Fool the NFL once, shame on you. Fool the NFL twice, shame on the league. Brazil is about to fool another two American football teams to play in questionable conditions for no good reason.
The Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys will clash at the Maracaña Stadium in Rio de Janiero on Sept. 27. It'll be the NFL's second season playing a game in the soccer-obsessed country but even the local tenants are complaining about the quality of the grass.
“You don’t even need to talk about the field, it's there for everyone to see,” Flamengo goalkeeper Agustín Rossi told press, per AtoZSports' Mauricio Rodriguez. “The way we play, it’s unbelievable that we’re playing on a field like this ... If you look at it, there are bumps everywhere. There’s still going to be an NFL game here during the international break. After that game, I hope the field is in better shape.”
Based on the highlights from one of the latest matches Flamengo played, they aren't kidding. The NFL should be considering its backup plans lest it risk stars like Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb hurt themselves in a preventable situation.
“We’ve been struggling a lot in these last few games, and the field keeps getting worse,” Flamengo midfielder Giorgian De Arrascaeta added. “It’s getting harder and harder to control the ball. We have to try to play quickly. If we want to be champions, we have to find a solution. With the team we have, we can’t be playing on a field like this.”
NFL fans should be sweating more than the humidity for Ravens-Cowboys game in Brazil
The last time the league had to move an international game back to the U.S. for fear of poor field conditions was back in 2018. The Los Angeles Rams hosted the Kansas City Chiefs at the Coliseum after originally being scheduled to travel to Mexico City for Monday Night Football.
With just eight days until the Ravens and Cowboys kickoff, the NFL will have to make a quick decision after watching the conditions at the stadium during Flamengo's game Sunday. Will the commercial value of the international game, which drew limited yields in 2024, be enough to outweigh the potential fallout of losing star players to non-contact injuries because of poor field conditions?
Gramado do Maracanã num estado deplorável!
— Wesley Ramon (@_ramonwesley) September 20, 2026
Que isso rapaz… pic.twitter.com/eKoTdap7Ho
Should the league have to cancel flights to Brazil, the game would probably move to AT&T Stadium in Dallas. The Cowboys were going to be the designated home team anyways and it would be shocking if Jerry Jones doesn't already have a contingency to open his doors for a late-Sunday clash.
Granted, the stadium conditions in Brazil (for now) don't look nearly as bad as they did at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City back in 2018. The field was practically black and all torn up so the league had no choice but to move that game. However, while Brazil's conditions appear greener, the soccer players pointing out bumps and frustrating grass should have NFL players nervous.
It would be near malpractice and negligence should the league see any star player(s) suffer significant injuries because the turf gave out or caught someone's foot. There's much more money at stake than the potential profits of playing in South America.
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