The ball lied: Refs are clearly out to get Spencer Rattler in his Saints debut

NFL debuts can be fun, or they can be deadly. There is rarely anything in between. Spencer Rattler's first two drives as the new starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, as he was down 14-0 midway through the first quarter.

Rattler has a ton of arm talent, but struggles with the basics, like footwork and fundamentals. As fun as it may be to compare Rattler to Patrick Mahomes in a side-by-side video, the gap between the two is as wide as the grand canyon. Mahomes is controlled chaos, while Rattler is an unhinged rookie trying to figure things out on the fly.

The Saints started him because they didn't have time to trade for a replacement, and his primary competition is a player I've never heard of named Jake Haener. Should I have heard of Haener? Sure, maybe, but it's not a good sign that I assumed he was an AI bot when I saw his name on the Saints depth chart.

Spencer Rattler got screwed over in his Saints debut

Rattler has some potential, sure. However, the first quarter of his initial start did not go according to plan. The scouting report on Rattler is simple -- he'll make some plays that look Mahomes-esque, but he often struggles with the basics. The officials sure didn't do him any favors early against a capable Buccaneers defense.

Rattler threw a short pass to Chris Olave in hopes of making the Saints third down a little more manageable. He cannot be blamed for that. The Buccaneers came in high and hit Olave, who upon review fumbled.

Antonio Winfield Jr. made a smart play to pick up the ball and return it for a touchdown. However, it's pretty clear Olave was hit in the helmet, which should've resulted in a personal foul and taken Winfield's score off the board.

The NFL pretends to care about player safety. While Olave lowered his helmet in preparation for the hit, helmet-to-helmet contact was completely unnecessary.