On Saturday, FedExField provided the location for the annual Army-Navy game. On Sunday, a team named for the original defenders of the homeland will play a team named for the folks from whom our forefathers wrested it.
But when the Redskins host the Patriots on Sunday, there’s a chance the grass field won’t be in ideal condition.
Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post points out that, eight days after Notre Dame and Maryland played there in November, the field was in “poor” condition when the Redskins hosted the Cowboys.
This time, the grounds crew has fewer than 24 hours.
“I’m not sure how much time there is” to get the field ready, coach Mike Shanahan said Friday. “We’re just keeping our fingers crossed.”
Of course, the question becomes whether the Redskins are crossing their fingers for good field conditions or bad ones. The Patriots clearly have the superior offensive team, and so a sloppy field would benefit the Redskins by equalizing the talent gap.
It could be one of the intriguing subplots for Sunday’s game, especially if any bad footing disrupts the Pats’ high-octane offense.