When a team loses a football game Josh Allen Jersey , comments made about external factors from officiating to the quality of the field can be perceived as excuses. That doesn’t make unacceptable external factors acceptable.For the Seahawks, who lost to the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, one of the external factors that they had to deal with was the quality of the playing surface.“It wasn’t great,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll told reporters on Monday. “It wasn’t great. There were guys slipping all over the place and you could see guys in pass protection, you could see guys on field goal protection sticking their cleats in the ground and it was moving. It’s the same on both sides of the ball, though. They’re subject to the same turf that we are, so there’s no reason to complain about it. It just is what it is. It was a factor.”The condition of the field wasn’t a surprise to Carroll.“I thought it was going to be that way,” he said. “I told them it was going to be really lousy and then when we got out there in pregame http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/jawaan-taylor-jersey-cheap , it looked like a pretty good turf. They had redone the middle part of it and all that a couple of weeks ago and it felt like it was going to be a good turf but it didn’t work out that way. You could see guys couldn’t dig in. It was just kind of == we were prepared for it. We were prepared for it to be a difficult turf, and it still was a factor. We were comparing it to what we expected in London [against the Raiders]. We had heard a lot about the turf [and how it] was going to be bad and we felt like we hung in there pretty good [in London]. We did all the same preparations and all of that. I don’t know if it was any worse, it just looked like it was an issue at times.”Again, these comments can be perceived as complaining or excuse-making (even though Carroll said there’s no reason to complain). But if there was indeed an issue with the field, it’s another example of billion-dollar franchises with multi-million-dollar investments in their players not doing everything in their power to ensure that the players will be both as safe as possible and also able to perform to the highest level of their God-given abilities. And yet some of these billion-dollar franchises still tolerate subpar playing fields, and the league continues to allow them to.It really shouldn’t be that difficult. For whatever reason, it continues to be. And that’s one of the things the NFL should put at the top of the list of league-wide priorities: Clear and inflexible requirements for the quality of playing surfaces, with an understanding that Josh Oliver Jersey , if a team can’t provide an adequate natural or hybrid turf, then a standard artificial playing surface will be used.Most players prefer real grass to fake. But while a good grass field is better than the best fake field, a good fake field is better than a bad real one. And based on comments like those from Carroll it continues to be abundantly clear that the NFL isn’t doing enough to ensure that footing isn’t a factor in situations where there’s no snow, ice, or torrential rain. ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 137 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, and the Dallas Cowboys hung on for a 24-22 wild-card win over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night.The playoff win by the Cowboys (11-6) was the first for Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott on their second try after losing a divisional game as rookies two years ago. Dallas will play either New Orleans or the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round next weekend.The loss ended a run of nine straight victories in playoff openers for the Seahawks (10-7). The Elias Sports Bureau says it was the longest streak in NFL history.Dallas’ defense, ranked in the top 10 most of the season http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/quincy-williams-ii-jersey-cheap , mostly kept quarterback Russell Wilson under control and handed him his first loss in four wild-card games.It was the eighth win in nine games for the Cowboys.Prescott, the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2016 when the Cowboys lost to Green Bay at home as the top seed in the NFC, threw for 226 yards and had a 1-yard sneak for what appeared to be a clinching score before Tyler Lockett’s 53-yard catch set up a quick Seattle touchdown.Wilson’s 7-yard scoring pass to J.D. McKissic got the Seahawks within four, and they made it a two-point game on their second 2-point conversion following an injury to kicker Sebastian Janikowski.But the missing kicker left the Seahawks no good options on an onside kick with 1:18 remaining. Punter Michael Dickson’s drop kick was caught by Cole Beasley at the Dallas 31, sealing the first playoff win for the Cowboys since beating Detroit in the wild-card round in the 2014 season.COLTS 21, TEXANS 7HOUSTON (AP) — Andrew Luck threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns and Indianapolis raced out to a big lead and cruised over Houston in the wild-card game.Luck put on a show in his hometown, throwing for 191 yards and two touchdowns before halftime to help the Colts (11-6) build a 21-0 lead.Running back Marlon Mack had 148 yards and a touchdown for Indianapolis, which advances to face the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round next weekend.Houston (11-6) Ryquell Armstead Jersey , which overcame a 0-3 start to win the AFC South, gave up too many big plays and couldn’t get anything going on offense in the first half to fall into the huge hole.Deshaun Watson, who was sacked an NFL-leading 62 times in the regular season, was sacked three times and hit eight more times in a disappointing playoff debut. He finished with 235 yards passing with a touchdown and an interception.The Colts, who opened the season 1-5, continued an impressive run by winning their fifth straight and for the 10th time in 11 games. Saturday was their first playoff appearance since the AFC championship game loss at New England in the “Deflategate” game in the 2014 season.