Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — The playing surface at Acrisure Stadium is again coming under fire after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 23-9 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
The field, which was visibly torn up down the middle between the 30-yard lines, drew criticism from Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and could have played a part in keeping the home squad from extending its lead late.
Usually reliable kicker Chris Boswell appeared to lose his footing on a 54-yard field goal attempt that would have given the Steelers an insurmountable three-score lead in the fourth quarter. Instead, the defense had to go back out and make another stop to salt the game away.
Boswell chose not to comment after the game, but Rodgers was critical of the field conditions.
“(The) first drives stalled, but thankfully Bos took care of those kicks before the field got borderline unplayable,” Rodgers said.
The Steelers and Browns were the last game that will be played on that particular Acrisure Stadium playing surface, as crews began tearing it up immediately after the game.
The Steelers and Pitt Panthers are both on the road next week, which will give time for the grass to take hold before both teams play home games on the weekend of Oct. 25/26, with the Panthers hosting NC State on Saturday and the Steelers hosting the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football.
Pittsburgh has been in a moderate drought, according to National Weather Service, and has received only 0.41 inches of precipitation so far this month, compared to an average of 2.83 inches for the totality of month of October.
The Steelers have one of the northernmost grass playing surfaces in the NFL, with only the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears having more-northern grass fields. The Steelers are one of two NFL Stadiums with grass playing surfaces that routinely share their field with a college team, along with Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
Though notorious for its sloppy field in the early days of the stadium, including an infamously sloppy game in the rain against the Miami Dolphins in 2007, the Pittsburgh playing surface has improved significantly in recent years, with a changed approach to in-season field swaps and more frequent changeovers.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers’ Acrisure Stadium Field Under Fire for Chris Boswell Miss
