CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle didn’t hesitate when answering about his post-game message to the Dallas Cowboys after the 30-27 victory at Bank of America Stadium. “They weren’t insured,” Dowdle joked. Dowdle had a team record with 239 total yards against the team that didn’t re-sign him after the 2024 season, becoming the seventh player in NFL history to have at least 230 yards in consecutive games. His 473 total yards in the last two games surpassed the team record of 416, set by Christian McCaffrey. This helped Carolina (3-3) reach .500 for the first time since Week 10 of 2021. Dowdle’s performance also opened the debate about who will be the starter when Chuba Hubbard returns from a calf injury that has kept him out for the last two weeks.
The Cowboys (2-3-1) and their defense, the worst in the league, were not prepared for Dowdle from the start. Dowdle had 21 rushing yards on his first two carries and caught a 13-yard pass on Carolina’s fourth play to set up a field goal. He had a 36-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bryce Young with less than two minutes left in the second half to put the Panthers up 20-17. He celebrated that with a spin and then pretending to shovel dirt on a grave. Burying Dallas wouldn’t be as easy as Dowdle seemed to knock down defenders. The Panthers needed a 33-yard field goal from rookie Ryan Fitzgerald to get the win. That’s what Dowdle wanted most.“A great question,” said coach Dave Canales after Carolina improved to 3-0 at home this season, with a road game against the New York Jets (0-6) next week. “We’re going to figure that part out. But I know Rico is doing a great job and will be an important part of what we’re doing.”
Dave Canales
“Big, big for me, but also big for the organization. Getting to .500 and protecting home field… we just have to keep building.” Dowdle admitted the game was “a little personal” after the Cowboys didn’t meet his financial demands following his first 1,000-yard rushing season the previous year. Young, whose five touchdown passes in two games tied the most he’s had in that span since he was the first pick of the 2023 draft, smiled when asked if he noticed the game meant more than usual for Dowdle.“Definitely,” said Dowdle, who spent his first five seasons in Dallas after being an undrafted free agent from South Carolina in 2020. “I’ve been saying all week that the main thing is that I just wanted to get that win.
Rico Dowdle
“Yes, of course,” he said. “Rico is a competitor. That just speaks to the dog he is. We knew it was personal. We wanted to support him. That’s our brother… If it’s personal to him, it’s personal to us.”
Bryce YoungIt almost became historic. Dowdle was 17 yards short of becoming the fifth player since 1970 to have 200 in consecutive games. O.J. Simpson did it twice. Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams, and Jay Ajayi each did it once. Dowdle’s 230+ yards in consecutive games put him in the company of Jim Brown (Browns), Walter Payton (Bears), Marshall Faulk (Rams), Deuce McAllister (Saints), Josh Gordon (Browns), and Le’Veon Bell (Steelers). This from a running back who had 33 touches, 103 yards, and a touchdown in the first four games.Dowdle wasn’t perfect, however. He took all the blame for a lateral pass from wide receiver Xavier Legette that turned into a fumble, begging Legette to throw him the ball on a play that initially looked like a bad decision by the receiver. “That’s my fault,” Dowdle said. “I told the coaches the same thing. [The coach] told me not to make up those things.” Dowdle’s dream career, which could land him in the starting lineup, is something that can’t be made up. It’s something that few, if any, anticipated when he signed a one-year, $3 million contract that could reach $6.5 million with incentives to back up Hubbard. It certainly caught the attention of the Cowboys.“I didn’t realize that part,” Dowdle said about the historical nature of his feat, which included breaking McCaffrey’s team’s single-game record (237) for total yards. “But it’s definitely special to be able to come here and enter the history books.”
Rico Dowdle“He told us to buckle up,” said quarterback Dak Prescott. “He had the last laugh.”
Dak Prescott
