ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Here comes the sun again at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
George Pickens was open but the Cowboys receiver never saw the pass thrown his way by Dak Prescott early in the second quarter of their 31-28 win over Kansas City on Thanksgiving Day.
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Light streams through a window and onto the field inside AT&T Stadium during the first half of an NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Light streams through a window and onto the field inside AT&T Stadium during the first half of an NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) reacts after being brought down by Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Charles Omenihu (90) during the first half of an NFL football game Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is sacked by Dallas Cowboys defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, right, as Chiefs center Creed Humphrey (52) watches during the first half of an NFL football game Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
The ball landed a few feet in front of Pickens inside the 20-yard line, and the receiver threw out his hands indicating he never saw it, then shaded his eyes when looking back to the west end of the stadium — and directly into the sun.
“He already knew it. Welcome to Dallas, bro,” said fellow receiver CeeDee Lamb, who had a similar play just more than a year ago.
“It definitely did. Some of the guys told me, too. That was my first time having that,” Pickens said. “Just coming on the crossing route, the sun was beating in my eyes, so I couldn’t see. But made up for it.”
Pickens caught six passes for 88 yards and Lamb, just four days after being hampered by some drops in a comeback win over Philadelphia, had seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes later in the second quarter was looking downfield into the bright rays after scrambling to his right from the shade to a wide sliver of shining sun. Rashee Rice appeared open in the middle of the field before the quarterback was sacked from behind by Jadeveon Clowney for a 7-yard loss, though Mahomes downplayed any issue with the sun.
“It's just when you play some games. ... I played baseball growing up, the sun's part of it,” Mahomes said. “Just got to find those guys whenever you're scrambling, and make those throws.”
Still, this was not the first time play has been impacted by the sun shining through the huge glass doors at the west end of AT&T Stadium.
The stadium has an unusual east-west alignment from end zone to end zone, as opposed to most venues being north-south. So on clear days, such as Thursday, the sun shines through the west-end windows during portions of games that kick off later in the afternoon.
In a 34-6 loss to Philadelphia last November, Pro Bowl receiver Lamb lost a ball in the sun on an incompletion that helped keep Dallas from scoring a go-ahead touchdown in the first half. Lamb was open on a crossing route in the end zone when a throw from Cooper Rush went behind him and he never adjusted to the ball.
In a 23-17 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers in January 2022, a pass whizzed by the head of open Dallas receiver Cedrick Wilson, who apparently never saw the ball looking back into the sun.
Cowboys billionaire owner Jerry Jones has flatly rejected numerous suggestions that the team should put up curtains at that end of the $1.2 billion stadium during games, even though they are used for some concerts and other events.
When asked after last year's loss to the Eagles if curtains should be put up, Lamb responded, “Yes. One thousand percent.”
Pickens agreed Thursday.
“Yeah, I mean, definitely. But that’s up to Jerry. But definitely curtains would help,” Pickens said. “I really couldn’t see the ball. It was the sun. Like I said, I always bounce back. Kind of like CeeDee bounced back from last week to this week. All you can do is just one foot forward, keep getting better.”
Prescott’s pass on first down intended for Pickens, right after a 10-yard pass to convert fourth-and-4, was potentially a four-point swing. Instead of moving closer to maybe a touchdown, the Cowboys settled for Brandon Aubrey’s 49-yard field goal to get within 14-10.
Kansas City won the opening coin toss, and when Dallas elected to receive, the Chiefs opted to defend the west end zone — the one going into the sun.
There were no issues after halftime because the sun was setting by then.
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Light streams through a window and onto the field inside AT&T Stadium during the first half of an NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Light streams through a window and onto the field inside AT&T Stadium during the first half of an NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) reacts after being brought down by Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Charles Omenihu (90) during the first half of an NFL football game Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is sacked by Dallas Cowboys defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, right, as Chiefs center Creed Humphrey (52) watches during the first half of an NFL football game Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin emphasized Friday that Moscow’s troops were advancing across the battlefield in Ukraine and voiced confidence the Kremlin would achieve its goals militarily if Kyiv doesn't agree to Russia's conditions in peace talks.
Speaking at his tightly orchestrated annual news conference that lasted about 4 1/2 hours, Putin declared that Russian forces have “fully seized strategic initiative” and would make more gains by year's end.
