Winners and Losers: Dowdle delivers, defense dominates as Dallas isn’t done

Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle continued his hot streak against the Panthers, rushing 25 times for 149 yards, both season highs. A week after averaging a staggering 7.3 yards per carry, the lead back turned in another strong day, gashing Carolina for six yards a touch.

That marks three straight games in which the RB has run for over 100 yards and the first time for Dallas since Ezekiel Elliott did so in weeks six through eight back in the 2019 season. In fact, Elliott accomplished the feat three times in his career, doing it once in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

A free agent at year’s end, Dowdle should have plenty of suitors. The 26-year-old runner comes with five years of experience and only 273 carries in the NFL.

Dowdle can match Elliott’s only four-game 100-yard streak against Tampa Bay. Elliott accomplished that in Weeks 3 through 6 during his rookie season and never did it in five straight games. Dowdle could eclipse that feat before the season ends.

With under 31 seconds remaining before halftime, Dallas held a comfortable 10-0 lead when Bryce Young found receiver Jalen Coker, who had gotten behind the defense, for an 83-yard touchdown pass. Carolina went into halftime down 10-7 and ready to receive the opening kickoff after stealing the momentum heading into the break.

The touchdown was reminiscent of the play against Washington where Commanders QB Jayden Daniels hit receiver Terry McLaurin for an 86-yard TD with 21 seconds remaining, pulling Washington within one.

Luckily for the Cowboys, Washington kicker Austin Seibert missed the game-tying PAT. Just as fortunate, the Carolina game was just at the midway point and the Cowboys pulled away early, making it a footnote but one that now has occurred to Dallas twice this season.

Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb entered the game needing 27 receiving yards to become the second wideout in team history to record four straight 1,00-yard seasons. With 9:01 remaining in the second quarter, Lamb nearly tripled what he needed, gaining 70 yards through the air at that point.

He would finish the day catching nine passes for 116 yards or half of all aerial production for the Cowboys. Lamb would also add a 14-yard touchdown, giving him 37 for his career and one away from tying former Dallas wideout Terrell Owens for ninth on the Cowboys’ all-time receiving TD list.

In a season where Dallas has created more questions than answers, Lamb proved he is worth every penny of his mega contract extension no matter who is throwing him the football.

With 480 receptions, Lamb is within striking distance of Cowboys Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, who sits in fifth place in team history with 486 catches. Lamb has averaged 6.7 receptions a game, meaning he could also catch (no pun intended) the original number 88 in Cowboys Hall of Fame receiver Drew Pearson, who finished his Dallas career hauling in 489 passes.

Winner, stud, put him on the list as he is him.

Against a weak Cincinnati pass defense that ranks among the league’s worst in a few categories, Cowboys receivers not named CeeDee Lamb caught 2 passes for 19 yards in a game Dallas needed to keep pace to make the playoffs.

Against Carolina, more of the same continued as the receivers behind Lamb continued to stay largely invisible.

The highlight reels will show receivers Jalen Tolbert and Jalen Brooks in the end zone as both caught touchdown passes, yet those were their only receptions of the day. The Cowboys receiving group behind Lamb combined for five catches for 62 yards.

Veteran wideout Brandin Cooks had the majority of that production with 3 receptions for 34 yards, a little more than half of the total yards produced by the group. With Dallas looking unlikely to spend in free agency, fans should get to know the wide receivers eligible for the upcoming 2025 NFL draft.

Cowboys linebacker Marist Liufau did his best DeMarvion Overshown impression filling in for the injured star and making the most of his opportunity. The rookie third-round pick forced a first-quarter fumble on Carolina quarterback Bryce Young, keeping the Panthers from at least attempting a field goal.

On a second-quarter outside run, the referee almost blew his whistle immediately after Liufau hit the ball carrier so fast that both players’ momentum stopped, forcing the play dead early.

Liufau finished the day leading the team with six tackles. His numbers won’t pop off the screen, but it was important in giving the some confidence to the young linebacker (and the team as well, after suffering such a big loss).

With Overshown likely to miss a large portion if not all of next season, Liufau’s development will be key for the defense in 2025.

The Dallas defense finally performed the way many had envisioned during training camp after forcing four turnovers and sacking Carolina QB Bryce Young six times.

Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa was almost unblockable against the Panthers, recording a sack and a forced fumble to go along with four of the team’s ten quarterback hits on the day.

Pass rusher Micah Parsons was also his usual self, getting to the quarterback twice and recording his third two-sack performance of the season. That gives Parsons the fourth-most multi-sack games in a player’s first four seasons with 14.

He now has 8.5 sacks on the season and despite missing four games this season, Parsons is within striking distance of Bengals end Trey Hendrickson, who leads the league with 12.5 sacks.

After the first four games, fans wanted to run defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer out of town, but the defense has played well late. Injuries have decimated this team but Dallas continues to perform, keeping their offense in the game and playoff chances, as slim as they are, alive.

The win against Carolina makes the loss against Cincinnati even more excruciating. Dallas could be sitting at 7-7 but, at 6-8, now enter the point of the season where they are scoreboard watching in conjunction with their own success.

The defense is playing extremely well and the offense has found a running game sufficient enough to take pressure off the quarterback.

The Cowboys could have made things extremely interesting to close out the season. With three injured reserve activations remaining, Dallas would have been fending off questions about the status and potential return of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott from a hamstring injury.

Now, Dallas will likely fall into no man’s land, where their draft pick falls just below the playoff teams but outside of the premium top-ten NFL draft selections.