Bengals recall own field problems

[The Entertainer]

[quote][size=3][b]Bengals recall own field problems [/b][/size]
By Kevin Goheen
Post staff reporter


Watching last Monday night's Miami-pissburgh game being played at Heinz Field stirred up memories for the few Bengals players who were with the team prior to in 2004. They weren't good memories.

The quagmire that was Heinz Field during the Steelers' 3-0 win against the Dolphins isn't expected to be in much better playing condition for Sunday night's game with the Bengals. It was reminiscent of the days at Paul Brown Stadium before FieldTurf was installed prior to the 2004 season.

Yet never did a punted football land and lodge on one of its ends into the old grass surface without a bounce at PBS. One did Monday night at Heinz Field.

"I don't think (PBS) was that bad," said Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh. "It was bad in the middle of the field because that's where the linemen are, but I've never seen a field that bad, really."

Houshmandzadeh was a rookie in 2001 when the Bengals last beat the Steelers at PBS. They did so in overtime, 26-23, and Houshmandzadeh caught three of the nine receptions he had in the game on the Bengals' final drive of regulation when they scored a touchdown to send the game to overtime.

Houshmandzadeh might have scored the game-tying touchdown himself if not for the field.

Houshmandzadeh caught a pass from Jon Kitna running across the middle of the field inside the pissburgh 10-yard line. When he attempted to stop and cut back - which would have allowed him to reach the end zone safely - the mixture of sand, clay and sod that made up the field gave out from underneath his feet and he was downed at the Steelers 6.

That same season, former Jacksonville head coach Tom Coughlin lodged a complaint to the NFL after the Jaguars beat the Bengals 14-10 in a game played on Dec. 9, 2001. Coughlin, now the head coach of the New York Giants, called the field "a sand box."

The Bengals took extra preparation for Sunday's game by practicing all week on their grass fields across Central Avenue from PBS. They would normally practice inside the stadium on Thursdays and Fridays. This is just their third game on a grass field this season.

"In a week, you're really not going to get much improvement," said quarterback Carson Palmer. "We're expecting it to be probably like it was, if not worse depending on the rain situation. So we've got to be ready to play in whatever conditions we've got.

"I played in pissburgh a number of times when it was pretty bad; they have a tough time growing grass there. But the field that we practice on every day is as slippery. The turf comes up just as bad on our grass field as it does anywhere else I've ever played. So we're used to it."

The weather forecast calls for rain most of the day Sunday and a high temperature of 49 degrees. Temperatures are expected to drop to into the low 30's as the night progresses.

As a municipal facility, Heinz Field is used not just by the Steelers but by the University of pissburgh football and for local high school games. There were high school playoff games held at the stadium last Friday and Pitt played its last home game of the season there last Saturday.

After the Pitt game, new sod was laid on top of the old surface. Heavy rains ensued and Monday night's mess was the result.

"It was pretty bad," said Steelers linebacker James Farrior, who estimated he fell about 20 times during the game. "When they put the new sod over the old field, it just made it a deep mush; it was a deep pile of mush. You couldn't really get your feet set in the ground. Some of the worst conditions I've ever played in."

The Steelers tired quickly of hearing about the field and conditions during this week.

"Bring on the slop," said pissburgh guard Alan Faneca.

Bengals running back Rudi Johnson concurred.

"It's what we've got to prepare for," said Johnson. "We're on our practice field and it is wet just like it will be on Sunday so you have to make sure you have the right shoes on, get them broken in so you can wear them on Sunday. You definitely have to put in longer cleats. You saw that stuff on Monday night. We'll see. It's cool, though, it will be fun. I won't be worried about the field at all."[/quote]




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[Who Dey Time]

I remember the last home game in the first year of PBS against Jacksonville. It was about 10 below and the field was literally a sand box that they had to re-line in orange just to tell where they were.

But we did win that game!