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Cris Collinsworth was accused of cursing Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams on Sunday Night Football.
Sunday Night Football traveled to Chicago, Illinois, in NFL Week 9 for a showdown between the Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with the home team aiming for its fourth straight win to keep pace in the vaunted NFC North division.
Collinsworth, NBC’s lead color analyst for SNF since 2009, was joined by a new broadcast partner on the night in play-by-play voice Noah Eagle, with Mike Tirico missing out due to health issues.
The Bears began the game in style by surging down the field with a 10-play, 53-yard drive that culminated in a Williams touchdown strike to wide receiver Rome Odunze.
Following the hot start, which served as a continuation of Williams’ stellar play in recent weeks, Collinsworth stated fans were “witnessing a coronation” of the Bears quarterback.
On Chicago’s next offensive drive, Williams connected with Luther Burden III for a 56-yard touchdown to put the Bears up 14-0. At this point, Collinsworth, along with everyone watching at home, was blown away by the third-year quarterback’s play.
Then, things started to go south. Williams threw three interceptions in the second quarter alone, tripling his interception total across his five games played this season entering Week 9. Williams threw another interception in the second half, but the Bears managed to claim victory with a walk-off field goal.
Despite Williams’ string of errors, Collinsworth’s refrained from criticizing him too much, which prompted fans on social media to take aim at the NBC commentator for favoring Williams, while others accused him of cursing the turnover-prone QB.
“I choose to believe all of Caleb’s INTs were actually the universe punishing Collinsworth for giving the QB too much credit for all the RAC on Burden’s TD,” one fan wrote on X.
“Collinsworth said we are witnessing a coronation and Caleb has thrown 3 picks since,” one user added along with three laughing face emojis.
“Collinsworth just said ‘but for the interceptions they haven’t really stopped them’ lol. Interceptions is stopping them,” added another.
One more fan chimed in, writing: “Collinsworth downplaying Caleb Williams' THREE INTERCEPTIONS as "jump pass throwaways" is the most ridiculous s— I have ever heard. This dude is incapable of saying Caleb Williams ever wasn't good.”
Collinsworth is regularly accused of overhyping certain quarterbacks, with Williams the latest example. Many fans have argued that he does not criticize certain players nearly as much as other NFL commentators do, especially when their play warrants it.
If Williams has deserved to be bashed at any point of this season, it was on Sunday night. Prior to SNF, he had never recorded more than two interceptions in a single regular-season game, a mark he doubled by the third quarter when he threw his fourth pick of the night.