CINCINNATI, Ohio. — Thought it was tough as a fan watching the epic Bills vs. Chiefs Divisional Round game on Sunday night?
Try being a defensive coordinator.
Better yet, try being the Bengals defensive coordinator who, no matter what, knew he had to devise a game plan against one of those offenses.
But Lou Anarumo took it in stride.
"All my heartburn was Saturday afternoon," said Anarumo, the Bengals defensive coordinator, in reference to Cincinnati's narrow, three-point win on the road against the Titans.
"Once that was over, the rest was fun to watch," he said. "I knew we didn't have to play both of them. So that's the good news. "
And he had already faced Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' offense, one that put up 31 points and 414 total yards on the Bengals in Week 17. The Bengals edged out the Chiefs, but that game was in Cincinnati.
This one is in Kansas City, Missouri, at the loudest stadium in the world — GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
"You do your best to simulate it (the noise) in practice," said Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. "We'll have the noise cranked up. All through the week, particularly in the huddle."
Bengals' quarterback, and Louisiana State University alum Joe Burrow, has stated that stadiums in the Southeastern Conference are way louder than any stadium in the NFL.
His offensive coordinator isn't so sure.
"One of the loudest stadiums I've ever played in, especially in a huge game like this," Callahan said. "It will be as loud as you could ever expect an outdoor stadium to be."
And it's an experienced stadium too, hosting its fourth-straight AFC Championship Game.
Meanwhile, prior to their two wins in this season's NFL Playoffs, the Bengals hadn't won a postseason game since January of 1991.
"I think all that matters is that we have a lot of confidence right now," said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. "Some of the guys made the comment that people try to put the underdog card on us, but we don't subscribe to that."
"We believe that we're as good as any team in the NFL," he continued.
