How about them Panthers?
Rico Dowdel turned on the burners and blew by the Cowboys’ secondary for a 36-yard touchdown reception on the opening drive of the second half. The ex-Cowboy told his former team to ‘buckle up’ in Week 5, but they didn’t listen. He also ran over and through the Cowboys’ rush defense.
How about them Panthers?
Bryce Young threw for 199 yards and three touchdowns, while Tetairola McMillan hauled in two of those passes.
How about them Panthers?
For the first time in four years, the Carolina Panthers are .500. Their brand of resilient, complementary football have them on a two-game winning streak. How about that?
Let’s look at more observations from the Panthers’ week six 30-27 win against Dallas.
Getting His Lick Back
Rico Dowdle came into week six with a point to prove to his former team, and he did so by rushing for 183 yards on 30 carries and hauling in four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. His 239 scrimmage yards broke Christian McCaffrey’s team record of 237. He also became the sixth running back in the Super Bowl to have at least 225 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in consecutive games.
Dowdle had this game in particular circled on his calendar ever since the Cowboys let him walk in free agency and chose Javonte Williams over him as their running back. The slight was all Dowdle needed for fuel. It became personal to him. His payback for the team that didn’t bring him back.
But in the postgame a humble Dowdle wanted to highlight the efforts of the defense, the o-line and the overall team effort in the win.
“It meant a lot to go out there and beat them. The defense held them down, those guys up front opened it up for me and we had a great day.”
As Chuba Hubbard ramps up to return, a backfield duo gives the Panthers an additional layer on offense. The 21 personnel sets with Dowdle and Hubbard could, and should, be a staple moving forward.
XL’s Gaffe
Xavier Legette juggled a pass from Young with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter. He tried to salvage the play by pitching it to Dowdle before going down. Dowdle fumbled and Leggett recovered the ball for a loss of nine yards. To make matters worse, a 10-second runoff and timeout filibuster ensued. Despite the play, Carolina didn’t leave the drive empty-handed. A 55-yard field goal by Ryan Fitzgerald pulled the Panthers within four.
The intention behind the botched play was well-meaning. The improvisation was Dowdle’s idea in an attempt to gain more yards to save the play.
“You see those opportunities every once in a while when you see a guy getting tackled or see some space. I thought if I had a clean pitch, I could have gained more yards,” Dowdle said.
Bent But Not Broken Defense
On one hand the Panthers’ rush defense contained Dallas to less than 40 yards on the ground. On the other hand, Dak Prescott dissected the secondary for 261 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Carolina’s secondary and linebackers gave up some momentum-shifting plays to George Pickens and Jake Ferguson. However, the defense sealed the game by forcing a three-and-out after Jaycee Horn suggested that he should cover Pickens on the critical possession.
“I spoke to the coaches about it on the sideline, just saying the last drive I’d go to him (Pickens) because he was getting a lot of the targets,”
CB Mike Jackson struggled in his matchup with Pickens, as he caught nine passes on 11 targets for 168 yards and a touchdown. But Horn believes that Jackson’s struggles don’t define him as a player.
“Mike is the same guy who led the team in PBU’s last year..We got all the confidence in the world in Mike. He’s a helluva player. It’s just the National Football League . You can find the best of the best corners getting scarred up sometimes.”
