CINCINNATI \u2013 As the crowd was roaring Sunday in the first minutes of the season opener, the Minnesota Vikings were having all sorts of problems getting their offensive line on the same page. <\/p>\n
Three false starts and holding call. And Bengals center Trey Hopkins was paying attention, knowing they\u2019d be facing the same test in Chicago in one week. <\/p>\n
“Very cognizant of that,\u201d Hopkins told me. \u201cIt’s their home opener. It was very loud here. We know it’s going to be extremely loud up in Chicago. You really just have to be dialed in and focused on the snap count and cadence. You have to, like coach says, take every word from the quarterback’s lips. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou really just have to be dialed in and have your utmost focus. It’s going to be loud. There’s going to be a lot of distractions just have to when we really just have to be dialed in to focus on the stuff.”<\/p>\n
The crowd isn\u2019t the only thing the Bengals have had trouble with on the road. Simple execution is another. Dating back to the first game of the Zac Taylor era, the Bengals have had their chances to close out wins on the road with a late drive and couldn\u2019t do it, resulting in an abysmal 1-14-1 road mark over the last two seasons, with the only win coming in Houston last year in Week 16 against a Texans team that had mailed it in.<\/p>\n
If this Bengals team is going places, it starts with a road statement Sunday in Chicago, before one of the most rabid fan bases in a stadium rebuilt to keep sound inside. It\u2019s a venue very similar to Seattle. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s really no substitute for the reps of it,\u201d Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. \u201cWe work at it all week. You have the noise and speakers pumping up behind the quarterback. So, the ability to hear him in practice is difficult. So, we try to make it as close to that as you can. The one thing about the silent cadence is usually the crowd’s not really loud on first second down. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s not like there’s chanting and cheering the whole time. So, there’s lulls in the noise, but it’s usually in the critical moments on third down when you’re trying to communicate protections and you’re trying to get to the ball snapped and (play) clock and all that. That’s that’s where it gets challenging. And really there is no other way to get what you want out of it other than to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nJoe Burrow felt a little knee soreness after game but good now. #Bengals<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/gIzLOBhceQ<\/a><\/p>\n
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) September 15, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n