It’s pretty entertaining how the story about the sun coming through the AT&T Stadium windows on Sunday was still going strong two days later. It wasn’t close to being the difference in the Cowboys’ most recent blowout home loss. But Jerry Jones is a major reason so many are interested and still talking about it.
The Cowboys owner and general manager is so dug in on the topic that you can be certain, it’s never changing as long as he’s around.
“Of all the things that we need to improve, that is way down the list of improvement,” Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “That stadium was built to feel like you’re outdoors.”
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He continued by saying that every stadium has things that make it unique and create advantages for the home team. He believes the windows do that for the Cowboys.
“It has been an advantage for us to know where the sun is,” he added. “I don’t want to change that.”
It obviously didn’t bother the Cowboys when they were winning 16 consecutive home games, but when the season is a complete disaster, everything becomes the reason. Like tours at the team’s headquarters.
The sunlight impacting the play on the field wasn’t even the worst contribution from the Cowboys’ home venue on Sunday. No, that was the big screen misspelling the name of the only person with a statue in front of the building.
Which bothered you more yesterday? pic.twitter.com/ONqUv31bVS
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 12, 2024
Speaking of Jerry
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones was asked Monday on The Fan what kind of repercussions he and Jerry Jones face when the team isn’t playing well.
“I just think we have to look at how we get better,” Stephen Jones responded. “And that’s what we’ll continue to do. We’ve had a good run where we won 12 games (in three consecutive seasons). I think only Kansas City did a better job. But at the same time, we didn’t have the success in the postseason that we wanted.
“And then, of course, to have this situation happen is certainly disappointing. It’s disappointing for anybody who follows the Cowboys, who thinks about the Cowboys as their team. They deserve better than that, and we’ll continue to look for ways to improve upon that.”
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When coaches don’t win enough games or players don’t play well, they eventually lose their jobs. That’s not going to happen to the team’s owner or other family members in key front-office positions. If you were in a similar circumstance, you wouldn’t be firing yourself either. You might hire a general manager from outside of the organization, but you’re not firing yourself. You’re also probably not going to say on a radio interview: “Deal with it. I’m not going anywhere.”
‘I love it where I am’
On Tuesday, former Cowboys teammates and Pro Football Hall of Famers Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders had a conversation on FS1’s “Speak” when Irvin attempted to get Sanders — the second-year coach of the Colorado Buffaloes — to comment about the possibility of coaching the Cowboys.
Deion quickly deflected, said “Don’t start that, don’t start that” and picked up his laptop and showed viewers the picturesque Folsom Field in the background.
“I love it where I am,” Deion proclaimed repeatedly. See it for yourself.
.@michaelirvin88 asked @DeionSanders about coaching the Cowboys… Watch until the end to see Prime’s response 😂 pic.twitter.com/wonYbtDR4H
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) November 13, 2024
By the numbers
Minus-19: That’s the turnover differential the Cowboys are on pace for this season. They’re currently at minus-10, which is third-worst in the league. The Cowboys have turned the ball over 18 times on offense and only taken it away eight times on defense. Both numbers are bad, but the offensive turnovers are worse. Dallas has been very good at taking care of the ball and forcing turnovers over the previous three seasons. The Cowboys were plus-10 in 2023, plus-10 in 2022 and plus-14 in 2021, which led the NFL. This season is on track to being their worst since 2015 when they finished minus-22. That was the year Tony Romo missed 12 games because of injury and Dallas finished 4-12. Saad wrote about the turnover margin issues this morning.
86: This week’s game will be the Cowboys’ 86th regular-season appearance on “Monday Night Football”. Only the Miami Dolphins (89) have appeared on “Monday Night Football” more. Dallas holds a 50-35 record in Monday night games. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most wins with 54. The San Francisco 49ers are second with 52.
35.1: Yards per kickoff return for KaVontae Turpin this season, tops in the NFL among players with at least six returns. Turpin is on pace to set the Cowboys’ single-season franchise record. Dwayne Harris holds that record with 30.6 yards-per-kickoff return in 2013.
(Photo: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
