What happened to AT&T Stadium's roof? Cowboys close roof after metal piece falls ahead of 'Monday Night Football'

Parts of AT&T Stadium's roof opted to take inspiration from famed American indie rock band Crumb on Monday night.

"Fall down, take a prayer."

The Cowboys have endured a season chocked full of potholes thus far. Monday night represented a new season low for the franchise.

Dallas and its eccentric owner, Jerry Jones, hoped to open up the colosseum's roof ahead of its "Monday Night Football" clash with the Texans, but, those aims were swiftly dashed after chunks of metal rained from the sky.

Here's what you need to know.

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What happened to AT&T Stadium's roof?

On Monday, Dallas announced its intention to unveil its roofless top to the masses.

For the first time in over two years, they’re opening the roof at AT&T Stadium for a Dallas Cowboys game pic.twitter.com/bnFcOJGIcw

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 18, 2024

It seemed as good a time as ever to make the switch. The Cowboys are floundering, posting a 3-6 record through their first nine games. They're also without their starting quarterback; Dak Prescott will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair his hamstring. Perhaps a change, even one as innocuous as dropping the top on the stadium's retractable sunroof, could spring life into a weary fanbase.

Then again, it's Dallas. The snakebitten franchise couldn't help but stumble over itself in primetime. Shortly after opening up its skies, the organization recanted.

And now they are closing the AT&T Stadium roof pic.twitter.com/Xt9qYrMpxt

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 18, 2024

The reason why? A large piece of metal fell from the roof as the roof was being primed to be retracted. 

Here is the piece of large metal that fell from the @ATTStadium retractable roof as it opened @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/ZYE4G4Dxa6

— Noah Bullard (@noah_bullard) November 18, 2024

The Athletic's Jon Machota reported that a piece of metal was made loose when the roof began to be retracted. It eventually fell to the ground. Another piece metal came losse and needed to be bolted down before the NFL would allow the MNF game to kick off. No injuries were reported, but the decision was made to keep the roof closed out of precaution.

A stadium worker was seen surveying the top of AT&T Stadium's roof to collect debris prior to Monday night's game.

AT&T Stadium worker gathering other pieces of debris from the roof while players are warming up pic.twitter.com/TzV0E6kc9E

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 18, 2024

ESPN's Ryan Clark provided an apt response to news of the roof's instability on "Monday Night Countdown."

"The bottom done already fell out in Dallas," Clark said. "The top might as well."