Games on grass vs. synthetic turf

[SibannacRex]

The Cowboys have won 12 games in a row at home. But it's not the home field that helps alone, it's the playing surface. The Cowboys have a 6-0 record on synthetic turf this season and have outscored their opponents 37 - 11 on average. Their record on grass is 0-3 and they have been outscored 16 - 33. Since the first game of the season last year, Dallas has not lost on synthetic turf and all of their losses have come on grass. It's not just the offense that struggles, but the defense is also giving up a lot of points on grass.

The good news is that there are only 2 more games left to be played on grass (Commanders and Dolphins)

The bad news is that if the Cowboys don't get win the division, they will likely have to go on grass fields to play SF or Philadelphia.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

I don't know why this has to come up every week.

This is about opponents, not grass vs. turf.

 

[calico]

This thread is making me smoke some grass this morning, that’s for sure.

 

[Captain-Crash]

This thread is making me smoke some grass this morning, that’s for sure.

 

[Ring6]

Its real.

Cowboys play fast on turf, slow on grass.

argument is all teams are the same, but it affects Cowboys to a greater degree for some reason.

 

[TheCoolFan]

Thank goodness Carolina doesn't have a grass field anymore...otherwise I'd be worried about another Arizona loss happening.

 

[Creeper]

Washington still has real grass. But I don't think the field in Philadelphia bother them that much. The outgained the Eagles by a lot and held them to under 300 yards of offense. Does grass make them do stupid thing? Grass may make the refs make stupid calls, but its not the same kind of grass.

 

[SibannacRex]

Washington still has real grass. But I don't think the field in Philadelphia bother them that much. The outgained the Eagles by a lot and held them to under 300 yards of offense. Does grass make them do stupid thing? Grass may make the refs make stupid calls, but its not the same kind of grass.

You know what's interesting? Philadelphia and GB are the only teams that have a hybrid turf. 14 stadiums have grass and 14 stadiums have artificial turf. According to this site, the other two have this hybrid:

Green Bay Packers, Lambeau Field, Desso GrassMaster
Philadelphia Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field, Desso GrassMaster

 

[BaybeeJay]

I don't know why this has to come up every week.

This is about opponents, not grass vs. turf.

Likely correct. Quality of opponent is the interacting variable.

 

[SibannacRex]

Its real.

Cowboys play fast on turf, slow on grass.

argument is all teams are the same, but it affects Cowboys to a greater degree for some reason.

Yes, looking at these expanded standings, I don't see any other team with such a disparity in performance due to playing surfaces.

 

[conner01]

Its real.

Cowboys play fast on turf, slow on grass.

argument is all teams are the same, but it affects Cowboys to a greater degree for some reason.

But the effect has to be the same for every player, thus every team. Both teams play on the same field. Grass may be slower but not for just one team

 

[Motorola]

In the 21st century NFL, a team's/ player's footing on various field surfaces should be mitigated \ accentuated \ enhanced by:

A) Practice fields that are equivalent to the opponent's stadium surface;

B) Equipment managers' research, knowledge, and experience on what footwear works best on various field types and conditions;

C) Players' interaction with each other across the league -- communication between current and former teammates about what works, what doesn't when comes to not only the field type, adverse weather that affects field surfaces.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Their record on grass

 

[doomsday9084]

I don't know why this has to come up every week.

This is about opponents, not grass vs. turf.

Because they lost to Arizona on grass? Last year they lost to pretty crappy GB and Jacksonville teams on grass. They got smoked at Washington too. Its been a long time since Dallas dropped a game to a bad team on turf. Its really not about quality of opponent.

Hopefully they don't repeat the mistake against Carolina.

 

[CATCH17]

I hate to point it out but another factor with Philadelphia was we didn’t get a evenly officiated game.


I know we didn’t execute at the end but the officials were the elephant in the room against them.

 

[Kwyn]

This thread is making me smoke some grass this morning, that’s for sure.

lol. Is it Bermuda or Saint Augustine ?

 

[The Natural]

This is a borderline remedial evaluation. They’re losing when they come up against heavy hitters, has nothing to do with the playing surface.

 

[SibannacRex]

Because they lost to Arizona on grass? Last year they lost to pretty crappy GB and Jacksonville teams on grass. They got smoked at Washington too. Its been a long time since Dallas dropped a game to a bad team on turf. Its really not about quality of opponent.

Hopefully they don't repeat the mistake against Carolina.

Carolina has turf now

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Because they lost to Arizona on grass? Last year they lost to pretty crappy GB and Jacksonville teams on grass. They got smoked at Washington too. Its been a long time since Dallas dropped a game to a bad team on turf. Its really not about quality of opponent.

Hopefully they don't repeat the mistake against Carolina.

But it's not like grass was any reason for the loss.

They lost to SF in the playoffs on turf and then beat TB in the playoffs on grass.

 

[Motorola]

Because they lost to Arizona on grass? Last year they lost to pretty crappy GB and Jacksonville teams on grass. They got smoked at Washington too. Its been a long time since Dallas dropped a game to a bad team on turf. Its really not about quality of opponent.

Hopefully they don't repeat the mistake against Carolina.

Dallas led Green Bay 28-14 going into the 4th quarter.
Dallas led Jacksonville 27-10 with 5 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter.
Against Washington in the season finale -- McCarthy came out with that vanilla gameplan + Cowboys were scoreboard watching; once they realized the Giants weren't beating the Eagles - they rolled over and gave up.
Natural grass field had nothing to do with those 3 losses.
It was the Cowboys' play - more precisely the BAD play- tha resulted in those 3 defeats.