Figuratively speaking, the Seahawks didn’t find their footing against the Buccaneers until the fourth quarter in Sunday’s five-point loss. In a much more literal sense Seattle’s players had an awful time with the playing surface at Allianz Arena, a venue with a dayjob as a soccer stadium.
While NFL teams will switch fields for sports, that hasn’t been the case in international games – something Seahawks long snapper Tyler Ott pointed out after the game. Veteran Edge Bruce Irvin has also decried the field conditions. Now, we can add coach Pete Carroll’s voice to the chorus. In his weekly ESPN radio hit, Carroll called the field conditions a nightmare, but one both sides had to deal with.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll says on @SeattleSports radio show today that the field in Munich was "a nightmare'' because players never knew when footing might give way. But notes again "it's equal… both sides had to go against that.''
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) November 15, 2022
While it’s technically true that both teams struggled, on film the Seahawks seemed to have more issues with their footing, especially when it mattered. Tom Brady’s hilarious slip and trip on Tariq Woolen’s interception aside, Tampa didn’t seem to suffer much in any critical plays because of the field.
While fans should still be feeling pretty good heading into the bye week, Carroll has admitted that this loss was a real missed opportunity. Time will tell how the rest of the season plays out but it’s exactly the kind of thing that could be the difference between hosting a playoff game and visiting one of their conference rivals.
Nevertheless, the team and everybody involved seemed to enjoy the trip to Germany. Carroll says they’re down to return as soon as the NFL allows it.
