The stage is set for Rico Dowdle to have a big game against the Carolina Panthers

Rico Dowdle has a chance to finish the season strong.

It took most of the season for the running-back-by-committee experiment to be deemed a failure, but in mid-November, Mike McCarthy finally awarded Rico Dowdle with the lead back title. While there are questions around whether this decision should have been made much earlier, there is no doubt that the running game has greatly improved since making this decision. Better late than never.

In Dowdle’s first nine games, he was only averaging around 10 carries per game. Now that he is getting the bulk of the carries (19, 22, and 18 in the past three games respectively), he has proven that he is capable of being a bell cow running back. The running game for the Cowboys has turned into a strength instead of a massive glaring weakness.

In the locker room interviews on Wednesday, Dowdle spoke about being able to handle the new workload.

“I feel like I could go for another 12 [games]”.

It has been pretty natural for him to take on this new role, as he has been a downhill, physical runner since high school.

Luckily for the Cowboys, Dowdle has been able to prove that on the field. Dowdle has averaged over 109 yards per game these past three weeks with a season high 7.3 yards per carry last week against the Bengals. Currently, he is sitting at 731 total rushing yards this season and with four games left, he has a real shot at ending the season over the 1000-yard mark. Dowdle is currently on a two-game streak of surpassing 100 yards (112 against the Giants and 131 against the Bengals), and by the looks of things, he has the perfect opportunity to turn it into a three-game streak this weekend against the Carolina Panthers.

While the Cowboys are preparing for this game in Charlotte, North Carolina this Sunday, Dowdle should be in that running backs room licking his chops watching this Panthers’ running defense on film. The Panthers are dead last in the NFL when it comes to stopping the run. They have allowed 2,211 total rushing yards this season and 170.1 yards per game, both numbers are the worst in the NFL. In fact, there has only been one game this season where they were able to keep an offense under 100 yards.

Heading into this game on Sunday, the Panthers are actually favored in this matchup despite being 3-10. The past few games for them have been really tight games against some formidable opponents. The losses they suffered against the Eagles, Buccaneers, and Chiefs were all very close games that could have easily turned in their favor. If the Cowboys want to defy the odds in this matchup, the running game featuring a heavy dose of Rico Dowdle should be a top priority in their game plan.