GLENDALE, Ariz. — The field at State Farm Stadium turned into a Super Bowl slip and slide on Sunday night, and after the Kansas City Chiefs outlasted the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35, the surface was among many hot topics.
“The field was kinda terrible,” Kansas City defensive lineman Frank Clark said. “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 seven. The best grass is grass that is naturally there.
“At the end of the day, it was the field that we were given.”
Players from both teams had a hard time keeping their footing, leading several to change their cleats. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes slipped while trying to make a cut, but was able to gain a few more yards. Kansas City receiver Skyy Moore lost his footing on a jet sweep and running back Isiah Pacheco even slipped on his celebration after scoring a touchdown.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was among the players who changed cleats to get better traction. And often times, after the whistle, players would stop to look down on where they planted their feet before getting back into the huddle.
“If you look at the film, everyone slipped on both sides,” Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick said. “I’m not going to sit here and use it as an excuse or complain about it. It was evident, though. If you see the tape, it’s on there.”
Both teams managed to reach 340 or more total yards of offense, however, and combined for 73 points.
“This is a game of adjustments, and we had like four dudes changing their cleats at halftime,” Clark said. “Just try to figure it out. But bad field or not, you’ve got to play football.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com