Rico Dowdle erupts in revenge game, backs up smack talk to lead Panthers past Cowboys

ASSOCIATED PRESS

After talking loudly ahead of time, Rico Dowdle took full advantage of his revenge game.

Dowdle absolutely erupted on his former team on Sunday afternoon at Bank of America Stadium. He racked up 183 rushing yards and set a new franchise record with back-to-back dominant outings in the Carolina Panthers’ 30-27 win over the Dallas Cowboys. That pushed the Panthers to 3-3 on the season and gave them their second straight win.

Dowdle got his start with the Cowboys, and went off for a career-high 1,079 rushing yards last season in Dallas. He was the first undrafted running back in franchise history to hit the 1,000-yard mark, too. But the Cowboys let him go to free agency, and he signed a one-year deal to join the Panthers in March instead.

After a pretty slow start to the season backing up Chuba Hubbard, Dowdle racked up 206 rushing yards last week in the team’s win over the Miami Dolphins. The 27-year-old entered Sunday with 289 rushing yards and 48 receiving yards on the season.

After that contest, Dowdle issued a bit of a warning to the Cowboys.

“They got to buckle up,” he said. “I think they know for sure. They didn’t keep me there for five years for no reason.”

He got the start again this week with Hubbard inactive, and he backed that talk up immediately. Dowdle had 80 rushing yards on 13 carries in the first half alone to help keep the Panthers in it. He then caught a wide-open pass that he took 36 yards into the end zone for his first touchdown of the game just four plays into the second half. That put Carolina in the lead for the first time all day.

Though the Cowboys responded with a 34-yard touchdown grab from George Pickens, Dowdle and the Panthers responded with a long drive to take the lead again just minutes into the fourth quarter. Bryce Young hit Tetairoa McMillan for a 2-yard score there, marking his second of the day.

Dallas, despite getting all the way down within the 10 yard line, settled for a field goal on the next drive to tie the game up once again. But the Panthers, after being held to a quick three-and-out for the first time all day, got the ball back with more than six minutes left and ran all over the Cowboys defense to set up an easy 33-yard field goal from Ryan Fitzgerald to win the game. 

Dowdle finished with 183 rushing yards on 30 carries while averaging 6.1 yards per attempt. He had another 56 rushing yards and a score on four catches, which brought him past former Panthers star Christian McCaffery's scrimmage yards record over a two-game span. 

This post will be updated with more information shortly.