Steelers To Replace Turf After Aaron Rodgers' Complaint, But It Will Likely Still Be Awful For Next Game

It's never a good thing when the playing surface impacts a football game, especially at the NFL level, but that's exactly what unfolded on Sunday during the Browns - Steelers matchup in Pittsburgh.

Acrisure Stadium, which is home to both the Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh, has natural grass, which is the surface every football player you'll talk to says they prefer, but not when it is ripped to shreds and affecting the game at hand.

While the grass didn't exactly look horrible through the first quarter or so of Sunday's game, it was virtually non-existent and more sand than turf by the midway point of the third quarter.

Speaking after Pittsburgh's convincing 23-9 victory over the Browns, quarterback Aaron Rodgers made sure to mention how bad the playing conditions actually were.

"The field got borderline unplayable," Rodgers explained, per TribLive. "I just felt like it got real beat up. By the time the third quarter rolled around, that thing was really beat up."

It was a more than fair criticism from Rodgers.

Pittsburgh's Miles Killebrew suffered a non-contact knee injury in the first half, which Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said appeared to be "significant."

Beyond that, Chris Boswell's plant foot legitimately disappeared into the Earth on a 54-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter that he missed, and was fortunate enough not to suffer an injury on the play.

The Pittsburgh Panthers last played on the field on October 4, while Sunday's contest was the first time the Steelers had played at their home stadium since September 14. In other words, there aren't really any valid excuses for the surface to be as poor as it was, especially at this point of the year.

Steelers reporter Chris Adamski shared a photo of the field after the Steelers' win on Sunday, which showed just how beat up it was.

According to the CBS broadcast, the turf will be replaced in the coming days, well ahead of the Steelers' home matchup against the Green Bay Packers on October 26. However, it won't be all that fresh given the Panthers host NC State the day prior.

There is a good chance that the next time Rodgers and the Steelers take the field, the surface is actually more beat up than it was this past Sunday.