Cris Collinsworth Facing Backlash for Comments on Sunday Night Football
By Max Escarpio,
11 hours ago
Longtime NFL announcer Cris Collinsworth covered the "Sunday Night Football" matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants alongside Mike Tirico in the booth in Week 6.
During the Bengals' 17-7 victory, Collinsworth's name was all over social media. While some fans were focused on Cincinnati's much-needed win, others veered their attention to Collinsworth's comments late in the game.
In the fourth quarter of the matchup, Giants linebacker Brian Burns came off the edge and wrapped up Joe Burrow for a timely sack on the Bengals quarterback.
Collinsworth gave credit to Burns for the play, calling it "tremendous" while explaining that it was a "great call on the defensive side for the New York Giants."
While it was certainly a positive play for New York, Burrow ended up in the medical tent after the drive. When Burns sacked the Bengals quarterback, Burrow's head whipped back, leading some fans to believe he may have suffered a concussion.
Given the potential severity of the play for Burrow, Collinsworth was taking heat on social media. Some fans were calling him out for praising Burns on a play that could have ended in a gut-wrenching injury for Burrow.
"Chris Collinsworth calling the play that Burrow went to the tent on the “play of the night” says enough about how he feels about the Bengals," mentioned one commenter.
"Cris Collinsworth is very upset that Burrows head wasn’t taken off there," said another fan.
"Giving Burrow a concussion was the play of the night. Come on Collinsworth," an NFL viewer added.
"Collinsworth really giving credit to Burns after almost knocking out Burrow. Not cool," another poster shared.
"Collinsworth just said the play of the night is Burns not driving Burrow into the turf." a social media user further said.
After Burrow's quick trip to the medical tent, he returned to the game and led the Bengals to their second win of the season. With the "Sunday Night Football" victory, Cincinnati advanced to 2-4 on the season, continuing to gain momentum after starting the year 0-3.
Burrow finished the night with 208 yards while completing 19-of-28 pass attempts. He also added one touchdown on four carries and 55 yards on the ground.
Burns, who was wreaking havoc on the line of scrimmage all night, ended the game with one sack, two QB hits, two tackles for loss and eight total tackles.
His sack on Burrow was textbook despite the injury concerns. Burns wrapped up the Bengals quarterback below the head and neck area and above his knees.
He blew full force into Burrow at his chest and laid out the Bengals star without landing on the quarterback with his body weight.
Burrow was asked about the trip to the medical tent after the game and explained that he's fine and that he had just gotten the wind knocked out of him .
While it seemed to be a highlight play from the defender, Collinsworth received flack since the extent of Burrow's injury was unknown during the game.
Some fans mentioned that Collinsworth called Burns' sack the "play of the night," so it seems the timing of his comments affected the fan reactions.
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