Bob Donnan-Imagn Images The Dallas Cowboys won with relative ease on Sunday and we have some thoughts on it all. The Dallas Cowboys won another football game. Yes, it was against the lowly three-win Carolina Panthers, but it still counts. This isn’t good news if you were holding out for a great draft pick, but if you like watching your team win, today was a good day for you. It took a bit, but the Cowboys started getting things going on offense and defense. Here are 10 thoughts on the Cowboys 30-14 win over the Panthers. 1. NORTH AND SOUTH RICO For the third-straight game, Rico Dowdle set a new career-high for rushing yards. Against the Panthers, Dowdle had 25 carries for 149 yards (6.0 ypc). He is averaging over 130 yards per game in that span. Every week he looks better. Dowdle is running with more energy, showing great shiftiness, and has become a hard north-and-south runner. He’s been the team’s grinder and it’s worked well. 2. ANOTHER SHUFFLE FOR THE OLINE What makes Dowdle’s resurgence even more impressive is how the Cowboys are pulling this off with a banged-up offensive line. Every week they are dealing with a new injury. They started the day down two starters, Zack Martin (out for the year) and Cooper Beebe (concussion). This week, backup guard T.J. Bass got hurt forcing the team to shuffle once again. Left tackle Chuma Edoga moved to right guard and rookie Tyler Guyton took his spot at left tackle. Surprisingly, the offensive line held things together well with Dowdle running and Cooper Rush only getting sacked once. Not too shabby. 3. LAMB IS SPECIAL Even without Dak Prescott throwing him the ball, CeeDee Lamb is a star. He finished the game with nine catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. It was his first 100-yard performance since Rush took over at quarterback. On the Cowboys’ first scoring drive, it was all Lamb as he accounted for 62 of the team’s 77 yards. He only had three catches, but he had to work for them as a couple of passes were underthrown. It didn’t matter though as Lamb made the necessary adjustments and came away with the catch. The Cowboys were finally in business. 4. COSTLY SWING With the first half winding down, it looked like the Cowboys were on the cusp of scoring a touchdown and going up 17-0 in the game. But just before we could get excited, things took a bad turn when Rush fumbled the ball. The Panthers jumped on it ending the Cowboys’ possession. Then, on their very next play, Bryce Young found Jalen Coker wide-open for an 83-yard touchdown. Instead of 17-0, it was a 10-7 game. 5. RETURNING THE FAVOR Just as quickly as the Panthers shifted the momentum at the end of the first half, they immediately gave it back when they fumbled on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. Osa Odighizuwa got to Young causing the ball to come loose. Chauncey Golston was quick to pounce on it. Five plays later, the Rush found Jalen Tolbert in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Just like that, the Cowboys were back up by 10. 6. THE TWO JALENS That’s right. You heard correctly. Tolbert scored a touchdown. It’s been an underwhelming season for the team’s third-year wide receiver. He hasn’t had a game with more than three catches since October and his biggest play came on the game-winning catch against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But now he has another big play as he hauled in a nice touchdown catch while keeping both feet in bounds. It was his only catch of the game, but it was a big one. Speaking of his only catch, his teammate Jalen Brooks also had a catch, and it too went for a touchdown, the first of his career. It was nice to see either of these two do something meaningful as these plays have been few and far between from the Cowboys’ depth receivers. 7. THE 70-YARD ATTEMPT Mike McCarthy had chances to allow Cowboys’ kicker Brandon Aubrey to attempt a record-breaking field against the New York Giants on Thanksgiving inside a warm, turfed stadium such as AT&T, but he chose not to each time. Against Carolina, one of those opportunities showed up as he had a chance to kick a 70-yarder right before the end of the first half. Sadly, the kick never had a chance. It was wide left and considerably short. The Panthers tried to return it, but it didn’t turn into anything. Oh well, it was still fun to watch. 8. MICAH AND FRIENDS Bryce Young had a rough game. He was sacked six times. The Cowboys pass rush gave him all sorts of fits as five different players recorded a sack. But most of the damage came from the Cowboys defensive linemen from their 2021 draft class – Micah Parsons, Osa Odighizuwa, and Chauncy Goltson. They each had four tackles in this game and at least one sack (Parsons had two). They were stripping the ball, pouncing on fumbles, and just creating all types of problems for Young. These three defensive linemen were drafted by the Cowboys in 2021.They each had at least one sack today.All three are still in their rookie contract, but that will change this offseason. pic.twitter.com/mQ62tlzlVG — Dan Rogers (@DannyPhantom24) December 15, 2024 9. A GOOD GAME FROM LIUFAU The injury to DeMarvion Overshown was devastating news last week as it will sideline one of the team’s top young defenders for quite some time. With Overshown out of action, it meant more snaps for rookie linebacker Marist Liufau, and he took full advantage. Liufau finished the game tied for the team lead in tackles and had a couple of splash plays. He had a tackle for a loss as well as a forced fumble when he punched the ball out of Young’s hands. We miss Overshown deeply, but it

