The NFL is absolutely scripted

[Benton]

Scripted, no.

Pressured, sure.

I mean, look at all the pregame. It was Donald v. Burrow. Were they going to call either one for a penalty? No. Donald was super blah first half. He was just playing and he didn't look great. Second half? He lines up offsides, he holds, he gets feet beat by JB and shoves him out of bounds in frustration, he looks... like a big goob. If the refs call him on his shit in the second half? Then all the hype has been wasted. Because Donald was nowhere near worth what the NFL was selling.

And, no, I'm not saying Donald was a bad player. Or that the refs cooked it in his favor.

But did the refs give him free reign in the second half because he was the suck otherwise? Yeah. Yeah, they did. As crappy as our line is, we double teamed and schemed and made him look pretty below average in comparison to the hype.