28 June 2023 , 19:47
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Philadelphia Eagles star Brandon Graham believes the turf at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona played a decisive role in their Super Bowl defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Eagles and the Chiefs traded blows in a high-scoring game in Glendale, with Patrick Mahomes eventually getting the better of Jalen Hurts in a thrilling 38-35 victory to lift the Lombardi Trophy.
In the aftermath of the game, players and coaches criticised the state of the playing surface, with linemen on both sides failing to get traction with their cleats.
As a result, there were only two sacks in the whole game, with the Eagles losing a big part of their arsenal after putting up 70 sacks in the regular season, just two less than the all-time record held by the 1984 Chicago Bears.
Defensive end Graham, who recorded 11 sacks in the regular season, believes the quality of the turf inhibited the strength of the Eagles' defense and their ability to put pressure on Mahomes.
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"You need that traction to be able to get off the block and we were slipping a lot," Graham told Sports Take. "I don't make excuses. I just know that that's what was being talked about, us trying to get out of our own head a little bit, too.
"I'm telling you that O-line, they got blessed, I'll say that. When we looked at the film, man, it was a couple of times where it was if Sweaty (Josh Sweat) don't slip, boy, (there would've been a) strip sack.
Haason Reddick said changing his cleats did not help improve his footing in Arizona. (Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)"Oh my God, especially that first drive when he threw it across the middle to Kelce. He was right there. He slipped. We could not believe it.
"When we finally looked at the film, I finally looked at it, I was just like 'Man, oh man'. But you know, like I said, credit to Kansas City. It's all love, you know what I'm saying. Them boys played too, they played on that surface too."
Graham's comments echoed the view of fellow pass rusher Haason Reddick, who finished behind only San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa in the sack leader race in 2022 with 16.
"Y’all watched the game, y’all saw it, there was a lot of slipping all over that field," Reddick said in the immediate aftermath of the game. "It didn’t even matter, I changed my cleats, still had seven studs and was still was slipping.
“It was very disappointing,. It’s the NFL. You would think it would be better so we could get some better play, but it is what it is.
"I don’t know, maybe the league will look at it and tell Arizona they got to step their stuff up. I don’t know, it’s not my decision to make.”