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Notable headlines surrounding America’s team. Cowboys defense dominates in 30-14 win over Panthers – Shane Taylor, Inside The Star Dallas is back in the win column. This football game took place just as I thought it would, a gross low scoring sloppy game. Although the Panthers have been playing better, they still have plenty of flaws, and the Cowboys are playing with nothing but backups. It was scoreless after the first quarter of play, and stayed that way until Cooper Rush found CeeDee Lamb for a 14 yard touchdown on a back shoulder. The drive was filled with Lamb who had over 60 yards on the scoring drive alone. CeeDee makin' it look easy 👀#ProBowlVote | @_CeeDeeThree 📺: #DALvsCAR on FOX📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/LvklCbYJ1e pic.twitter.com/QPef8ny03a — Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) December 15, 2024 The Cowboys defense with the lead is just different, even with injuries, after the touchdown, the defense was able to force another turnover on a Bryce Young inspection. Dallas settled for three by Brandon Aubrey when a false start killed the drive, they are still finding a way to hurt themselves, and it is so annoying. Right when everything was setting up for Dallas to go up 17-0, Cooper Rush fumbled the football on 3rd and goal, and then the next play the Panthers scored on an 80 yard pass on a blown coverage. Typical Cowboys game for ya right here, you can’t continue to make this type of stuff up. Game Recap: Cowboys take away win, 30-14 – Kurt Daniels, DallasCowboys.com A brief summary of how Sunday’s action went down. The second frame, though, got off to a different start for the Cowboys offense, thanks in large part to Lamb, who caught three passes for 62 yards in a 10-play, 77-yard drive. All three receptions came on third down, the last being a 14-yard catch corralled in the end zone to give the visitors a 7-0 lead. With that, Lamb also surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth straight season. Linebacker Eric Kendricks then reached a milestone of sorts himself. When cornerback Jourdan Lewis broke up a pass on Carolina’s ensuing position, the ball deflected right into the waiting hands of Kendricks. That marked his third takeaway of the season (two interceptions, one fumble recovery), equaling his career high. Starting at the Panthers’ 48-yard line after the gift, Dallas managed to reach the 39, but there the drive stalled. Out came Brandon Aubrey, who continued his stellar 2024 campaign with a 52-yard field goal right down the middle for another three points. And then within just back-to-back plays, a pair of self-inflicted mistakes by the Cowboys gave the Panthers all the momentum going into the half. Dallas was on the doorstep of adding points when they reached the Carolina 14-yard line with 45 seconds left. But that’s when Rush fumbled trying to pull the ball away from Rico Dowdle on an RPO play, which was recovered by the Panthers. Even worse, on Carolina’s first snap, a breakdown in coverage left receiver Jalen Coker streaking down the right sideline all alone. The result was an 83-yard touchdown and the Cowboys’ advantage narrowed to 10-7 at the break. 5 winners & 2 losers from Cowboys Week 15 win over Panthers – Randy Gurzi, Sports Illustrated It is a good week when there are more of the former. Winner: Osa Odighizuwa, DT Dallas was up by just three points in the first half, thanks in large part to a fumble from Cooper Rush. Needing a spark to get the momentum back, Osa Odighizuwa delivered. The underrated pass rusher broke past his blocker to record a strip sack on the first drive of the third quarter. The fumble by Bryce Young was recovered by Chauncey Golston, leading to a Dallas touchdown and 17-7 lead. Odighizuwa wasn’t done there either as he continued to generate pressure on Young, finishing with one sack and four QB hits. Team discipline and value of star power among Cowboys Week 15 takeaways – Reid Hanson, Cowboys Wire What did you take away from Dallas’ win? Value of star power CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons and Rico Dowdle ruled the day. In case anyone has been wondering if superstars are worth it, Week 15 served as Exhibit A in