The Dallas Cowboys suffered a 34-6 blowout loss at home against the Eagles last week, so a missed touchdown pass shouldn’t matter much for them. However, since CeeDee Lamb pointed to his eyes after what could have been a go-ahead score — clarifying later that he couldn’t see because of the sun’s glare — it has become a much-discussed topic.
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Now, many are criticizing the owner for the flawed stadium design, others are blaming the wide receiver for playing the blame game, and some are even calling the missed catch the turning point of the game. It turns out, though, that this whole discourse could have been avoided if CeeDee’s tight end teammate hadn’t messed up.
During his appearance on ‘Blogging the Boys,’ tight end Jake Ferguson admitted that his back was turned toward the sun, and he had a good opportunity to catch the ball. He wished he had done so, but things somehow fell apart.
When QB Cooper Rush was scrambling out of the pocket, Ferguson stopped — his first mistake. He believes he should have been running toward the end zone, drawing the two defenders behind him. But he stopped.
When he saw that Cooper was executing a scramble drill, Ferguson knew the ball was going to be thrown, and that’s exactly what happened. However, he failed to catch it, leaving CeeDee Lamb as the sole scapegoat for the missed TD.
“In my eyes, I should have caught that ball… You see the play, I’m running to the right, Cooper’s rolling out. I stop. I should keep running and pulling those two defenders to the front pylon. I need to keep running that’s my job. I don’t I stop.”
“I turn around, and I’m like, ‘Oh scramble drill. Coop’s gonna throw it’ He threw it, I kinda saw it, I should have caught it, I should have. The sun wasn’t in my eyes,” he continued.
It’s quite heartening that Ferguson is taking the blame for the missed opportunity, which wouldn’t have mattered much, especially with how the Eagles played. But it’s the accountability for mistakes that matters, and learning from them. Not much can be said about owner Jerry Jones, though.
There’s nothing wrong with my stadium, Jerry Jones says
Following CeeDee Lamb’s remarks about the sun glare and the online discourse that followed, Jones seemed quite frustrated with what was being put out there. In a post-game presser, as per John Machota, the Cowboys GM asserted that the team knows where the sun would be when they flip the coin.
“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.”
When asked if he would consider curtains, something used at concerts and other shows held at AT&T Stadium, Jones appeared even more infuriated.
“Well let’s tear the damn stadium down and build another one? Are you kidding me? Everybody has got the same thing. Every team that comes in here has the same issues.”
The Cowboys will once again host a team next week — the high-flying Houston Texas. It will be interesting to see if the sun becomes a problem again for the players. However, as Jones says, it’s not a problem.
