The Dallas Cowboys had a boatload of issues plague them in their blowout loss on Sunday to the Philadelphia Eagles. But one of them would have been completely avoidable if the layout of AT&T Stadium was a bit different.
Countless opponents have had fits playing in AT&T Stadium over the years due to the substantial glare that can come into play during games.
Both teams had their battles with the sun on Sunday. But it was the Cowboys that actually had a scoring chance seemingly thwarted due to the sun’s impact.
Trailing 7-3 in the second quarter, Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush saw a wide-open CeeDee Lamb in the endzone. But due to the sun, Lamb couldn’t track the ball, not even putting his hands out for the ball that otherwise would have been very catchable.
Jerry Jones building a stadium that blinds his own players & causes losses is so on brand pic.twitter.com/Nb9VK3FbEQ
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) November 10, 2024
The Cowboys would settle for a field goal on the drive, which would actually be the final points scored in the entire game by the Cowboys. The Eagles would score 27 unanswered points, cruising to a 34-6 victory.
Obviously, there were far more problems for the Cowboys than just the sun. But it was nonetheless a talking point after the game.
When asked by reporters, Lamb emphatically made it clear that he would “100%” be in favor of curtains being installed to get rid of the sun glare in the stadium.
CeeDee Lamb says he couldn’t see the ball, on Cooper Rush’s throw into the endzone.
Q: Are you in favor of curtains?
“Yes. 100%”
Q: Will you tell Jerry that?
“I mean, y’all are doing my job for me right now.”
— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) November 11, 2024
Without even being asked about the sun, Jones brought up the topic by arguing that both teams know which direction the sun is coming from and should plan according.
“By the way, we know where the sun is going to be when we decide to flip the coin or not,” said Jones.
Jones was then asked why he wouldn’t just mitigate the impact by installing curtains, which he replied to by sarcastically asking if he should “tear the damn stadium down and build another one”.
“Well let’s tear the damn stadium down and build another one? Are you kidding me? Everybody has got the same thing,” said Jones. “Every team that comes in here has the same issues. I’m saying, the world knows where the sun is. You get to know that almost a year in advance. Someone asked me about the sun. What about the sun? Where’s the moon?”
A frustrated Jerry Jones had some comments about the sun impacting play at AT&T Stadium: “By the way, we know where the sun is going to be when we decide to flip the coin or not. We do know where the damn sun is going to be in our own stadium.”
Why not put up curtains over the… pic.twitter.com/28skNrZYBq
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 11, 2024
Again, this is not a new problem with AT&T Stadium. For years now, both Cowboys fans and opposing fans have been calling for some renovations to be done to fix this problem.
Now that the team has been criticized relentlessly by fans and media members alike for their struggles this season, this again shows an angle of Jerry Jones not listening to the complaints of the fanbase.
It sure seems like it would be best for the entire league, not just Cowboys players, for curtains to be installed to block out the sun and prevent this problem in the future. But as long as Jones is the owner of the Cowboys, it seems like the organization will be stuck in his ways.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.