Sturm: Cowboys Have A True Home Field Disadvantage

Cotton

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Sturm: Cowboys Have A True Home Field Disadvantage

By Bob Sturm , Special contributor

The Cowboys have a real problem in their path to becoming a better team and a more legitimate contender in the NFC. Well, they actually have several problems, but I believe this is the elephant that just sits in the room and nobody ever acknowledges.

This problem goes back to 2009 when it opened its doors. It is this stadium. The thing that visiting announcers declare to be the finest building that ever housed a football game.

That could very well be true. AT&T Stadium could be easy and enticing to visit, comfortable and convenient and all of those things. It has artwork, for crying out loud. What else could you ever want?

The problem is pretty obvious, really. The problem is that they are trying to be a contender in this league without a home-field advantage. Could you imagine what Seattle or Green Bay would be like if they did not reap the benefits of their home fields? Both are significantly better teams at home. I submit that is what we are looking at here with the Cowboys in their new (not so new, anymore) stadium.

Of course, you are no-doubt thinking that I write this today because of that little issue of the bright setting-sun blinding the Cowboys receivers at least two or three times late in the game in the season opener against the Giants. Oh, there is so much more evidence than that.

The Cowboys have now played 57 games at home and 57 games on the road since 2009 and are significantly better on the road (54% winning percentage) than they are at home (47%). In fact, the Cowboys have one of the better winning percentages of any team in the NFL on the road during that stretch. They trail only New England, Green Bay, Denver, and New Orleans during that period. Those are all teams that have won Super Bowls in the last eight years (one of them in this very building). There is almost nothing wrong with the Cowboys ability to win away from Arlington.

The real problem exists at home. Here is the entire list of teams that have lost more home games than the Dallas Cowboys since this new stadium opened: Cleveland, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Miami, Oakland, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, and Washington. Those teams have made the playoffs twice in that entire stretch - both Washington.

In other words, they play like a heavyweight on the road and a powder-puff at home. Which, frankly, makes no sense.

Oh, there are theories that the stadium hypnotizes the fans into a state of quietness with the amazing big-screen HD TV or that the prices mean the fans that actually could impact the noise level are too high in those cheaper seats and therefore the affluent crowd down below offer no advantage at all. One of my beliefs is that the team is coached far more conservatively at home with decision-making and aggressiveness. I think I could present a case that they actually attack more on the road than they do in front of their faithful.

But, regardless of why, this must get sorted out quickly. You could try curtains, but you also might try tactical adjustments that attempt to turn this from a neutral field into a true advantageous home.

What does it profit a football team to have the most beautiful stadium in the league, but to have one of the worst home field advantages inside it? Only three teams in the league have more road wins than home wins since 2009, and nobody has a bigger discrepancy in their form than the Cowboys.

Maybe the real solution is to ask the good voters of Arlington to build a better version with more home-field considerations in a few years.
 

dallen

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:lol This is funny. He seems to actually think Jerry makes business decisions based on whether or not it will help his football team compete.
 

Cowboysrock55

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It is pretty sad when your team plays better on the road then at home though. Good that we play well on the road but bad that we seem to do so poorly at home.
 

Cotton

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Texas Ace

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Maybe the real solution is to ask the good voters of Arlington to build a better version with more home-field considerations in a few years.
There is zero chance of that happening.

After costing 1 billion to build, coupled with how fancy and upscale everything is, there isn't a city in their right mind who would even consider building another venue for at least 30 years.

The problem with the stadium is that it wasn't built for the Cowboys, it was built by Jerry for Jerry.
 

Rev

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There is zero chance of that happening.

After costing 1 billion to build, coupled with how fancy and upscale everything is, there isn't a city in their right mind who would even consider building another venue for at least 30 years.

The problem with the stadium is that it wasn't built for the Cowboys, it was built by Jerry for Jerry.
The voters in Arlington are voting on a new Ranger stadium and the one they have now is 20 years old.

