Troy Aikman fires back at criticism after Ben Johnson took offense to his Caleb Williams take in viral broadcast moment

Troy Aikman isn’t backing down from anyone calling him out over his craft. The Hall of Famer and ESPN’s top analyst fired back after Bears head coach Ben Johnson publicly took issue with his critique of Caleb Williams during the Bears' week 6 game vs. the Commanders.

Aikman called initially Williams’ 55-yard touchdown to D’Andre Swift “lucky.” He also questioned Bears QB's ball placement. Williams later admitted he needed to deliver “runner’s balls” to help receivers gain yards after the catch. However, Johnson took issue with Aikman’s tone.

Speaking to Front Office Sports on Thursday, Aikman said he was blindsided by Johnson’s reaction and stood firmly by his analysis.

"I don’t know exactly where that came from. I didn’t go back and watch the broadcast, but I would challenge anyone to go watch it and tell me that any analysis that I gave was unfair. I mean, they may disagree if I thought that was maybe not great ball placement, and they thought it was. O.K., but I’m not sure where it came from," Aikman said.

Aikman also made it clear he doesn’t regret anything he said on the broadcast.

Troy Aikman takes jab at Patrick Mahomes

Troy Aikman couldn’t resist slipping in a subtle jab at Patrick Mahomes during the Chiefs’ 28-7 win over the Commanders two weeks ago. Kansas City was rolling to its third straight victory behind Mahomes’ 299 yards and three touchdowns, but a fourth-quarter roughing-the-passer call gave way to chatter in the broadcast booth.

Commanders defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton was flagged after tossing Mahomes to the turf after the whistle. Aikman turned heads when he remarked,

“It wasn’t a lot, but with that said, when it comes to quarterbacks, especially this one, they’re going to protect them.”

The remark from Aikman went viral online, as Mahomes and the Chiefs have long been accused of benefiting from favorable whistles.