In the early days of the conflict in 2022, Ukraine's forces thwarted an attempt by Russia’s larger, better-equipped army, to capture the capital of Kyiv. But the fighting soon settled into grinding battles, and Moscow's troops have made slow and steady progress over the years. Putin frequently touts this progress — even though it's not the lightning advance many expected.
“Our troops are advancing all across the line of contact, faster in some areas or slower in some others, but the enemy is retreating in all sectors,” Putin said at the live news conference, which is combined with a nationwide call-in show that offers Russians across the country the opportunity to ask questions of their leader.
Putin, 73, has ruled the country for 25 years and uses the event to cement his power and air his views on domestic and global affairs.
This year, the news conference took place against the backdrop of a peace plan in Ukraine put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump. Despite the extensive diplomatic push, Washington’s efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
While the event has previously focused heavily on domestic questions — and has offered Putin a chance to expound on topics from the price of eggs to water cuts — Ukraine dominated it this year. Since it is highly choreographed, that could reflect the Kremlin’s desire to assuage the public after nearly four years of fighting.
Putin reaffirmed that Moscow was ready for a peaceful settlement that would address the “root causes” of the conflict, a reference to the Kremlin’s tough conditions for a deal.
The Russian leader wants all the areas in four key regions captured by his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory. He has also insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces haven’t captured yet. Kyiv has publicly rejected all these demands.
The Kremlin has also insisted that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO and warned that it wouldn't accept the deployment of any troops from members of the military alliance members and would view them as “legitimate target.”
Putin also has repeatedly said Ukraine must limit the size of its army and give official status to the Russian language — demands he has made from the outset of the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed readiness to drop Ukraine’s bid to join NATO if the U.S. and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to alliance members. But at the same time, he has emphasized that Ukraine believes NATO membership remains the best security guarantee.
″The United States don’t see us in NATO, for now," Zelenskyy said this week. “Politicians change.”
Commenting on Zelenskyy's statement that he was ready to call a presidential election if a ceasefire is established, Putin responded that Russia has held elections without demanding a truce. He said that Moscow was ready to consider the issue and could agree to halt attacks deep inside Ukraine on the election day, but noted that millions of Ukrainians living in Russia must have the right to vote.
Putin rebuffed Western claims about purported Russian plans to attack European nations as “sheer nonsense” aimed at deflecting public attention from domestic problems.
He particularly singled out NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte for his statements about the Kremlin's aggressive intentions, pointing out Trump's recently published national security strategy that doesn’t name Russia as a direct adversary. “How can you prepare NATO for a war with Russia if the main member of NATO doesn't consider us as an enemy?” Putin said.
He alleged that European elites “impudently” backed Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election and now hope the U.S. political landscape will change after the midterm elections to Congress, helping raise pressure on the White House.
As it faces grinding Russian advances across the front line and relentless attacks on its energy facilities, Ukraine is on the verge of bankruptcy — and it desperately needs more cash from its Western allies.
On Friday, European Union leaders agreed to provide a massive interest-free loan, but they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds.
The leaders tried to reassure Belgium, where most of the frozen assets are held, that they would protect it from any retaliation from Moscow if it backed the plan, but the leaders eventually opted to borrow the money on capital markets.
Putin said using Russian assets to help Kyiv would have amounted to “robbery,” adding that the move would have spooked investors, “dealing not only an image blow but undermining confidence in the eurozone.”
Putin told the audience the flow of volunteer soldiers has remained strong, topping 400,000 this year. It was not possible to independently verify that claim since little is known about the recruitment effort.
But the government offers relatively high pay and extensive benefits that have helped swell troop ranks. The Kremlin says that it exclusively relies on volunteers to fight in Ukraine, but some media reports and rights groups have said that military officers often coerce conscripts into signing military contracts.
Asked by a soldier’s widow about the slowness in paying out a pension, Putin apologized and vowed that the issue would be quickly solved — an exchange typical of the annual event, which the Russian leader often uses to show his command of a wide array of subjects and his ability to solve problems.
The news conference featured questions from journalists in the Gostinny Dvor amphitheater as well as via video link from across Russia. A young man in a red bow tie who held a placard saying he wanted to get married used his question to Putin to propose to his girlfriend. Later, one of the anchors hosting the event reported that she had answered “yes,” and Putin joked about collecting money for the wedding.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, background center, speaks during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to attend his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks at the annual board meeting of the country's Defense Ministry in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Kristina Kormilitsyna, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
