PITTSBURGH -- Chopper 11 captured the Steelers grounds crew doing the divot dance Wednesday, actually jumping up and down on a soggy and chunky Heinz Field. The crew was attempting to patch in the holes left by Monday night's "Mud Bowl" against Miami.

Steelers' owner Dan Rooney said he promises Heinz Field will be in good shape by Sunday.

Once again the Steelers are being thrust into the national spotlight for Sunday night's home matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. Everyone's asking if the new sod be ready for prime time.

"We’re doing everything that is possible to do. Have total confidence in our ground crew," said Dan Rooney.

A team of workers including an NFL official, still in town from Monday’s game, is preparing the field, raking it, rolling it and drying it out.

The new sod that was just installed last Sunday after WPIAL games Friday and a University of Pittsburgh game Saturday tore up the old grass, took a beating from the torrential rains Monday.

Game time saw the worst of conditions. It was the first time that sod was actually placed over an existing field, instead of ripping out the original grass and then putting the sod down.

Dan Rooney defended the move, which cost the team about $150,000, and he blamed the rain for having his good intentions backfire.

"It was a situation that was impossible to do anything about. We went to the expense so that it would look good,” said Dan Rooney.

The Steelers' Art Rooney II said the team talked with the NFL before laying the new sod.

Art Rooney II said, "Our grounds crew did the best it could under the circumstances. We were faced with about the worst possible weather conditions and we acknowledge that it did have an impact on the playing surface."

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said he's not going to dwell on an element he can't control.

"You don't complain about conditions, you try to win football games. I trust in my grounds crew. I am going to let those guys do their job and I'm going to coach football,” Tomlin said.

Published reports said the team will keep the field for the rest of the season, but team officials are considering artificial turf after the season.

Channel 11’s Alby Oxenreiter learned that the Steelers took a trip to West Virginia University earlier in the season to look at the new playing turf there.

The purists love a natural grass surface, but as Pittsburgh found out Monday night, real grass has its disadvantages, especially with the number of games being played at Heinz Field. But down at WVU, the Steelers might have the model for their field of the future. It's the newest generation of field turf, called duraspine. It's brand new this season and it was installed at West Virginia's stadium for less than $1 million.

After a season on the new surface, the people at WVU can't say enough good things about it. There's also a theory that artificial surfaces are an invitation for serious knee injuries. Mike Kerin, the director of football operations at West Virginia, said that they believe this new brand of field turf is actually safer than grass.

WPXI will have a special Countdown to Kickoff Sunday at 6 p.m. on Channel 11. That's followed by Football Night in America, kickoff at 8:15 p.m. and the Black and Gold Zone immediately afterward.