Staten Island native Lou Anarumo has Bengals ‘D’ purring at right time

He is the Giants fan from the Castleton Corners section of Staten Island, and Susan Wagner High School and Wagner College. He will be taking so many Big Blue boyhood memories with him to Super Bowl 2022 and reaching for that precious Lombardi Trophy with a rollicking city and a franchise that has only dreamed of hoisting it.

“That was my hometown team, my hometown everything when I was growing up,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said on a Zoom call. “Everything lived around Sundays, rooting for them. … You know, just the whole Lawrence Taylor, Phil Simms, that whole crew … Jessie Armsteads of the world.”

All come to life right in front of his eyes at Giants Stadium.

“I’ve been going there since I was 8 years old,” Anarumo recalled, “sitting in, I think it was Section 325 with my uncle freezing my butt off, watching like Doug Kotar run the ball and getting our butts kicked, you know? We persevered like a lot of Giants fans back then, and then to go to those Super Bowls later on was awesome as still a fan back then.”

And then, in 2018, Anarumo was coaching the secondary for his boyhood team. And then, a little over a week ago, he was interviewing for the head coaching job that went to Brian Daboll.

“It was unbelievable. It was a great experience,” Anarumo said. “And then getting to be able to talk to Mr. [John] Mara and Mr. [Steve] Tisch about the job was a great experience for me.”

Anarumo’s finest hour of a 32-year college and NFL coaching career that began at Wagner as a running backs coach came in the AFC Championship game, when his Bengals defense suffocated Patrick Mahomes and reduced the Chiefs star to just another quarterback.

“I knew at halftime we were locked in, we talked about changing up a couple of things,” Anarumo said, “even towards the end of the first half. But they understand the scheme, they understand it so well so they’re able to digest all the information that we’re giving ’em in a short amount of time. It’s not like it’s something totally new — ‘Hey guys, we’re gonna do this now,’ and they’re like, ‘OK, no problem.’ The core of what we did was still the same, it’s just we executed better.”

That’s a humble man talking. Anarumo confused and flummoxed Mahomes in dollar (3-2-6) and quarter (3-1-7) personnel, often dropping eight into coverage.

“Try to make them play left-handed as best you can,” he said.

Here’s how left-handed:

Mahomes in the first half: 292 yards, three TDs in four drives

Mahomes in the second half and overtime: 83 yards, three points in seven drives.

“It’s so hard to manage all of their weapons,” Anarumo said. “And he’s such a great quarterback and Coach [Andy] Reid does such a great job calling the game with Coach [Eric] Bienemy. It was a huge challenge. That’s why we’re in this business as coaches and players. I’d be lying if I said we didn’t take satisfaction in it. They didn’t flinch.”

The goal-line stand at the end of the first half fueled Anarumo’s defense.

“I knew at halftime we were gonna be fine, because when I looked in their eyes, there was nobody that was panicking,” he said, “and I just knew we’d settle in and play better in the second half.”

Anarumo won’t have to worry about Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford pulling the Roadrunner act that Mahomes did to exhaust the likes of studs Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard.

“My heart starts beating a little quicker,” he said. “The coverages that we were in, whether it be man or zone, but the stress was on the D-line chasing the guy. And then, once he got out of the pocket, then it goes right back to the back end guys to plaster their receivers. Got him to hold the ball some, and the guys in the back end did a great job covering, and eventually we track him down and got him on the ground at the most critical point in the game.”

Hubbard was a monster in crunch time, sacking Mahomes twice at the end of regulation to force the game-tying field goal.

“We just knew that we could build around him because of everything that he’s made of, and that was on display on Sunday,” Anarumo said. “In the most critical point of the most critical game, he’s one of the guys who rose up. He [Mahomes] was running ’em ragged a little bit and they just never relented, none of ’em. You could tell the inner fortitude of those guys up front, especially led by Sam, that they weren’t gonna give up no matter what. You can win a lot of games with guys like him.”

Safety Vonn Bell was in the right place at the right time for the overtime pick that led to Cincinnati’s winning field goal.

“As I’ve said since the day Vonn got here,” Anarumo said, “he’s the ultimate pro, he does everything the right way, nobody’s gonna be more prepared than him. He’s in here every morning at 6 a.m. lifting, watching tape. He is a true gym rat.”

“And when I got to the Giants, I had Eli [Apple] for a little bit, I liked him coming out of college [Ohio State, just like Bell, just like Hubbard], I thought that the talent was there for him to be a good player in this league, and didn’t want to give up on him, and that’s why we gave him a chance this year, and he’s made the most of his opportunity.”

And now the opportunity of a lifetime awaits young Joe Burrow and these precocious underdog Bengals, and a 55-year-old coaching lifer who is chasing the same dream that four Giants teams have realized in the Super Bowl.

“While this is the goal for every team every year, it doesn’t happen that way, so to make the most of our opportunities, and while the young guys, it may not sink into them, we’ve got the veteran guys, players and coaches alike trying to make them understand how important and how precious this is,” Anarumo said, “and to take full advantage of it.”

From Big Blue to Who Dey.