I would hate to be the one to ask them to vote on another.
 

Texas Ace

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The voters in Arlington are voting on a new Ranger stadium and the one they have now is 20 years old.

I would hate to be the one to ask them to vote on another.
Even less of a reason to give the Cowboys a new stadium anytime soon.

Besides, I don't think Jerry has any issues with the stadium at all. Even Stephen Jones may simply ask for renovations in 15-20 years as opposed to a new stadium because I think all of the Jones' kinda see this thing as a crowning achievement for the family.

Unlike Texas Stadium that was already there, they made this stadium happen. It's like a family heirloom.
 

Genghis Khan

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One advantage we had at Texas Stadium was the crown. I don't know how big of an advantage it was, but I remember some opposing QBs struggled adjusting to it (Favre, for one).

I wonder if we could add a crown now and if it would make any difference.
 

L.T. Fan

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It's not the stadium. The field has a 100 yard field with two 10 yard end zones a two goalposts on each end. If anything it may be pampered player facilities and accommodations. It needs to be a little more Spartan for them.
 

Cowboysrock55

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:lol This is funny. He seems to actually think Jerry makes business decisions based on whether or not it will help his football team compete.
No but winning is good for business. I can't imagine that winning doesn't help Jerry with his job a little bit.
 

Joe Fan

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One advantage we had at Texas Stadium was the crown. I don't know how big of an advantage it was, but I remember some opposing QBs struggled adjusting to it (Favre, for one).

I wonder if we could add a crown now and if it would make any difference.
We have a roof that retracts FFS. Our stupid ass owner just won't open it up. For some idiotic reason we've become a dome team.
 

Texas Ace

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No but winning is good for business. I can't imagine that winning doesn't help Jerry with his job a little bit.
But winning is no longer needed for good business anymore.

This is Jerry's stadium, and I'm sure he's more than making up for that lost money in all the college games, concerts, and mega boxing fights that the stadium hosts now.

As others have said already, Jerry doesn't have the same motivation to win anymore because the Cowboys are not his baby any longer -- the stadium is.
 

Cotton

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We have a roof that retracts FFS. Our stupid ass owner just won't open it up. For some idiotic reason we've become a dome team.
It's more comfy for the rick folk.
 

L.T. Fan

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We have a roof that retracts FFS. Our stupid ass owner just won't open it up. For some idiotic reason we've become a dome team.
The potential weather effect to the electronics in the big screen is one reason the top is closed most of the time. Temperature variations also is a consideration for the electronics.
 

Cotton

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The potential weather effect to the electronics in the big screen is one reason the top is closed most of the time. Temperature variations also is a consideration for the electronics.
Then what's the point of having one that retracts?
 

jsmith6919

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The potential weather effect to the electronics in the big screen is one reason the top is closed most of the time. Temperature variations also is a consideration for the electronics.
There are open stadiums with video screens so there has to be a way for them to work
 

Cowboysrock55

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But winning is no longer needed for good business anymore.

This is Jerry's stadium, and I'm sure he's more than making up for that lost money in all the college games, concerts, and mega boxing fights that the stadium hosts now.

As others have said already, Jerry doesn't have the same motivation to win anymore because the Cowboys are not his baby any longer -- the stadium is.
No but you can have college games, concerts and mega boxing fights while also making a stadium that is conducive to winning so that you can make even more money. But I agree with you, I don't think helping the Cowboys win football games was really on his mind when building the stadium. All he cared about was building a grand structure that people would marvel and at remember him for.
 

L.T. Fan

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There are open stadiums with video screens so there has to be a way for them to work
Not sure I can cover all the stadium big screens but most are housed in a permanent construction that can be weatherproofed. They are accessed by entry doors. The big screen in Att stadium isn't constructed that way. It is suspended and isn't in a sealed or weather proofed structure. Crews access them by ladders and catwalks. But this is just an idea.
 
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