Carrie Underwood Returns to Sunday Night Football as Cris Collinsworth Criticizes Cowboys; Sydney Sweeney Ad Draws Backlash
Carrie Underwood opened Sunday Night Football again, while Cris Collinsworth expressed strong disapproval of the Dallas Cowboys' performance. A sports-betting commercial featuring Sydney Sweeney prompted criticism from some athletes.
Carrie Underwood returned to the opening of Sunday Night Football on NBC, leading into the broadcast with Mike Tirico and analyst Cris Collinsworth. During the game, Collinsworth criticized the Dallas Cowboys' play, describing it as substandard. The Cowboys have been a recurring matchup in the season opener, a scheduling pattern that some viewers find repetitive.
A commercial for a sports-betting platform featuring actress Sydney Sweeney, which includes partial nudity, sparked debate on social media. Former Australian swimming champion Ariarne Titmus said she felt "infuriated" by the ad, arguing it undermines women's sports. Others countered that the advertisement is a standard marketing tactic aimed primarily at a male audience.
The weekend also featured a high-scoring Week 1 NFL slate, with notable performances from the Bengals, Bears and Packers, and a college football showdown between Texas and Ohio State.