Super Bowl LVII showcased a thrilling showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles with the Chiefs taking the Lombardi trophy with 38-35, erasing a 10-point deficit on Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium in Arizona. The NFL was heavily criticized for poor field conditions in the aftermath of the match.
However, the league is not taking any blame on them, instead, they placed the blame for the slippery field conditions squarely on the shoulders of the Chiefs and the Eagles.
NFL blames Chiefs, Eagles players for slipping in Super Bowl LVII
The pitch condition of the State Farm Stadium in the latest Super Bowl final was blamed by many fans and pundits as a reason for Philly’s loss as the players struggled for grip that resulted in slipping and sliding as well as the lack of traction caused huge problems for Philadelphia’s defense.
Following the Chiefs’ win, the Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said Patrick Mahomes‘ squad was “blessed” to get a favorable pitch, as the 27-year-old QB did not get sacked a single time during the match.
However, a league source informed the NFL has privately put all blame at the feet of the players saying they did not wear the right cleats or footwear during the game, per Dov Kleiman of ProFootballTalk.
Report: The NFL privately blamed the #Eagles and #Chiefs players for all the slipping in the Super Bowl, per Mike Florio.
A source told Florio that the league communicated to the owners that the reason all the slipping happened is because the players were wearing the wrong… pic.twitter.com/gEJs6tBeg0
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 3, 2023
Many fans said Philly’s blame on the field condition is hard to accept as they even changed cleats during the game to adjust to the field conditions but still blamed the pitch for the loss. Whatever the actual reason, the NFL is optimistic to keep them out of any blame.
Ex-Eagle S Gardner-Johnson responds to NFL blaming players
The Philadelphia former safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson became a free agent after the 2022 NFL season and signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Lions, however, he didn’t like the league’s out-of-the-blue blame on his former teammates.
Gardner noticed the news on Twitter and retweeted it with a comment saying he changed three cleats during pregame warmups, albeit nothing worked in favor of him and even the pair with the studs didn’t result in a good outcome.
Former #Eagles Safety @CGJXXIII says he tried out 3 different types of cleats at the Super Bowl but it didn't matter.
Strange for the NFL to shift blame at the players. https://t.co/hV0knGDbis pic.twitter.com/ivZ2QM2Hbk
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 3, 2023
“Man pre game I went through 3 different cleats!! Even the studs wasn’t working 😒 explain that please”, the tweet said.
The Eagles beat the Arizona Cardinals 20-17 on October 9 at the same stadium and the former Philadelphia player said if cleats were the actual reason behind the field condition in the match, regular grass should have been used.
If that’s the case we should’ve played on AZ original grass! we was fine the week we traveled there and won 🙃
— C.J. Gardner-Johnson (@CGJXXIII) July 3, 2023
“If that’s the case we should’ve played on AZ original grass! we was fine the week we traveled there and won🙃.”
Neither players nor the league is ready to take the blame on their shoulders, however, the blame game undermines the overall credibility of big games and shifts focus away from potential systemic issues regarding field management.
Who do you think is at fault? You can share your thoughts with us in the comments.
