Soldier Field is hosting a preseason NFL game on Saturday, but it certainly does not look ready to do so.
Chicago Sun-Times writer Jason Lieser shared a series of photos of the Soldier Field playing surface ahead of Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The grass was dried up and patchy, and in some places it looked completely torn up.
This is not photoshop. This is what the field actually looks like today. pic.twitter.com/NCtRAJxYWK
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) August 13, 2022
Bears staffers were trying to fill divots on the field as late as a half hour before kickoff.
There are Soldier Field employees working to fill in divots on the turf 15 minutes before game time. pic.twitter.com/ad6Ag3XMAq
— Jesse Newell (@jessenewell) August 13, 2022
Things did not look quite as bad on the TV broadcast during the game, but even there it hardly looked ideal.
Payers for Justin Fields this season 🙏
This OL….pic.twitter.com/OTjcpw864s
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 13, 2022
Soldier Field hosted an Elton John concert last week, which definitely had some impact on the turf. Whatever the reason, neither coach can feel great about playing any starters on a surface like that. It’s really quite embarrassing for an NFL stadium.
Worst of all for the Bears is that we could have seen this coming. Chicago kicker Cairo Santos said during the week that the turf he had been practicing on in the offseason was actually too nice compared to Soldier Field. That almost seemed like it had to be an exaggeration, but clearly it was not.
The Bears have been openly agitating for a new stadium for some time, and even former players are advocating that they do so. This will not hurt their argument.