the affirmative. On a day where virtually every ball Cooper Rush threw was late and behind, Lamb managed to pull in nine receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown. He put on a clinic by catching everything in sight. Parsons made his case as one of the NFL’s biggest superstars. He logged four tackles, two sacks and two hits. Official pressures haven’t been tallied but he was a menace rushing from all over the field. Dowdle may not be at superstar status yet, but he sure played like it. He rushed for 149 yards on 25 carries for a 6.0 yards/carry average. Some of that is a product of Carolina’s soft defensive line but most of it was Dowdle’s ability to win at the second level. CeeDee Lamb made all sorts of history in Cowboys win over Panthers – Luke Norris, The Landry Hat CeeDee continues to fight. Entering Sunday’s game with 973 receiving yards for the season, Lamb needed just 27 to reach the 1,000-yard mark. It looked as if it was going to happen early as he caught a 25-yard pass from Cooper Rush on the Cowboys’ opening drive, only to see it negated by a penalty. He caught an eight-yard pass on the following play, but the drive quickly came to an end. It was the second quarter in which Lamb did much of his damage for the day. After the Dallas defense forced a three-and-out, the offense embarked on a 10-play, 77-yard drive, during which Lamb caught three passes for 62 yards. The first went for 20 yards, putting him over the 1,000-yard mark, the second went for 28, and the third went for a 14-yard touchdown. Rush spread the

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images The Dallas Cowboys are some pretty big home underdogs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Dallas Cowboys are coming off what is likely their most complete game this season. In beating the Carolina Panthers 30-14, the Cowboys got contributions from all parts of the roster. They ran the ball with Rico Dowdle, CeeDee Lamb was dominant, the defense, led by Micah Parsons, were creating sacks and getting turnovers. And Cooper Rush had a very good day. All of that, though, came at the expense of a poor Panthers defense. Context is everything. It’s true that both the Cowboys and the Panthers have been playing better lately, but there is a reason Carolina is now 3-11. It seems the oddsmakers agree. They have made the Cowboys substantial underdogs for a home team next week even after the dismantling of the Panthers. They are 3.5-point underdogs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers are a team still in the fight for the NFC playoffs and they are currently leading a bad NFC South division with an 8-6 record. They went on the road on Sunday and annihilated the Los Angeles Chargers 40-17. That’s impressive. Would you take the Cowboys to win or cover this week?

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images CeeDee Lamb has had an incredible start to his NFL career. The Dallas Cowboys have done one thing well this season, and that’s win on the road. They improved to 5-2 away from AT&T Stadium and 6-8 overall with a 30-14 win against the Carolina Panthers. One of the stars of the game was wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who had his second game of the season over the century mark with 116 yards on nine receptions and a touchdown. He also put his name in the Cowboys record books. Lamb went over 1,000 yards for the season on Sunday. With that, he became the first Cowboys receiver to go over 1,000 yards four times in their first five years in Dallas. He gets to share a little history after his performance as well. Lamb joined Michael Irvin as the only receivers in Cowboys history with four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Irvin did it five straight times from 1991 to 1995. WHAT A CATCH CEEDEE FOX pic.twitter.com/RE0j6SxBLI — FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 15, 2024 Lamb also moved past a former five-time Pro Bowler on a specific list. He replaced former second-round pick Jarvis Landry as the receiver with the second-most receptions in NFL in history in their first five seasons (489). The record is 510 by Michael Thomas. Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals has stolen the headlines at receiver this season in the NFL. However, Lamb is once again producing at an elite level. He’s up to 94 receptions for 1,089 yards and six touchdowns on the year. Once he gets six more receptions, it will be his third straight campaign with 100 or more in that category. It’s fair to point out that quarterback Dak Prescott hasn’t played since early November and won’t again this season due to a torn hamstring. It’s a testament to Lamb that he can still perform at a high level with a guy as limited as Cooper Rush throwing him the football. The former first-round pick was given his long-term financial security before the season, and he’s proving that the Cowboys were smart for doing so.

