CRIS & TELL: ADAPT OR CRY
Longtime analyst Collinsworth says teams have figured out Bears’ and Rams’ offenses
Cris Collinsworth walked off an NFL field as a player for the last time 30 years ago, after his Bengals lost to the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIII. It wasn’t long before he walked into a broadcasting career that’s still going strong.
But that wasn’t his plan.
“All I wanted to do was finish law school and become an attorney,” said Collinsworth, a former wide receiver whom the Bengals drafted in the second round in 1981 out of Florida. “But I had just gotten married, we had a baby on the way, and so I thought I could steal a few dollars to pay for law school.”
Collinsworth was one of the most popular players in Bengals history. After he was released during the final cutdown before the 1989 season, Collinsworth was offered a radio show on WLW in Cincinnati. Two days later, HBO offered him a job to produce features for “Inside the NFL.”
Suddenly, his means of stealing a few bucks was turning into a career, but one he didn’t quite grasp yet.
“I said, ‘I’d love to,’ ” Collinsworth told HBO. “‘What’s a feature?’ ”
Clearly, Collinsworth was a quick study because in 1990, he co-hosted the show and became a game analyst for NBC. The network started him with four games that season, and his visibility only increased from
there. (He also earned his law degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1991.)
Now in his 11th season as NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” analyst, Collinsworth will be on the call with Al Michaels for the Bears-Rams game Sunday in Los Angeles.
“I’ve given my wife probably the same speech every year, that this is gonna be our last year, they’re gonna find a quarterback or a coach or somebody who’s gonna come off the field,” Collinsworth said. “But somehow it lasted 30 years, and [I’m] still having fun.”
And “SNF” is still ruling the TV landscape. The Vikings-Cowboys game last week marked the show’s 100th broadcast this decade to average 20 million-plus viewers, according to NBC. The closest program is “American Idol” with 69 shows, and it appears multiple times a week.
Collinsworth is more in awe when he calls a Super Bowl, which he has done four times.
“There aren’t many people in the world that were on television in the history of God’s green earth talking to 110 million people,” he said. “That’s a pretty overwhelming feeling.”
Bears-Rams doesn’t figure to draw that big of an audience. It’s a rematch of a game that was flexed into “SNF” last season in Week 14 and was a missed field goal away from happening in the divisional playoffs. But the hype — NFC North champ vs.
NFC champ — has taken a hit, with both teams outside the playoff picture. The NFL kept it in the prime-time slot, buoyed by the Nos. 2 and 3 markets.
Collinsworth expects it to be compelling.
“It’s an interesting time of year,” he said. “For the teams that are at the top, they’re playing for [playoff ] position. But with the teams like the Bears and the Rams, now they’re starting to play for survival. And those are usually pretty passionate games.”
But it might not be the prettiest of games, and NBC knows it. A commercial promoting the game featured Bears linebacker Khalil Mack and Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. That stands to reason. Both offenses have been under fire.
Many observers believe that the rest of the league has figured out the systems of Bears coach Matt Nagy and Rams counterpart Sean McVay. Considering the struggles quarterbacks Mitch Trubisky and Jared Goff have endured, Collinsworth sees truth in that.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the system, but everybody has to grow within that system,” he said. “I’ve never seen any system that people haven’t caught up to in some way, shape or form the next year or the next year. How they adapt, that’s what the NFL is. It is hard to stay ahead of the curve.”
In his video study for the game, Collinsworth said he noticed Nagy trying to give Trubisky every advantage possible last week in the victory against the Lions.
“Matt Nagy threw every kind of formation and motion and different looks. It was unbelievable the number of different looks he did,” Collinsworth said. “I think that they’re trying to create some mismatches to make some of those throws a little easier for Mitch. Sometimes it’s just a confidence thing, too. You hit a few big plays, you play with a lead for a little while.”
Still, Collinsworth senses what kind of game is coming.
“Sometimes pitchers’ duels are just as interesting as home-run affairs,” he said. “Let’s face it, it’s been a rough year for [the Bears] offensively. So this game may well come down to a play or two deciding it. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t a defensive battle, but we’ll see.”
“I’VE GIVEN MY WIFE PROBABLY THE SAME SPEECH EVERY YEAR, THAT THIS IS GONNA BE OUR LAST YEAR, THEY’RE GONNA FIND A QUARTERBACK OR A COACH OR SOMEBODY WHO’S GONNA COME OFF THE FIELD. BUT SOMEHOW IT LASTED 30 YEARS, AND [I’M] STILL HAVING FUN.”
CRIS COLLINSWORTH