There’s a little something we like to call a football game getting ready to take place Sunday at Soldier Field. The combatants: the Packers and the Bears. You probably haven’t heard, but Aaron Rodgers no longer plays for the team from Wisconsin.
In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on the site formerly known as Twitter, we asked you to pick a winner — and did you ever. Three in four respondents went with Justin Fields’ guys over Jordan Love’s guys.
“For once, we have the better quarterback,” @JeffreyCanalia commented.
But @JBIRD1268 warned, “The ghost of Rodgers is still present!”
We also asked you to go over or under the Bears’ projected season win total of 7½.
“Bears remain the worst team in football, just like last year, with three wins,” @mjmolinare, apparently not much of a believer, wrote.
Last, we asked which team will win the NFC North.
“It’s looking like a very mediocre division,” according to @00723maui. “Hello, childhood!”
On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: Bears-Packers on Sunday at Soldier Field. And the winner is?
It’s time for an all-Bears edition of “Polling Place.” Let us hear from you! Selected comments will appear in Saturday's paper.
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) September 7, 2023
Q1: Bears-Packers on Sunday at Soldier Field. And the winner is?
Upshot: It’s basically a pick-’em, but our voters clearly were unswayed by that. Goodness, the mood will be dark around here if the Packers beat the Bears for, what, the millionth time in a row? Or something like that. Fields needs to outplay Love, period. Anything less than that — and a “W” for the home team — and, well, it’ll be a lot like it always is.
Poll No. 2: The Bears’ projected season win total is 7½. Over or under?
Q2: The Bears’ projected season win total is 7½. Over or under?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) September 7, 2023
Upshot: Are there eight wins out there for the Bears? More? If so, coach Matt Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles, both in Year 2, will be the toasts of the town. And there almost certainly will be a 2024 run on Chicago-area children named for our QB1. First name: Justin. Middle name: Fields. Last name: We’ll let you figure that one out.
Poll No. 3: Who’s your pick to win the NFC North?
Q3: Who’s your pick to win the NFC North?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) September 7, 2023
Upshot: It is vital to note that the large majority of votes came in before the Lions won — how dare they? — their Thursday opener at the Super Bowl champion Chiefs. If we teed the whole thing back up again, we’ve got to think the Lions would have edged out our mighty and beloved Bears. Come on, admit it — it’s true.
