The Aporia · Field at Maracana Stadium in Rio holds up fine for Ravens-Cowboys after concerns about turf quality

Field at Maracana Stadium in Rio holds up fine for Ravens-Cowboys after concerns about turf quality

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗

Cite

APA MLA Chicago

Savarese, M. (2026, September 28). Field at Maracana Stadium in Rio holds up fine for Ravens-Cowboys after concerns about turf quality. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/field-at-maracana-stadium-in-rio-holds-up-fine-for-ravens-cowboys-after-concerns-about-turf-quality/article_30f65164-3eb7-57f7-9c2a-384c8b0dc4ef.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Ahead of the NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium, concerns were raised about the quality of the natural grass field due to frequent use by local soccer teams. Despite these worries, extensive maintenance efforts just before kickoff ensured that player performance was not compromised; both teams played without significant issues related to turf traction or stability. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and coach Brian Schottenheimer confirmed the field conditions did not affect gameplay during a thrilling 34-31 victory for the Ravens.

Written by AI on 2026-09-28, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Nick Pappas, the NFL's field director, expressed confidence in the condition of the turf at Maracanã Stadium for the upcoming game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens on September 27. Despite concerns raised by the NFL Players Association about loose and patchy grass leading to safety issues, groundskeepers used scissors and a new GrassMaster Stitch Machine to improve traction and stability just days before the match. The league aims to ensure player safety while still hosting international games in Rio de Janeiro. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson acknowledged past experiences playing on poor fields but emphasized focusing on winning rather than worrying about turf conditions.

Written for “Ravens-Cowboys Game Rio” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 15 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

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“While both articles discuss the same game between the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens, they focus on different aspects: Article A describes the final decisions that led to the Ravens' win, while Article B focuses on the quality of the turf at Maracana Stadium.”

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“Article A is a prediction about an upcoming game, while Article B reports on the actual game that has already taken place.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

1 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

64/100

Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Sports

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-28 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Mauricio Savarese

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 24 articles by Mauricio Savarese →

Topics

Brazilian Cowboys Maracana NFL RIO DE JANEIRO

Subjects

NFL ORG · 6× Cowboys ORG · 3× Brazil GPE · 2× Brazilian NORP · 2× Dak Prescott PERSON · 2× Maracana ORG · 2× RIO DE JANEIRO GPE · 2× Ravens ORG · 1× the Baltimore Ravens ORG · 1× the Dallas Cowboys ORG · 1×

Narrative

On Saturday, hours after the executive director of the NFL Players Association said both the NFL and the players union had experts monitoring the field conditions, Maracana workers were using mowers and scissors on the grass.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-28

🔮 NFL field director Nick Pappas, who said throughout the week he was confident players would have no trouble, was checking the turf minutes before kickoff with five staffers behind him.

2026-09-28 · Toronto Star

Field at Maracana Stadium in Rio holds up fine for Ravens-Cowboys after concerns about turf quality · assertive framing

Claims (19 extracted, 1 hedged)

But efforts to stitch and trim the natural grass surface until minutes before kickoff seemed to pay off. asserted

efforts → stitch → kickoff

The Ravens beat the Cowboys 34-31 a thrilling game that was decided by Tyler Loop’s 56-yard field goal as time expired. asserted

time → beat → goal

Concerns about the turf’s traction and stability prompted the NFL to reinforce its stitching throughout the week. asserted

Concerns → prompt → week

The footing appeared sound and there was minimal slipping or tripping by players. asserted

footing → appear → players

Local clubs Flamengo and Fluminense play there at least once a week. asserted

clubs → play → ?

workers → say → grass

NFL field director Nick Pappas, who said throughout the week he was confident players would have no trouble, was checking the turf minutes before kickoff with five staffers behind him. asserted

players → say → him

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and coach Brian Schottenheimer said the field conditions were a nonfactor. asserted

conditions → say → ?

“It held up fine,” Schottenheimer said. asserted

Schottenheimer → hold → ?

The NFL has been playing in Brazil since 2024, but the two previous games were at NeoQuimica Arena in Sao Paulo. asserted

games → play → Paulo

In the first Brazil game, Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers players had to change their cleats to stop slipping. asserted

players → have → cleats

There was no obvious slipping by players at Maracana, although broadcasters showed video of some of the stitched grass easily being ripped up before the start of the game. asserted

broadcasters → be → game

Not even the part of the field where singer Ricky Martin performed on a stage during halftime appeared to be damaged when players returned. asserted

players → perform → halftime

The turf didn’t have any influence in one of the biggest moments of the game, when the Cowboys had a key giveaway in the third quarter with Jake Ferguson fumbling after catching a pass from Dak Prescott. asserted

Ferguson → have → Prescott

The Maracana field is 100% natural grass, while NeoQuimica Arena has a mixture of natural and synthetic turf that players have called the country’s best pitch. asserted

players → have → that

Many Brazilian fans who know Maracana best said they found the complaints about the turf exaggerated. asserted

complaints → know → turf

“NFL players have played in much worse places, including in the U.S.,” said Gustavo Fernandes, a 41-year-old fan who wore a New England Patriots shirt. asserted

who → play → shirt

“They’ve played in places where baseball diamonds could be seen. uncertain

diamonds → play → places

The Maracana is just fine, players will know which cleats to wear and game on.” asserted

players → know → cleats