The Cowboys and Ravens play the NFL's first-ever regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro on Sept. 27, at Maracanã Stadium. Maracanã is also home to Brazilian soccer club Flamengo, which has kept playing matches there through six weeks of unusually heavy rain. That rain, including a storm after a Sept. 13 Flamengo match, has damaged the pitch — torn up, in the players' own words. Flamengo played its last match on that field before NFL setup began on Sept. 20, beating RB Bragantino 2-1, and it's unclear how much the league has been able to change about the surface since.

1. The NFL and Both Coaching Staffs (Nick Pappas, Jesse Minter, Brian Schottenheimer)

The league says it has handled this before and has a plan in place.

The NFL's field director says the surface will hold up. Nick Pappas told reporters from Rio: "They've faced some unprecedented weather over the last six weeks or so as far as rainfall goes. We've got to have plans in place to ensure that you can mitigate the weather the best you can and, right now, we feel we're in a good spot."

Football doesn't punish turf the way soccer does, the league argues. "Our ball is not on the ground too much, so some of the things they're looking for (are) maybe not the same things that we're looking at," Pappas said. The league shipped a protective tarp to Rio about two weeks before kickoff to shield the turf from rain, and converting the stadium for football is one of the week's "bigger lifts."

Both head coaches are backing the plan publicly. Ravens coach Jesse Minter said, "They have people there (who) feel pretty good about it. Both teams are going to be playing there, and we will be ready to roll." Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the team has "no concerns" about the field.

2. Flamengo's Players (Agustín Rossi, Giorgian De Arrascaeta)

The team that played on this field all season says it's already unsafe.

The goalkeeper says the field is visibly wrecked right now, not hypothetically. Agustín Rossi said, "The way we play, it's unbelievable that we're playing on a field like this," adding that "both penalty areas are bad as [expletive]. If you look at it, there are bumps everywhere."

His teammate says it's getting worse every match, not stabilizing. Giorgian De Arrascaeta said, "We've been struggling a lot in these last few games, and the field keeps getting worse," and "it's getting harder and harder to control the ball. With the team we have, we can't be playing on a field like this."

3. Fans, an NFL Insider, and a Sports-Injury Doctor (Mike Florio, Dr. Jesse Morse)

Move the game to Dallas — the Cowboys' own stadium is sitting right there.

The fallback city is obvious: Dallas. "With the Cowboys serving as the home team for the game, the obvious alternative would be to move the game to Dallas," PFT's Mike Florio wrote.

A sports-injury physician frames this as a broader pattern, not a one-off. Dr. Jesse Morse said flatly: "International games are a RISK for NFL players."

Fans online are pushing further, some calling to scrap international games entirely. One post read, "Play it in Dallas if they can't get their field conditions together. Both teams shouldn't have to risk their players getting injured because of it"; another said simply, "Cancel overseas games."

The players' own union isn't going that far, but it's watching. The NFL Players Association says it's "aware of the situation and has been in touch with the league about it," without endorsing a move.

Where This Lands

The NFL and both coaching staffs say they've handled bad weather before and the field will be ready. Flamengo's own players say the surface got torn up and kept getting worse through their final matches on it. Fans, an NFL insider, and a sports-injury doctor say the safer move is obvious: play it in Dallas. Flamengo's last game on that field wrapped Sept. 20, a week out from kickoff, which is the real window the NFL has to make it right.

Sources