While the Oakland Raiders certainly are not upset about another preseason win, Thursday night’s game was strange, to say the least. In what was officially marked as a Raiders home game, the Silver and Black headed to Winnipeg, Canada to take on the Green Bay Packers.
While that might be enough to get heads scratching, the fun does not stop there. Due to unsafe field conditions, the game was played on a reconfigured 80-yard field.
Investors Ground Field in Winnipeg is typically home to Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. Due to the location of goalposts in the CFL coinciding with the middle of the endzone in the NFL, they were moved for the Raiders and Packers game.
Removing a 30-foot pole leaves a decently sized hole right in the middle of the endzone. After being covered with turf resulting in a small bump, the field was deemed unsafe for players moments before kick-off. The result was the bizarre 80-yard field with the endzones beginning at what is usually the 10-yard lines.
According to Paul Gutierez of ESPN, head coach Jon Gruden and the Raiders felt that the field was good to go even with the awkward turf spots, but the Packers may have been uncomfortable with the conditions:
“I’m not going to make a big deal about the field. We liked the field,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said after his team’s 22-21 victory. “We thought the field was perfectly ready to roll. You’ll have to ask GB about that. Didn’t affect our playcalling or our evaluations. We just adapted as they did to the new dimensions of the field.”
According to ESPN, the international affair all started when the Raiders elected to move their home game out of Oakland. Reportedly, not playing at the RingCentral Coliseum saved the team $500,000 due to a discrepancy in their lease for the upcoming 2019 season.
Despite whatever issues the Raiders may have had with their stadium, the Oakland Athletics were also hosting the New York Yankees on Thursday night. It appears that any scheduling done by the NFL may have not been completely thought out.
Additionally, the NFL released a statement on the field conditions in Winnipeg:
“Tonight’s game is being played on a reconfigured field. The field met the mandatory practices for the maintenance of surfaces for NFL games based on an inspection yesterday. Concerns arose today surrounding the area where the Blue Bombers’ goalposts were previously located. The 10-yard line will function as the goal line at this game. In lieu of kickoffs, the ball will be placed at the 15-yard line.”
Packers head coach Matt LeFleur said he sat out his starters only in response to the Raiders holding out their starters, not necessarily because of field conditions. However, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he was sitting out not due to any injuries, but in fact the field conditions.
Although without a doubt Thursday’s game will forever have an asterisk next to it, the Raiders came away with a win to move to 3-0 on the preseason after a game-winning field goal by Daniel Carlson with eight seconds left.
