Cris Collinsworth might have a new favorite quarterback, and Patrick Mahomes might want to look away. After years of openly showing his admiration for the Kansas City Chiefs star in the booth, the NBC analyst found himself showering Caleb Williams with praise during the Chicago Bears’ Sunday night matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Williams gave Collinsworth plenty to talk about, throwing two first-quarter touchdown passes to put Chicago up 14-0. But viewers quickly turned the broadcast into a running joke about Collinsworth supposedly trading Mahomes for the Bears quarterback.

How Caleb Williams’ Fast Start and Interceptions Put Cris Collinsworth Under the Microscope

Two weeks after Collinsworth was in the booth for Mahomes’ 165-yard night in the Chiefs’ 20-3 loss in Seattle, the NBC analyst had a much brighter start to talk about on Sunday night.

Williams opened the night at Soldier Field with a 10-play, 53-yard drive that ended in a 9-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze. On the Bears’ next possession, he needed only four plays to go 81 yards, the last 56 on a scoring throw to Luther Burden III with 6:00 left in the first quarter.

Collinsworth’s fondness for Mahomes is no secret because he has said so himself. Appearing on “Up & Adams” in 2025, he said, “Honestly, I don’t care if anyone thinks I like Patrick Mahomes, because I do. I do like the guy.”

With Collinsworth praising Williams from the booth, Tanner Phifer posed a question on X: “Is Cris Collinsworth turning his glazing attention to Caleb Williams?”

Several jokes called it some sort of breakup, with Mahomes as the one left behind. One fan wrote that Collinsworth is “slowly getting over Patrick Mahomes and currently falling head over heels for Caleb Williams.”

Another thought about how the Chiefs quarterback might be taking it: “You know Pat Mahomes is jealous listening to Collinsworth talk about Caleb right now.”

Brandon Perna, who goes by “ThatsGoodSports” on X, pushed the bit furthest, writing that “Cris Collinsworth is fully prepared to have an affair behind Patrick Mahomes’ back with Caleb Williams.”

Not everyone was laughing at Collinsworth’s expense, though. Ross Pins, co-founder of “Swish Theory”, was glad to see the spotlight on a Bears team that came into the night 6-2 and firmly in the NFC North race.

“We had Buck and Aikman last week; now we have Cris Collinsworth praising Caleb Williams. Bears quarterback getting hyped up by the old guard of commentators. I would have never believed that was possible as a kid,” he wrote.

The second quarter gave the skeptics something different to chat about. The Bears’ third possession, a 13-play drive that took 5:45 off the clock, ended when the Buccaneers’ Tykee Smith intercepted a Bears pass with 8:12 left in the half.

Then Williams threw interceptions on consecutive offensive plays. After the Bucs turned the ball over on downs, Zyon McCollum picked off the Bears’ very next snap, so the Bears had thrown interceptions on back-to-back offensive plays.

Phifer came back with a complaint Collinsworth had heard before: “Caleb Williams throws an interception and Cris Collinsworth is absolutely silent…”

Collinsworth got the same complaint on Oct. 25, when Ty Okada intercepted Mahomes in the second quarter in Seattle. “My favorite thing about football is Cris Collinsworth just going dead silent for minutes after Mahomes does something [expletive],” Connor Livesay wrote that night. “You just know he’s punching air.”

Justin Penik of Jomboy Media saw a pattern: “It was literally the second the NBC broadcast started glazing every single thing Caleb Williams did. Collinsworth even compared him to Joe Montana! Now he’s thrown two picks on two consecutive plays.”

Williams and the Bears ultimately survived the night against Tampa Bay for a 27-24 win at Soldier Field. Kicker Cairo Santos made a game-winning field goal from 38 yards out to seal Chicago’s fourth win in a row.

For Collinsworth, the quarterback conversation will shift again next week without either Mahomes or Williams. NBC’s Week 10 Sunday Night Football matchup features the Aaron Rodgers-led Pittsburgh Steelers visiting Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 15.