It turns out that winning is more fun than losing. Who knew? The Dallas Cowboys came into Bank of America Stadium with all the expectations that they were going to win this game, but they forgot to do one thing. The one thing that former Cowboy and current Carolina Panther Rico Dowdle told them they would have to do a week ago: they forget to buckle up.
No shame in that, I’m forgetful myself from time to time. But you can’t come to play
the Panthers in Charlotte, North Carolina without being strapped in and ready to go and still expect to come away with a win. That’s why the Panthers are undefeated so far this season at home – they’re just that good.
Now, let me remove my tongue from my cheek for the rest of this week’s game review.
The Panthers thus far this season had struggled mightily with the concept of consistency. Yours truly wrote about it after a disappointing defeat against the New England Patriots. Versus the Cowboys, however, the Panthers seemingly took a big step forward in their consistency and ability to play complimentary football.
There are still mistakes here and there, but in the NFL what matters most is who can do right the longest and when it matters most. Let’s take a look at the areas the Panthers made progress on this week and how it helped them pull out the victory.
Running the football
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way, the Panthers ran Rico Dowdle without mercy on Sunday. Dowdle set a personal record for most rushing attempts in a game (30) that led to the franchise record in yards from scrimmage with 239. Had Dowdle not been suffering from some calf cramps in the fourth quarter, he likely would have broken 200 yards rushing again – instead he had to settle for a measly 183 and the completed revenge narrative.
As a team, the Panthers managed 216 yards rushing on 38 carries. Being able to hand the ball off and reliably expect almost 6 yards a touch makes offensive football simpler. The whole playbook is available on every down, play-action works just a little bit better, offensive lineman are confident and out for blood after dishing out more pancakes than IHOP. Doesn’t hurt that it also kept the Cowboys top-ranked offense off the field and their bottom ranked defense on it.
Finishing out the halves
Greg Olsen said it during the FOX broadcast, but the Cowboys were the most effective team in the NFL during the final two minutes of the 2nd and 4th quarters. No doubt the Panthers were aware of this, as the drives they orchestrated at the end of each half left no room for the Cowboys to sneak in a few points under the buzzer.
At the end of the first half, the Panthers bled all but 20 seconds off the clock with a 9 play, 29 yard drive that lasted 3:19. Might have even finished that drive with a touchdown if not for some backyard nonsense between Dowdle and Xavier Legette that lost 9 yards turning 2nd and 9 into 3rd and 18. The Panthers final drive of the game was almost a masterclass. A tie game with 6:07 left, they used up every last second with a 15 play, 71 yard march that ended with a chip shot field goal as time expired.
A mix of solid gains on the ground, high-percentage pass plays and the situational awareness to get down after gaining a first down – instead of scoring – allowed the team to bleed the clock and ultimately kick the game winning field goal.
Stopping the run
The Cowboys did not just have the best offense in the league so far this season by the arm of Dak Prescott alone, but their running game had consistently been effective over the first 5 games of the season. Javonte Williams entered Sunday with 5 touchdowns and 5.6 yards per carry with 79 touches. Against the Panthers that fell to 2.2 yards per carry on 13 carries. The Cowboys as a whole only managed 1.7 yards per carry over the entire game with only a single first down gained on the ground meanwhile no rushing play gaining more than 6 yards. For comparison, the Panthers converted 14 first downs on rushing plays and had 15 rushes above 7 yards.
For as poor as the run defense was in 2024, the Panthers last few outings have been outstanding. The entire defense has been working together to set the edge, fly to the football and wrap up. According to PFF, 10 players on the Panthers defense recorded at least one ‘stop’ in run defense (a tackle that constitutes a “failure” for the offense) for a team total of 14. Derrick Brown, Pat Jones, Bobby Brown and A’Shawn Robinson each had two.
Honorable mentions
There were so many area of the team that took a step forward that I’d be remiss not to include some love for them somewhere in this article – and dedicating a whole section to each would make it far too long.
Special shoutouts to:
- Bryce Young’s consistent, turnover-worthy-play-free day
- Tetairoa McMillan’s making up for his drop by scoring his first two touchdowns of his career
- The offensive line’s continued dominance in the run game; the Panthers averaged almost 3 yards per carry before contact, according to NextGenStats
- The offensive skill players committing to the dirty work; Brycen Tremayne, Mitchell Evans, Tommy Tremble, and McMillan all had highlight-worthy blocks
- The linebacking units continue improvement; Trevin Wallace had the highest PFF grade on the defense with a 77.2 overall grade
- Nick Scott for breaking up a pass in the endzone which made his supporter (Brian Beversluis) even more emboldened
- Ryan Fitzgerald for making all 6 of his kicks, including a 55 yarder and a game winner. Not to mention the return of the ‘dirty’ kickoffs
We’ll see you again next week as the Panthers travel north to take on the struggling New York Jets. Until then, keep pounding!
