Joe Burrow is in for a ‘rude awakening’ at Arrowhead Stadium, says former Chiefs kicker
By Jack Bantock, CNN
As if losing helmet radio communications during a divisional round game wasn’t tough enough, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s sound-related trials are apparently only just beginning.
The second-year signal caller faces the challenge of steering his team past the Kansas City Chiefs and into the Super Bowl in Sunday’s AFC Championship game on the road at a notoriously raucous Arrowhead Stadium.
Yet after Burrow told reporters during the regular season that stadiums “get way louder” at the college level in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), former Chiefs kicker Lawrence Tynes said the quarterback is in for a “rude awakening” at one of his old stomping grounds.
“To be fair, Joe has never played at Arrowhead,” Tynes, who had two spells with the Chiefs before winning two Super Bowls with the New York Giants, tweeted on Monday.
“Having said that, he is in for a rude awakening. There is no place louder in sports and it’s not up for debate.”
Again referencing the noise of the SEC on Wednesday, Burrow seemed determined to keep the discussion rolling, though admitted that he expected Arrowhead to be “really loud” come Sunday.
“In the SEC, every single week, it seems like every stadium is really loud, there’s hundreds of thousands of people,” Burrow said.
“This one is going to be similar. We expect it to be really loud, we’re talking about it throughout the week.
“We’re going to have to be great with our communication, our non-verbal communication, just like every week on the road.”
True to his word, on Wednesday, Burrow and the Bengals practiced at their Paul Brown Stadium with simulated noise — cranked up so high that one security guard reportedly apologized for it being so loud outside the ground.
Radio silence
During the Bengals’ dramatic divisional round win over the No.1 seed Tennessee Titans last week, loud noise was the least of Burrow’s concerns — it was the lack of it.
After his helmet radio lost contact with his coaches’ headsets, including play-caller and head coach Zac Taylor, Burrow was left to call his own plays for a period of the game.
Despite being sacked nine times — tied for an NFL playoff record — by a rampant Titans defense, Burrow battled through to throw for 348 yards en route to a 19-16 win.
“I’ve never been in that position before,” Burrow said of the communications dropout.
“That was kind of exciting for me. Zac always kind of jokes, ‘Hey, don’t pretend like the headset goes out, so you can call your own plays.’
“But on Saturday, the headset did go out, and so I had to call three or four plays on my own. And all of them worked, so that was fun.”
After a 33-year run without a playoff win, the Bengals are now just a victory away from a shot at a first ever Super Bowl triumph — with the San Francisco 49ers or Los Angeles Rams awaiting at California’s SoFi Stadium on February 13.
To get there, Burrow will have to get the better of opposing quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who dazzled during the Chiefs’ epic 42-36 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Coined the “Grim Reaper” by head coach Andy Reid, the superstar passed for 378 yards and three touchdowns on top of 69 yards and a score from rushes.
Burrow promised after victory over the Titans that the Bengals were “here to make some noise” — Sunday will show if it will be loud enough.
The-CNN-Wire
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