After Sunday’s win over the Raiders, a lot of time was spent on the presence of a scowl on the face of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. After Thursday night’s loss to the Ravens, and especially while going through the aftermath of Friday’s game PFT Live in Rodney Harrison, a light flickered on another way Burrow should express his displeasure.

Simply put, Burrow must be more of an asshole if calls aren’t going his way.

Many criticized Tom Brady for his incessant whining and complaining and ultimately for his political appeals. But guess what? It worked. By wearing down the referees for failing to throw flags due to fouls committed against him, they knew – even on a subconscious level – that there would be a cost for not taking care of #Tommy.

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

Things came to a head last night when he was obviously violently hit in the head during the ill-fated two-point conversion attempt. Burrow didn’t boo it. He never does that. And that might be the reason he doesn’t get called.

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

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

Brady allegedly confronted the referee and pulled even more violently on his own face mask to show what had happened. And Brady wouldn’t have let it go at any point during that drive.

After each action he would have had something to say to referee Clete Blakeman. Pointy or sarcastic, snarky or even funny. And it would have forced Blakeman and his colleagues to take a closer look when, for example, Brady (Burrow) took a hard blow to the head during the two-point play.

That’s why some coaches and players are the referees. While it may be counterproductive at some point, there is a way to incentivize them just enough to shame them into doing a better job next time. Brady’s approach worked. Burrow’s, based on what we saw last night, is not.