1. I watched Monday night’s Bears-Commanders game and did not come away from it thinking that ESPN’s Troy Aikman said anything controversial.

However, since Aikman is the only NFL analyst on television who will fairly critique players and offer a 100% honest assessment of what he’s seeing on the field, people right away accuse Aikman of “ripping.”

If anyone thinks Aikman ripped Bears quarterback Caleb Williams during that game, they are clueless and soft. We are now at the point where if the analyst doesn’t bend over backward to praise every player, they are a hater.

It’s shocking these days when someone in the booth bluntly points out a poor play from an individual on the field. If the analyst doesn’t fawn all over the players, it’s now noteworthy. It’s totally messed up.

Williams played fine in the game, but it wasn’t exactly a set-the-world-on-fire performance. So because Aikman had some minor criticisms of Williams, the quarterback and his coach Ben Johnson are all bent out of shape.

It appears that what irked Williams the most was Aikman calling D’Andre Swift’s 55-yard touchdown pass “lucky.” The line of scrimmage was the 45-yard line. Swift caught Williams’s pass at the 50-yard line. Even if you take issue with Aikman’s use of lucky (I don’t), this wasn’t exactly a bomb down the seam in between two defenders from Williams. He threw a five-yard pass that Swift took 50 yards to the house.

Aikman’s use of “lucky” bothered Williams so much that he posted about it on Instagram.

Williams then did that thing when someone says they “could care less” (the phrase is “couldn’t care less,” by the way), about something, but then talks about it because they really do care about it. So while Williams “could care less” about what Aikman said, he posted about it on Instagram and then spoke about the “lucky” remark during his press conference on Wednesday.

It’s stunning to me that Johnson and Williams would make this an issue. You’d think the Bears would have much more important things to worry about, especially since there’s absolutely nothing there and Aikman didn’t say anything out of line.

2. You think CBS regrets not paying for the SEC and getting in business with the Big Ten? Indiana’s upset win over Oregon on Saturday drew 5.6 million viewers for CBS. That viewership number is lower than three SEC games that aired on Saturday: Oklahoma-Texas, Alabama-Vanderbilt and Georgia Auburn.

3. Last week’s Lions-Chiefs game on Sunday night (NBC) and Niners-Bucs on Sunday afternoon (CBS) are now the third- and fourth-most watched games of the NFL season.

4. Ric Flair would like to be friends with ... Cam Skattebo. This is a great story by NJ.com’s Darryl Slater.

5. Shae Cornette has been named the new host of First Take. Molly Qerim abruptly left the show Sept. 15 after Sports Business Journal reported that her time on the show would end at the end of the year. Chris “Mad Dog” Russo shared his insights into Qerim’s departure on this week’s SI Media Podcast, so check out the next item.

6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with SiriusXM’s Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.

The radio Hall of Famer shares his opinions on Major League Baseball’s new television deals, MLB’s decision to carve up their games to as many broadcast services as possible and who he would want as NBC’s lead MLB voice next season. Russo also weighs in on the implementation of the Automated Ball-Strike challenge system for 2026.

Other topics discussed with Russo include Molly Qerim’s departure from First Take, why he isn’t as excited for the Bruce Springsteen biopic as he was for the Bob Dylan bio pic, interviewing Scottie Scheffler’s father at the Ryder Cup and much more.

Following Russo, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, I provide an important update on ESPN’s new app, we discuss our dream interviews and reminisce about an old-school 1980s WWF angle.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: My Instagram Reels feed is nothing but AI videos with historic figures in a WWE setting and I’m both riveted and disgusted with myself for being riveted.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Caleb Williams-Troy Aikman Dust Up Shows How Little Game Analysts Critique Players.