Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith criticized the condition of Heinz Field ahead of the wild card showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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The NFL Wild Card round start on Saturday and the most watchable game this weekend might end up being between the Ravens and Steelers. The Ravens just squeaked into the playoffs in the last week of the season, while the Steelers won a hotly contested division title. However, a big factor in the contest could be the notoriously bad conditions of Heinz Field, which won’t be made any better by the 100 percent chance of rain in the forecast.
Ravens wide receiver, Torrey Smith, already has things to say about the field.
“It’s terrible, man,” Smith said to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. “They need to go ahead and put some turf up there or something. Apparently, the field gets a lot of use.
“That’s good for them, but it’s terrible for us playing this late. But I’m sure they’ll do a great job prepping it. We’ll use our fundamentals.”
Smith had a big game last week, even after saying he was afraid it might be his last game with the team. He had four receptions for 83 yards and one touchdown, with a long of 53, helping the Ravens top the Browns in the last game of the regular season.
Heinz Field does get a lot of use, as Smith says. It’s used both by the University of Pittsburgh and local high schools for championship games. It may start out decent, but it gets torn up and waterlogged as the season rolls on. The expected conditions on Saturday won’t help at all. Besides the 100 percent chance of rain in the forecast, it could be up to an inch by the time of kickoff at 8:15PM EST. The 10 to 20 MPH winds should be another interesting factor in gameplay, if not directly related to the field.
Fortunately, the Ravens have some good history playing in bad weather games. Last season they beat the Vikings in a blizzard and the year before, they beat the Broncos in what was one of the coldest games in history as they made their Super Bowl run.
Running back Justin Forsett says he expects to get more action as well, adding that he loves rain games. It could be an edge for the Ravens if the ground game rules, since Steelers starting back Le’Veon Bell might be out with a knee injury.
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