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images The Cowboys controlled just about the entire game against Carolina The Dallas Cowboys were just a hair away from beating the Cincinnati Bengals last week and pulling off their third straight win, but it was not meant to be. Between that and the loss of DeMarvion Overshown to a devastating injury, many wondered if the Cowboys may implode the rest of the year. Rumors of the team’s demise were greatly exaggerated, as it turns out. Despite coming into this game on a short week and the Panthers being favored by 2.5 points, Dallas dominated this game from start to finish. The 30-14 final score doesn’t even reflect how far apart these teams were, either. It started out slow for both teams. The Cowboys punted on their opening drive after a penalty on Chuma Edoga wiped out a 25-yard reception for CeeDee Lamb. The Panthers, whose offense has looked much better in recent weeks, started moving the ball down the field. They reached the tip of the red zone before Marist Liufau forced the first of a handful of takeaways for the defense. @marist_09 : #DALvsCAR on FOX : Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/LvklCbZgQM pic.twitter.com/6rYuZqkRQD — Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) December 15, 2024 The Cowboys couldn’t do much with it, punting after a three-and-out. The Panthers copied them on their next drive to take us to the end of the first quarter with everything knotted up at 0-0. Apparently, the Cowboys were just waiting for the second quarter to start. Cooper Rush started feeding Lamb, who accounted for 62 of the Cowboys’ 77 yards on the drive. Two of his caches went for 20+ yards and moved the chains on big third downs. The third catch was an incredible diving effort for a touchdown to put Dallas up 7-0. CeeDee Lamb so far today: 4 targets, 4 catches, 70 yards, TD pic.twitter.com/7pgVcVEx8V — Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 15, 2024 Following the touchdown, the Dallas defense came up with another big play. As Bryce Young tried to fit the ball in on a slant route, Jourdan Lewis broke up the pass, inadvertently batting it right to Eric Kendricks for an interception. The Cowboys settled for a field goal, but it still put them up 10-0. The defense forced a three-and-out following the score, giving Rush and the offense a chance to take a commanding lead. For a while, it looked like they’d take advantage of the opportunity too. A big catch-and-run from Jake Ferguson turned a second and 20 into third and one. Dallas ran a read-option, with Rush pulling the ball with options to run or pass for the first. But Rush fumbled the ball and a Carolina defender fell on it. The Panthers took just one play to take advantage of the takeaway. Young hit Jalen Coker, who had gotten behind the defense on a busted coverage, for a huge 83-yard touchdown with just 31 seconds left in the half. Dallas got in range for a 70-yard field goal try, but Brandon Aubrey shanked the attempt to keep things at 10-7 going into halftime. Still, that score wasn’t representative of how dominant the Cowboys had been, and that remained the same in the second half. The Dallas defense forced a fumble on the very first play of the third quarter and the offense capped it off with a toe-tapping touchdown to Jalen Tolbert. Mike Zimmer’s unit would force a three-and-out on each of the Panthers’ next two drives, and Rush found Jalen Brooks for an impressive touchdown in between. That gave them a 24-7 lead, which they took into the fourth quarter. From there, the Cowboys were basically in clock-killing mode the rest of the way, while the Panthers were running an extended two-minute drill. Young scampered in for a touchdown halfway through the quarter, and Aubrey hit two field goals to bring about the final score, but this game was over well before then. Two consecutive mistakes right before halftime kept things closer than they really were, but the Cowboys came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter to widen the gap. The defense was playing lights out, forcing four takeaways and sacking Young six times. The offense was still uneven, but they managed to move the ball well. Lamb became the second Cowboys receiver ever (after Michael Irvin, of course) to post four straight 1,000+ yard receiving seasons, and Rico Dowdle made it three consecutive games with over 100 rushing yards. Both players paced an offense that had little trouble against the Panthers and their beleaguered defense. This win won’t make many believers of the Cowboys, but the Panthers had been playing good football as of late. In their last three games, they lost to the Chiefs, Buccaneers, and Eagles by a combined 12 points. Beating this team by 16 with a backup quarterback and a constantly rotating offensive line that has its fair share of injuries is nothing to sneeze at.

