CINCINNATI, Ohio — Each year, New England’s coaching staff assigns a handful of veteran players to prepare rookies for their first trip to Buffalo.
Ted Karras recalls getting that talk in the 2016 season as a sixth-round pick from Illinois. He was on the other end of that conversation after re-signing with the team in 2021.
What stories did he tell the group?
“Not that I could share, not that I want to share,” Karras said with a laugh earlier this week.
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Karras is a valuable resource in the Bengals’ locker room this week as the team prepares to visit Buffalo for the first time since 2019 with a very different-looking roster in tow.
The veteran urged his teammates to brace themselves for unruly behavior from fans, beginning with a bus ride into the stadium through throngs of rear gates.
“The parking lot is lively,” Karras said. “You just drive through a neighborhood and then there’s a stadium. You will see some skin in the parking lot and lots of birds. It’s semi-lovable.”
His other key advice was to keep your head on a spin in the end zone.
Karras celebrated a touchdown with Chris Hogan in 2018 when Bill’s fans threw a sex toy onto the field. Last year, the incident repeated at the AFC wildcard game after Kendrick Bourne scored a touchdown.
“That’s the only thing I saw on the field,” Karras said.
Karras, who won 5-2 in Buffalo, will play a key role in managing the noise levels during the game. The Bengals spent much of the week in practice, working on the silent count they will rely on when they go shotgun.
The other person in the Bengals’ locker room with a lot of Buffalo experience is defense coordinator Lou Anarumo, who told reporters last week that he didn’t have many fond memories of those trips.
From 2012 to 2017, he attended Highmark Stadium annually as a defensive assistant for the Dolphins.
Miami went 1-5 at that stretch, achieving their only win of the 2016 season. The Dolphins, in the playoffs, won 34-31 in overtime thanks to a Herculean performance from running back Jay Ajayi, who rushed the ball 32 times for 206 yards on touchdowns.
“I think they hate the Finns more than they hate us. I know they’re not big dolphin lovers up there,” Anarumo said. “It will be a great environment for a great game.”
According to Anarumo, the energy level at Buffalo isn’t too different from this season’s Paycor Stadium, but the lack of space on the touchline makes it a unique experience.
“They’re almost directly above you,” Anarumo said. “The distance between the bench and the stands must not be more than 10 feet. I mean they are with you. They’re loud, they’re rowdy.”
Buffalo is 54-29 at home for the past decade (7-1 this season) with a 65.1 win ratio, which ranks seventh-best in the league during that stretch and a 4.5-point lead over the win . It’s been an even tougher point since Allen took over as the team’s starting quarterback in 2018.
The Bills are one of only three teams with a greater than 70% win rate during this stretch with a 31-13 record (70.3%).
“What a great setting for a game like this,” said Bengals attacking coordinator Brian Callahan. “It’s a place that loves its team and brings a lot of energy. It will be fun. Now it’s energy that’s against us, but it’s pretty cool to go into those environments and play games.
Callahan’s coaching experience in Buffalo is limited to the 2019 Buffalo loss for the Bengals and a 40-14 loss in 2011 when he was the offensive quality control coach for the Broncos.
“I don’t know there’s a lot of places that are louder when it’s really rocking,” Callahan said. “We’ll have our work cut out for us, but every time I’ve been there it’s been loud and rowdy and it lives up to expectations for people like me who haven’t played there much in my career.”
Bengals coach Zac Taylor agreed and sees Highmark Stadium as a suitable venue for the high-profile duel.
“Buffalo is one of the greatest environments in all of football,” said Taylor. “I’ve been there many, many times and it’s a fun environment. It’s a worthy playoff environment and our boys will be charged and ready to go. It should be a damn good game.”
Michael Niziolek covers the Bengals for cleveland.com. Follow him on Twitter @michaelniziolek, click here for more coverage.
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