The Pittsburgh Steelers came off their bye week to play the Cleveland Browns and handled business nicely. They had some slow moments, but overall, the Steelers were in control for most of that game. Also, they exited that matchup relatively healthy. Miles Killebrew suffered a significant injury, but besides that, the Steelers are healthy. That’s a little surprising considering the field conditions at Acrisure Stadium. Mike Tomlin doesn’t think it will be much of a problem in the future, though.
“I thought it was poor yesterday,” Tomlin said Monday during his weekly press conference via the team’s YouTube channel. “I’m not concerned going forward. It’s my understanding that that turf is going to be swapped out, but I certainly acknowledge it was a concern yesterday.”
Before Week 6, the Steelers had only played one game in Pittsburgh. Their other home game was in Ireland, so they had only played at Acrisure in Week 2. That might make it seem like the field still should’ve been fresh in Week 6.
However, the University of Pittsburgh also calls Acrisure Stadium home, and it has played several games there in recent weeks. That’s resulted in the field getting a little more beat up, which was on display against the Browns.
The biggest example of the field conditions impacting the Steelers was when Chris Boswell attempted a field goal in the fourth quarter. It was a 54-yard attempt, which isn’t easy but well within Boswell’s range. However, the ball didn’t come close to getting through the uprights. It was an odd sequence of events, but it turns out that Boswell slipped because the ground was unstable.
That play could’ve been a disaster. The Steelers were lucky that Boswell didn’t get hurt. The missed field goal wasn’t ideal, but at that point, the Steelers basically had the game wrapped up. The important part was that Boswell was okay.
What’s also a little surprising was that Tomlin said he wasn’t aware of how bad the field conditions were before the Browns game.
“No, I don’t work over there. I work over here,” he said.
That had to leave Tomlin frustrated. Playing in Pittsburgh should give the Steelers an advantage. Instead, their players could’ve been seriously injured because of how beat up it was. Reports indicate that the field will get a new surface before the Steelers return to Acrisure Stadium in Week 8. Hopefully, it doesn’t get that bad again.
