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visitors to the only field with A-Turf -- New Era Field in Buffalo -- suffer a high overall injury rate. At 23.0, they are effectively tied for the worst overall rate. This would translate to roughly seven or eight more injuries over the course of a full home slate for a team playing in Buffalo instead of a league-average stadium like New Orleans.

The study is simple. They are just comparing the NFL fields that use artificial turf and the injuries ratios. NO factors like wind, rain, cold etc. Of those teams Buffalo with A-Turf is rated the worst. What can I say!!! Cincinnati uses Shaw Sports Momentum Pro turf and obviously it falls between Dallas and Buffalo!!! New England uses Field Turf and the same is true for them!!

Both NY teams, Bengals, Patriots and Seattle which is kind of a Northern climate! The facts don't lie! A-Turf is bad - worse than other surfaces. AND - I love the BILLS! Spending $18 mil on training facilities is wonderful. I just don't get letting Erie County buy our field turf with a national bad reputation for injuries through a local vendor who has donated money to the County Executive over the years. Get it!!!

Thank you for the comment. It rubs me the wrong way too.

Is this all a bit absurd?? Installing the same field turf used for the past 8 seasons with a very low safety rating and then building a state of the art training center for conditioning and to rehabilitate injured players! “A-Turf will be completing the turf playing surface replacement at New Era Field just in time for the 2019 NFL season. In the meantime, Terry & Kim Pegula (team owners) and Bills players are celebrating the opening of a brand-new, world-class, 41,000 s.f. Sports Performance Center. It seamlessly links the club’s athletic training, strength and conditioning, and sports science departments. A-Turf installed a turf area for warm-up, post-workout, and flexibility work.” ____________________________________________________________________________________ AS PER THE FIVE YEAR STUDY BELOW - - The injury rates below are given per 1,000 athlete-exposures (AEs). One AE is defined as one player participating in one practice or game. Previous studies have shown that more than 80 percent of NFL injuries occur in games. Overall Injury Rates by Turf Type - - Five (5) Year Study by Football Outsiders - - [Injury rates with 95 percent confidence by turf type] The overall injury rates for grass and artificial turf are 16.9 and 17.2 per 1,000 AEs, respectively -- a modest difference. Matrix Turf has the best overall injury rate (14.2 per 1,000 AEs), while A-Turf's Titan product brings up the rear at 18.8. Any conclusions we can draw about Matrix and A-Turf are tempered by the fact that they're only installed at one stadium each -- Dallas and Buffalo, respectively. We may just be seeing the effects of healthy or unhealthy rosters, injury reporting habits, or good and bad training staffs. One way to control for that is to just look at the visiting teams who play on this turf. Here Matrix still leads the way at 15.6 (injury rates are generally higher for away teams than home teams) Maybe Dallas's roster or trainers were having a positive impact. A-Turf looks worse than it did before for visiting teams (21.0 per 1,000 AEs), suggesting Buffalo's training staff also isn't to blame. It’s no wonder the Bills can’t be respected in the NFL. It’s a half-ass operation with Erie County buying dirt cheap field turf from a local supplier while the Pegula’s spend $18mil on equipment & a training center to repair players from that turf. This is Twilight Zone stuff!

** SEE REVISED ORIGINAL POST WITH THE ANSWER** Thank you for your responses!

I think they've always gone for a very tough, low cost, hard surface turf that would last for years in our harsh weather. I can't believe they actually factored in player acceptance. The turf installed in 2011 was new to the NFL market from a local manufacturer maybe looking for his 1st major customer? Cheap? I don't know. Erie County is actually buying the turf this year under a $3 mil budget which includes paint and minor concrete repair work.

The current A-Turf was installed in 2011 - 8 years ago. So, yes 3 different artificial turfs in 10 years!

Does anyone know what brand of turf is going down on the field? ** I just found out the answer to my own question. From the A-Turf website: A-Turf Plays 2 Roles In Buffalo Bills Extreme Makeover Posted April 18, 2019 "A-Turf will be completing the turf playing surface replacement at New Era Field just in time for the NFL season. In the meantime, Terry & Kim Pegula (team owners) and Bills players are celebrating the opening of a brand-new, world-class, 41,000 s.f. Sports Performance Center. It seamlessly links the club’s athletic training, strength and conditioning, and sports science departments. A-Turf installed a turf area for warm-up, post-workout, and flexibility work." Our current turf, A-Turf Titan, was manufactured locally and it was rated #29 in the League by Sports Illustrated as to player acceptance. Arizona was #1 with Tifway #419 Bermuda grass. Many NFL stadiums use Bermuda grass but in Arizona the entire playing surface is retractable in a giant tray and is rolled and maintained outside the stadium. It's only used for NFL games. A-Turf is NOT used in any other NFL stadiums but is the turf at UB Stadium, St. Bonaventure and Niagara Falls HS. It is headquartered in Williamsville NY and the owner is a long-time Bills season ticket holder. The A-Turf Titan features rubber pellet infills as part of the artificial surface. Twelve (12) teams in the NFL will use artificial turf in 2019 with the Rams & Chargers coming on board in 2020.

The Bills play 7 of their 1st 8 games in New York State. Short trips and more preparation time! I realize NYC is different that Buffalo but it still has the same Governor !!!

Everyone seems to ignore this need. No sense chronicling the age of our current backs or the reality of ham string pulls, sprained ankles or the rest. We need a young back with break-away speed to change the pace. WHO after Round #3 ?

He had just 7 penalties in 48 games played with Oakland. That's encouraging!

