Zac Taylor opting for something different to best prepare Bengals for unique kickoff time vs Chargers
Different game times call for different travel schedules. For Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals, this paves the way for something entirely new this week.The Bengals will kickoff at 5:20pm PT on the west coast (8:20pm ET) against the Los Angeles Chargers on "Sunday Night Football" this weekend, a kickoff time Taylor couldn't say he's ever prepared […]
Different game times call for different travel schedules. For Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals, this paves the way for something entirely new this week.
The Bengals will kickoff at 5:20pm PT on the west coast (8:20pm ET) against the Los Angeles Chargers on "Sunday Night Football" this weekend, a kickoff time Taylor couldn't say he's ever prepared for before on the road. He was a part of two late-window tilts when he was with the Los Angeles Rams from 2017-18, but never before as Cincinnati's head coach.
To accommodate for the unique time, Taylor and the Bengals will be flying out sooner than they normally do for road games.
Taylor told reporters Monday afternoon that the Bengals will be jetting off to L.A. on Friday to get there by the evening, giving the team a full two days in the city before kickoff.
"This is one you'll be out there two days in advance," Taylor said. "So we feel good about kind of the reasonings. And it'll be good team chemistry to get out there and spend some time together and then play a 5:30 Sunday night kickoff."
Taylor said the early arrival will provide time for more team bonding between the players.
"You get there a night earlier," Taylor said "So a little bit more time to those guys."
This feels like a needed change of pace for the Bengals. They're coming off a week in which they beat the Las Vegas Raiders at home but then lost to the Baltimore Ravens by one point on the road just four days later. The mini-bye week since then has given them needed rest, but the season has been a grind up to this point.
Now 4-6 on the year, a game against the 6-3 Chargers has huge playoff implications. Being loose and ready is critical.
"Guys are excited for the trip," Taylor said. "We got to be locked in. This is a big one for us, you know. And so we've had success doing that, but again, this feels like just a different game entirely, and so we got to be locked in with this team traveling and make sure we put our best foot forward."
Should the Bengals emerge victorious as underdogs on the road thousands of miles from home, Taylor may want to replicate this travel plan for future west coast trips.