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Bengals head west day early
Team will leave for Seattle on Friday to adjust to three-hour time change.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
CINCINNATI — The Bengals will climb aboard a Delta charter at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, and settle in for the five-hour flight to Seattle.
The team normally travels on Saturdays, but the West Coast is different.
Extras
The Bengals play in Seattle for the first time since 1999 — it's their first game at Qwest Field, which opened in 2002 — and they feel it's best to attack the 2,300-mile journey a day early.
"You take the trip as any other trip," head coach Marvin Lewis said. "It's important for us to get our rest. We're there early enough where the (three-hour) time change does not affect us. But the most important thing for us is to play winning football."
The "Left Coast" has been a twilight zone for the Bengals. They own a 12-30 road record against West Coast teams. But they're 1-1 out there under Lewis, and have a 10-2 mark against NFC teams since 2004.
The Bengals won their last West Coast game, prevailing at San Diego, 34-27, on Nov. 23, 2003. Quarterback Carson Palmer was a rookie backup to Jon Kitna.
"I haven't played out there yet," Palmer said. "The farthest west I've been is Denver, I guess. We're getting out there Friday night so we can get adjusted to the time change. It's a long flight, and you're in a different hotel for a couple of nights. But other than that, it's just football. You still have to show up and play."
And the Bengals will be faced with 72,000 Seahawks fans eager to rebound after a 23-20 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals last week.
Qwest Field has a reputation for being one of the loudest stadiums in the league. So how will the Bengals deal with the crowd noise?
"You can't let it rattle you or affect the way you play," Palmer said. "Just make sure you're good in the communication area and that everyone is on the same page. The next step is to make big plays and quiet them down."
The Bengals are simulating what promises to be a challenging environment by practicing with crowd noise at Paul Brown Stadium this week.
"We play in loud stadiums every week — Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland, Kansas City," Lewis said. "It's just something you deal with. We can't let that be an excuse for not executing."
West Coast
road trip
The Bengals leave for Seattle on Friday afternoon and return to Cincinnati about 57 hours later:
Friday
Noon — Practice at Paul Brown Stadium
3:45 p.m. — Team bus leaves for Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
4:30 p.m. — Charter flight departs
6:30 p.m. (PDT) — Plane arrives in Seattle
11 p.m. — Curfew
Saturday (PDT)
11 a.m. — Practice
6 p.m. — Dinner at hotel
9 p.m. — Team meeting
11 p.m. — Curfew
Sunday (PDT)
8:30 a.m. — Wake-up call
9 a.m. — Pregame meal at hotel
10 a.m. — Last bus leaves for stadium
1 p.m. — Game versus Seahawks
6 p.m. — Leave Seattle on charter flight
Monday
1:15 a.m. EDT — Arrive at Cincinnati airport, bus to Paul Brown Stadium
