Dallas Cowboys forced to close AT&T Stadium roof after sheet metal falls on field

The Dallas Cowboys (3-6) appeared set to play a game inside AT&T Stadium with the roof open for the first time in over two years for the Week 12 Monday Night Football contest against the Houston Texans (6-4).

Those plans are now on hold. As the Cowboys were opening the retractable roof ahead of kickoff, a piece of sheet metal and some debris fell from the roof and onto the field, according to Sam Gannon of FOX KDFW. The piece of sheet metal did not hit anybody.

“It is being reviewed further and a decision regarding the ability to re-open the roof safely will be made when possible,” the Cowboys said in a statement.

A large piece of what appears to be sheet metal fell from the top of AT&T Stadium’s roof.

Thankfully, it didn’t hit anyone. #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/Cxw8uqbRHV

— Sam Gannon (@SamGannon87) November 18, 2024

A photo taken by Bobby Belt of 105.3 The Fan shows an additional piece of sheet metal still stuck in the catwalk at AT&T Stadium.

Falling debris changes Monday Night Football plans for Cowboys

Lisa Salters of ESPN gave a firsthand account of what happened during an appearance on “Monday Night Countdown.”

“A piece of debris started falling from the sky,” Salters said. “They were opening the roof here and you could see just big chunks of what looked like dust, paper, plastic. And then all of a sudden this [piece of sheet metal] came down out of the sky. A big piece of metal just kind of floated down and fell onto the field. Again, this happened when they started opening the roof here. I asked the Cowboys PR staff, ‘What’s going on,’ and was told a piece of metal came loose and fell to the field with some additional small debris while the roof was in the process of being opened. There were no injuries fortunately.

“The situation is being reviewed right now to see about making a decision about whether or not they can re-open the roof for the game tonight. You know they like to have that roof opened when weather permits, and it is a nice evening here. But right now, they’re trying to assess whether or not it is safe to actually open the roof because of the debris that was falling when they opened it earlier.”

AT&T Stadium is one of five NFL stadiums with a retractable roof. The last time it was open for a Cowboys game was Oct. 30, 2022, a day game against the Chicago Bears (4-6). Dallas is 12-11 in its 16 years at AT&T Stadium when the roof and doors are open. They are 50-32 when the building is completely closed.