they've been having. And it does the road doesn't get easier here. And I'm just really looking forward to seeing like it's a it's a Sunday afternoon game. It's supposed to be below 20 degrees. Um, this is gonna be that game. I think you just said it too. We really need to get the run game going. Like, I know that that's what the Bears are known for, but I think we need to do that too, and then have Jordan cook when he needs to cook.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, I'm 100% with you. I am 100% with you. This is gonna, and this is fun. This is fun. This is gonna be a fun game here on Sunday. Can't wait to watch that one from my warm on my couch. I'm not gonna be, you know, I'm not I'm not going over Lambo to watch this one. I'm gonna I'm gonna sit at home, I'm gonna watch the couch, take down my notes, and get ready to talk about it on Wednesday there. So, Amer, thank you as always for stopping by here. Let the people know where to find you out there across social media.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you for having me, bro. Uh, you can find me on Twitter, X at AMAR3455. You can find me on all over social media, um, on Instagram, on TikTok, the whole nine yards. Um, and yeah, can't uh just looking forward to this game, man. I cannot freaking wait.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, it's gonna be a good one. It is gonna be a good one there. Packers, Bears for the top spot in the NFC North coming up there on Sunday. I'm gonna get the time right right now. I'm gonna get the time right. 325. 325 on Fox. So there we go. I know Tom Brady's there. I know Kevin Burk uh Kevin Burkhart's there and Tom Brady. So you know it's a big time matchup.
SPEAKER_03:You already know that'll be hating.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know Tom Brady's gonna be hating on Jordan Love, and I can't wait to talk about it here when we come back on Wednesday. So, Ummer, thank you as always for stopping by. Thank you all for tuning in to the first Saturday show here today. I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your Saturday and the rest of your weekend. But until we talk to you guys again next Wednesday, see ya.