So, which of these things do you want to see first and foremost from the Bears in Week 2: better blocking, a better Justin Fields, a better pass rush or better coaching?
“Yes,” is reader @debert26’s answer.
What a wisenheimer.
In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on the site formerly known as Twitter, we led with the question above and received lots of good insight from commenters.
“You won’t have a better Fields until you have better blocking,” @thebreeze68 pointed out.
“I thought for sure this would be coaching in a landslide,” @FatDudeRunning wrote. “Fields had a rough outing against the Packers, but the entire team was unprepared, played undisciplined, lacked energy and made no adjustments. It was a total team loss. That’s on the coaches.”
We also asked for the winner of Sunday’s Bears-Buccaneers game in Tampa, Fla.
“I need the Bears to show me they’re a winning team before I’ll pick them,” @JeffreyCanalia wrote.
Last, we wanted to know which Cubs starting pitcher you trust most down the stretch: Javier Assad, Jameson Taillon, Jordan Wicks or old hand Kyle Hendricks.
On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: Which of these things do you want to see first and foremost from the Bears in Week 2?
It’s time for this week’s “Polling Place.” Let us hear from you! Selected comments will appear in Saturday's paper.
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) September 14, 2023
Q1: Which of these things do you want to see first and foremost from the Bears in Week 2?
Upshot: “How about all of the above if they’re planning on winning?” offered @lakebyrd, who might be onto something. Is there any one thing the Bears could do better that would be enough to lift them from the depths of a blowout loss to the Packers to the high of a win against, well, anybody? Perhaps not.
Poll No. 2: Who wins Sunday, the Bears or the Buccaneers?
Q2: Who wins Sunday, the Bears or the Buccaneers?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) September 14, 2023
Upshot: A week ago, voters picked the Bears to win the NFC North. That, friends, is how fast confidence has plummeted in your Monsters of the Midway.
Poll No. 3: After Justin Steele, which Cubs pitcher do you trust the most down the stretch?
Q3: After Justin Steele, which Cubs starting pitcher do you trust most down the stretch?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) September 14, 2023
Upshot: Only one of these guys has won the deciding game of a National League Championship Series and started Game 7 of a World Series. No, not Wicks, but good guess. It’s Hendricks, of course. He’s a long way off from “ace” level and has been for a while, but there’s a lot to be said for having been there and done that.