OAKLAND — Chris Boswell thought the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum field conditions were subpar. He wasn’t the only Pittsburgh Steeler with that opinion, but count the veteran kicker as part of the crew refusing to use it as an excuse for the Raiders' 24-21 win Sunday afternoon.
He would be allowed, considering he slipped while attempting a game-tying field goal as time expired. Boswell’s plant leg gave way under the grass, creating a low liner that the Raiders easily blocked.
Boswell also missed a 39-yard try earlier in the game, two pivotal miscues in the Steelers' three-point loss.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“The field’s the field,” Boswell said. “You can’t complain about it. You can’t blame anything. It’s as bad for me as it was for anyone else. You just have to find a way to put it through.”
Boswell had a chance to tie the score after a successful hook-and-lateral executed to perfection put Pittsburgh within field-goal range with five seconds remaining.
It was a gut punch to a Raiders team than had surged ahead with 21 seconds left. Overtime seemed certain, until Boswell slipped and missed a makeable field-goal try.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made a point to not use the field conditions as an excuse.
NFL
“The field was slippery for us," Tomlin said. "It was slippery for them also, so I’m not going to make field conditions an excuse. It was slippery for everyone.”
[RELATED: Raiders’ win gives Gruden feel-good moment, nothing else]
There was some sympathy for Boswell’s plight in the Raiders’ locker room, but a struggling team will take a win any way it can get it.
"The kicker — don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we won — but I feel bad for him,” Raiders tight end Lee Smith said. “That’s not a great way to win. He’s going to have a long flight back to Pittsburgh. …
”The field got chewed up. When we’re not playing on dirt, there’s nothing to complain about. As long as it’s grass, you won’t hear us complain about field conditions. I’m sure it was just a freak deal.”
