Joe Burrow has to emulate Tom Brady in a certain way

After Sunday’s win over the Raiders, a lot of time was spent watching the scowl on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s face. After Thursday night’s loss to the Ravens and especially during the aftermath of Friday’s game PFT Live A light flickered on Rodney Harrison, prompting Burrow to voice his displeasure.

To put it simply, Burrow must be more of an asshole if the calls aren’t going his way.

Many criticized Tom Brady for whining and complaining incessantly and ultimately engaging in political calls. But you know what? It worked. By wearing down the officials for failing to throw flags for fouls committed against him, they knew – albeit on a subconscious level – that failing to take care of #Tommy would come at a cost.

Burrow, on the other hand, is cool. Quiet. Collected. He doesn’t confront officers after bad calls. This makes it difficult for him to get good calls.

Things came to a head last night when he was apparently violently hit in the head during the fateful two-point conversion attempt. Burrow didn’t boo about it. He never does that. And that could be the reason why he isn’t getting any calls.

Remember when referee Ed Hochuli allegedly told Cam Newton he wasn’t old enough to receive certain calls? It’s not just about age. It is the willingness to engage, if necessary angrily, with those who ultimately decide whether a yellow flag is removed and dropped.

Put Brady in Burrow’s shoes in last night’s game. The officials missed a flagrant face mask foul on the quarterback early on Cincinnati’s final drive. Burrow didn’t say a word about it. Brady would have done it lost his shit.

Brady would have confronted the referee and jerked even harder at his own facemask to demonstrate what had happened. And Brady wouldn’t have let up at any point on this drive.

After every play he would have had something to say to referee Clete Blakeman. Pointed or sarcastic or snappy or even funny. And it would have forced Blakeman and his colleagues to take a closer look when, for example, Brady (Burrow) suffered a violent blow to the head on a two-point play.

For this reason, some coaches and players work as officials. While it may be counterproductive at a certain point, there is a way to irritate them just enough to shame them so they do a better job next time. Brady’s approach worked. From what we saw last night, that’s not the case with Burrow.