Bob Donnan-Imagn Images The Cowboys had a huge third quarter against the Panthers. 3rd Quarter The Panthers had a turnover on their first possession of the game which took a second to happen what with how they deferred. This obviously meant that they got the ball to start the second half. It turns out they wanted to keep consistency and had another turnover. It came on the very first offensive play as Osa Odighizuwa got right to Bryce Young and poked the ball loose for Chauncey Golston to recover. OSA!!!! (via @dallascowboys) pic.twitter.com/61bo8Y3ZVm — Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) December 15, 2024 Shortly after it appeared as if Rico Dowdle had a fumble of his own, but the play was reviewed and after a bit of time ultimately things were determined that Dowdle did not turn it over. The field position had Dallas threatening to score already and soon enough they cashed in. It was Cooper Rush finding Jalen Tolbert for the second Cowboys touchdown of the day. COOPER TO TOLBERT TD (via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/12SrH6EvJn — Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) December 15, 2024 Stop me if you have heard this before, but the Panthers could do nothing much on offense and wound up punting. Outside of the crazy play at the end of the first half, the Panthers were held in check by the Cowboys at this point. This gave Dallas the ball back and they began to move and groove once again. Soon enough they were in position to threaten for a touchdown and we saw what might have been the prettiest one of Cooper Rush’s career. It was his third of the day and the first ever for Jalen Brooks! RUSH HOUR BABY (via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/OupCWq5q7U — Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) December 15, 2024 Back to defense… the Cowboys continued to shine. Micah Parsons got his first sack of the game and as the drive wrapped up even Jourdan Lewis got to the quarterback. It was that kind of day. The quarter finished with Dallas threatening once more. 2nd Quarter The quarter began with the Cowboys getting the ball off of Carolina’s punt. Dallas responded impressively and traveled 87 yards across 10 plays for a touchdown, the first points of the game. The drive included three different third-down receptions from CeeDee Lamb, including an incredible adjustment on the touchdown itself. CEEDEE TD (via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/KPXS8SbBXe — Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) December 15, 2024 The Panthers started to move a little bit and the question as to whether or not they were going to tie the game started to surface. Thankfully, Jourdan Lewis stepped in to bat a pass that Eric Kendricks was able to pick off! LEWIS. KENDRICKS. INT. (via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/lP0ZZkUWGE — Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) December 15, 2024 The interception set the Cowboys up with great field position, one they were able to properly capitalize on. It wasn’t a touchdown, but Brandon Aubrey did hit a 52-yard field goal to make the lead double digits. On the other side of things the Cowboys defense kept up their stellar play. Marist Liufau and Eric Kendricks each made some impressive plays to set the Panthers up with a third and long that they couldn’t overcome before punting. The Cowboys were moving and threatening to score before halftime in a way that would really put the game out of reach for Carolina. Right as they were on the verge of the goal line though, Cooper Rush mishandled the ball and it led to a fumble that Carolina recovered. As if that weren’t bad enough… on the very first Panthers play Bryce Young found Jalen Coker for an 83-yard touchdown. It was quite the swing. Coker 83 yards to the house! : FOX pic.twitter.com/tNU6kz0H9u — Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 15, 2024 The Cowboys were on the verge of leading at halftime 13-0 and potentially even 17-0. Thanks to all of the chaos they went into the locker room with things 10-7. They did manage to give Brandon Aubrey a 70-yard field goal attempt before halftime. He missed it pretty badly, obviously that’s a tough kick! 1st Quarter The Panthers won the toss and deferred which set the Cowboys up first. Dallas wound up putting together an impressive-looking drive that featured plenty of Rico Dowdle, but it ultimately fizzled out and ended with a 15-yard sack against Cooper Rush on third down. On the other side of things the Panthers began to move with relative ease. Bryce Young appeared very comfortable and even put a spin move on Micah Parsons… before Marist Liufau punched the ball loose for a fumble! MARIST!!! (via @dallascowboys) pic.twitter.com/WKeQjUQ84g — Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) December 15, 2024 Unfortunately things did not go all too well for the Cowboys. They went three and out immediately after, partly thanks to a brutal drop from Jalen Tolbert on third down. The first quarter ended as Carolina set up to punt right after. Follow Blogging The Boys Everywhere Follow Blogging The Boys on X (formerly Twitter) Follow Blogging The Boys on Instagram Follow Blogging The Boys on Facebook Subscribe to the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel Notable Recent News Before the game it was reported by NFL.com that Stephen Jones spoke about how the Cowboys will evaluate their commitment to high-level players over the offseason. Injury Updates On Saturday it was reported that cornerback Trevon Diggs is the latest player on the Cowboys who needs season-ending surgery. NFL News Relevant To The Cowboys As Sunday’s games began the Cowboys’ playoff hopes hung in the balance as elimination scenarios officially circled them. It’s another noon game for the Cowboys today in Carolina. Dallas will be looking to avoid official elimination from playoff contention. Here are the scenarios … DALLAS will be eliminated with:1) DAL loss + WAS win/tie2) DAL tie + WAS win — Damon R. Marx (@DamonMarxDMN) December 15, 2024 Dan Quinn delivering the final blow would be something. Up Next For The Cowboys The Cowboys are back at home

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images The Cowboys take on the Panthers in Week 15. The Dallas Cowboys take on the Carolina Panthers. Enjoy! This is an open thread for game chat.