I am NOT SAYING the AAF will replace the NFL in the event of a strike. IF the strike is prolonged then it could be a possibility!! Some things make sense in altering the Collective Bargaining Agreement: 1) No kick-Offs 2) Only 2 Point Conversions 3) No time-outs for commercials 4) Split Screen Commercials 5) Quick Video Reviews - - and KEEP THE PAYROLLS UNDER CONTROL! Push it on the Union!!!

You're misunderstanding me. The AAF IS the NFL. The current NFL players get paid millions only because the Players Assoc. promotes them to be "stars". The AAF is the NFL - - - look into it! Why would the games be on the NFL Network?

The NFLPA is already telling players to "save money" in preparation for a 2021 strike. TV ratings are down. Super Bowl ratings are down. Fans seem to be more interested in Free agency and the Draft than the 16 games over a Sunday, Monday & Thursday. Games are getting boring. Players salaries are going up. Commercial rates are going up. When will this lovely little bubble burst? It's just entertainment - that's it. AND - that's where the AAF comes in. IF there is a strike what better group to take over the TV dead space? NFL head coaches, NFL Management and the NFL Network already showing the games. Why do the players have to be mega-millionaires to play professional football? There are so many great athletes that just don't get a shot. What do you think ???

So why were we playing pick-up scrubs from other teams at Corner-Back in the Super Bowls like Mickey Washington and Kirby Jackson above our draft picks??? These guys were beyond awful. The Giants, Redskins and Cowboys had their way with them. Add in Kelso playing deep center field and being unable to tackle anybody and Dwight Drane in Super Bowl #2 for the Bills and our Defensive Backfield was very, very bad!!!!

The Bills tried and tried to draft a true starting corner back to play across from Nate Odomes during their Super Bowl run. Nate was their 2nd Round pick in 1987 and the failure to find a strong CB for the other side hurt them for the next 7 years. Nate had 26 interceptions, made 360 tackles and was voted to 2 Pro-Bowls in his 108 games with Buffalo. Who can forget the '92 overtime interception vs. the Oilers in overtime? From then on - - - '88 Ezekial Gadson #5 - - CUT '89 Michael Andrews #5 - - CUT Chris Hale - #7 43 games with Bills as Punt Returner '90 James Williams #1 - - BUST!! He was always around a receiver but could never make a play! '91 Henry Jones #1 - - a SS - 10 years with the Bills - - BUT - not CB. He should have played in our Super Bowl vs. the Redskins when Leonard Smith was out with a career ending injury. But, Marv was mad at him for coming into camp late due to a contract dispute and the terrible Dwight Drane got the start and was cut 2 weeks later. '92 Matt Darby #5 Just 55 games with the Bills Kurt Schulz #7 8 seasons with the Bills at Free Safety - 21 interceptions. A favorite of Chris Berman! '93 Thomas Smith #1 CB BUST Couldn't make the big plays. Just 6 interceptions in 110 games with the Bills. '94 Jeff Burris #1 CB BUST He played 4 years with the Bills and 6 with the Colts & Bengals. He was a good tackler - - after the catch!! OH for a very good Corner-back during those glorious years!!

He played 99 games for the Bills including the 4 year Super Bowl Run. From 1987 through 1989 he had 19 interceptions and a total of 30 in his 8 year career with the Bills. He never made a Pro-Bowl Team, had no Super-Bowl interceptions and was ridiculed for wearing his "pro-cap", bubble helmet. He played the Free Safety position conservatively as Marv and Defensive Co-Coordinator swizzle stick Walt Corey designed it.

Oh that Hank Bullough - parts of 1985 and 1986. Everyone knew the minute he was promoted from DC to replace poor Kay Stephenson that he WAS NOT the man. In one of his post game press conferences he stated while explaining his process of improving the team "if we stick with it, the L's and W's will come".

We've been through so many HC's in recent history it's hard to single out ONE GAME when you realized this man wasn't going to get the Bills to the Play-Offs or even a winning record. I know coaches get fired based on a "body of work" but sometimes a single game stands out. In 2016 Rex Ryan was just in his 2nd season as HC. He was coming off an OK 8-8 record the previous year. On October 23rd 2017 we went in to play Miami with a 4-2 record. Miami was 2-4 and struggling. It seemed very possible we could win 5 of our last 10 games and fight for a play-off spot. OUCH! For the 1st time I realized how bad this team was coached. Miami rushed for 256 yards and controlled the ball for 37 minutes. Tyrod had a "good" passing day throwing for 221 yards. We weren't competitive. Blocking, tackling, preparation and execution. Rex had to go and we knew it! Any other games like this you remember???

That fumble basically ended the Check Knox era in Buffalo.

Agree about Woods! He was always a steady #2 receiver who had to play 2nd fiddle to the 'name' stars. I am so glad everyone in the NFL is seeing his skill & value!

I loved Kenny - he had a great stride! I agree about his status behind Thurman!

My vote is for Steve Tasker. When he came from Houston he was a KR/WR and ST's player. He became one of the greatest Special Team Players in the history of the NFL. BUT, should he been more involved as a wide receiver?? Kelley always said he was the best receiver as to route running, quick cuts and catching the ball in practice. He personally requested to the staff that Steve get naps at WR. Until 1995 he didn't have more than 2 receptions per year in his career. In 1996 at the age of 34 he had 21 catches for an 17.7 yard average as the Bills Super Bowl teams of the past faded. I can't believe he couldn't have helped in the Super Bowls when Kelly was blitzed constantly and he needed a WR as a go-to-man for quick, precise patterns. He would have been our Hogan or Edelman. Thurman was covered like a blanket and couldn't be that man. Any other Bills on your mind that could have done more for the team ?

The conservative style of Marv Levy hurt the team in the Super Bowls. They needed a clutch, quick route receiver and Steve Tasker was the guy. They didn't let him play WR until late in his career. He was our Edelman or Hogan then - or should have been.