We went from an instant classic to… This Super Bowl was kind of shit.
State Farm Stadium’s Super Bowl LVII field was more like a slip and slide rather than a surface to play football on, and after the Kansas City Chiefs scored a tainted 38-35 victory, the turf became on of the hottest talking points.
Both sides of the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles had a hard time keeping their feet on the turf, with several players changing cleats in an attempt to get more grip. With both team’s quarterbacks, Philly’s Jalen Hurts was one of the players who switched his cleats, while Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes slipped up at one point while making a cut.
After the game, multiple players from each team were complaining about the field, and rightfully so.
“The field was kind of terrible,” said Chiefs defensive lineman Frank Clark. “We’ve had this problem in Arizona before. A lot of these stadiums try to do new tactics with the grass, they try to do new things. I’ve been playing football since I was 7. The best grass is grass that is naturally there. At the end of the day, it was the field that we were given.”
Eagles offensive lineman Jordan Mailata said playing on the surface was like being in a water park.
“The footing? It was terrible. But the Kansas City Chiefs had to play on it, too. To be fair, they kind of said it was terrible, too, during the TV timeout. So, I’m glad we were on the same page,” said Mailata. “It was just slick. You couldn’t anchor. You had to get your whole foot in the ground. If you try and use just your toe, you’d slip right away. You saw the receivers — it was like a water park out there. And we’re playing on grass.”
Field condition was definitely a factor for both pass rushes. Watch both ends slip on this play. https://t.co/bBAYFZcPe4 pic.twitter.com/PZ8wmOWORN
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) February 13, 2023
The NFL has spent two years preparing the grass for tonight’s field at the Super Bowl.
The grass was grown at a local sod farm in Phoenix.
It was installed two weeks ago, and the field has been rolled out each morning for daily sunshine.
Total cost = $800,000 pic.twitter.com/Um8zZala2O
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) February 12, 2023
Stellar job, NFL. Stellar job.
