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.

Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images Who do you think wins between Dallas and Carolina? The Dallas Cowboys snapped their win streak with a boneheaded loss at home to the Cincinnati Bengals and now go on the road to face a scrappy Carolina Panthers team. Carolina is just 3-10, but they’re 2-3 in their last five games, and those losses have come by a combined 12 points. That’s a major factor in the Panthers being slightly favored to win this one, but our writers don’t necessarily agree with that. When Carolina has the ball Simulated pressures for days Bryce Young has been playing drastically better football since he came back into the starting lineup, and the young quarterback has been poised under pressure. The Panthers don’t exactly have a ton of weapons in the passing game, but Young has returned with a better feel for how to find his guys. The Mike Zimmer defense should give him trouble, though. Since Micah Parsons returned from injury, Dallas is sixth in EPA/dropback, and a big part of that is how creative Zimmer can get with his simulated pressure looks now. Zimmer should be able to make Young’s head spin at least enough times to force some errors in this one. When Dallas has the ball Run, Rico, run Last week, the Bengals came into the game with the second-worst scoring defense. Only the Panthers were worse, and they’re still giving up the most points per game. A big part of that is their run defense, which ranks dead last in rushing yards allowed per game; their 170.1 yards per game is 23 yards per game more than the 31st run defense. The Cowboys have stabilized their run game ever since they started consistently feeding Rico Dowdle, and last week he became the first Cowboy in two years to record consecutive 100+ rushing games. He should be able to hit three straight against this struggling Carolina front. Now onto the predictions from your BTB writers… Tom Ryle (8-5): I was thinking this was the only remaining game that Dallas could win, but I think I’m changing my mind. The loss of Overshown might be too big for the defense, and I’m not sure the offense can make up the slack. Add in the way they lost on Monday night, and it feels like the Panthers should win. Panthers win, 23-19. Matt Holleran (8-5): Before the season this was a game almost everyone circled as a guaranteed Cowboys win. As we now know, nothing is guaranteed with this team and it’s actually the Panthers not the Cowboys who are favored to win this matchup. Carolina has played much better football since inserting young QB Bryce Young back into the starting lineup. Carolina’s defense has also been much improved, allowing 22 points or fewer in three of their last five games. After a deflating loss on a short week I think Dallas comes into this game sleepwalking a bit. The Cowboys fall into an early defective that they’re unable to climb out of, even with a strong second half. Give me the Panthers, 24-17. Jess Haynie (10-3): Between the way they lost to the Bengals and the awful DeMarvion Overshown injury, this last one might have broken the Cowboys’ spirit. Now they have to go on the road on a short week, plus the Panthers have been showing heart lately. This last little flurry of fight from Dallas was cute, but the second wind is now probably out of their sails. Panthers 30, Cowboys 20. Mike Poland (6-7): The Cowboys have beaten the Panthers seven out of the last ten meetings. Yes, the Panthers of late have looked much better than how they started, but injuries are creeping in for them again. Two defensive backs, two of their linebackers and one pass rusher are impacted by injury this week. That’s on a defense that has the fewest pressures, allowed the rushing yards and has allowed the second-most passing touchdowns. It’s a tough matchup for the Panthers that has a rapidly ascending running back and CeeDee Lamb. Cowboys win 27-17. Dana Bartholomew (10-3): Although the Panthers are favored over the Cowboys as they have been putting up some tough fights against formidable opponents in their past few losses, there are some matchups in this game that heavily favor the Cowboys. The main one being Rico Dowdle vs. the Panthers’ run defense who is dead last in the NFL. If the Cowboys are able to exploit this match up while the defense keeps the Panthers’ scoring to a minimum, they should be able to defy the odds on Sunday and return to Dallas with a win. Give me the Cowboys to win this one, 20-17. Brian Martin (9-4): Watching the Panthers nearly upset the Eagles last week and then lose by only a field goal to both the Buccaneers and Chiefs in the weeks prior, this isn’t a team as bad as their record suggests. They are actually favored in this Week 16 matchup with the Cowboys and have the home field advantage. Because of all that, give me Carolina, 20-17. RJ Ochoa (9-4): Last week I thought it was insane that Cincinnati was as favored as they were against Dallas and then the Cowboys had the audacity to let the Bengals cover. In spite of this, I feel on some level like Dallas played the better game. Obviously they lost which opened the door (this is on them to be clear) for criticism against them and I think this has warped our current perception of them a little. Give me the Cowboys over the Panthers, a team who is certainly a little hot right now, by a somewhat comfy margin. David Howman (8-5): Neither of these teams are good, but they’ve both been playing feisty football lately to make this a surprisingly compelling matchup. I genuinely like what I’ve been seeing from Bryce Young lately, but facing off against a Mike Zimmer defense with Micah Parsons