Considering how their Monday Night Football game ended, the Dallas Cowboys' performance against the Carolina Panthers was a welcomed response. They battled Cincinnati, losing because of a late special teams mistake following a blocked punt. That loss, plus the season-ending injuries to DeMarvion Overshown and Trevon Diggs, could have sunk the season, but Dallas continues to play hard and win games to keep their fleeting playoff hopes alive.
The defense continues to play well despite losing Overshown and Diggs. The run game improves weekly as Rico Dowdle gets more attempts every game. The passing game relies on its star performer and no turnovers that give away the game. The Cowboys had many players who were playing like studs but were beaten out by better performances. Cooper Rush and Micah Parsons are perfect examples. Parsons had eight pressures, two sacks, and a force fumble. Rush had three touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 119 quarterback rating. Neither made the list.
When the Cowboys play well in all three phases, they have a roster good enough to win games. The Panthers have been playing better recently, but the Cowboys were able to overwhelm them in the second half. Here are the studs and duds from the contest.
Last season was a breakout year for CeeDee Lamb. He caught 135 passes for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns. 2024 might have cemented him in Tier 1 of all receivers in footbal; thanks to his ability to produce as the only great weapon, and in an offense without quarterback Dak Prescott. For weeks now Lamb could've been sitting out with injuries, but instead he's stepped up even more.
Lamb took this game over to start the second quarter, keeping drives alive with third-down conversions. All 62 of his yards were gained on the money down. He got 20 yards on a 3rd-and-8, 28 more on 3rd-and-3, and a 14-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-4 to put Dallas up 7-0. It was a lead they'd never relinquish.
Lamb ended the game with nine receptions on 13 targets for 116 yards and a touchdown. He went over the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth straight season, joining Michael Irvin as the only Cowboys player to do so. The 88 club is in good hands with Lamb.
Up 10-0 and in the red zone with under a minute left in the first half, disaster struck. On 3rd-and-1 and going against the worst rush defense in the league, Dallas could've handed the ball to a running back averaging 4.5 yards per attempt. Mike McCarthy decided to call a play-action pass instead, and Rush lost the ball on the fake to Dowdle. DJ Johnson recovered, stopping the Cowboys from putting any more points on the board.
The defense made it worse by allowing Bryce Young to hit an 83-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Coker the next play. The outside corner blew coverage, and the receiver outran Donovan Wilson for the score. From a possible 17-0 halftime score to 10-7, that two-play sequence could've completely ruined the game for Dallas going farther.
Osa Odighizuwa is on a contract year and trying to earn a big contract, whether back in Dallas or elsewhere. Hiring Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator set Odighizuwa back a little because Zimmer was accustomed to playing bigger defensive tackles inside. The defensive philosophy was changing from Dan Quinn's aggressive, up-the-field approach to a hold-the-point, stop-the-run-first style, and Odighizuwa's size wasn't ideal for that new style.
Odighizuwa was a force against the Panthers with a strip sack that led to a Dallas touchdown, and a game-high four QB hits. He made the single biggest play of the game, changing the momentum back on the first play of the second half by causing a fumble while bringing down Young for a sack. Dallas scored five plays later, and the game was never close after that point.
It's been another week of the Cowboys showing poor discipline. From the first drive, when an illegal formation penalty took away a 25-yard screen to Lamb, the Cowboys had penalty problems. Dallas won the time of possession and turnover battles and went 75% in the red zone. The Cowboys averaged more yards per rush attempt than Carolina did yards per play.
This game was only close as long as it was because Dallas couldn't get out of its own way. They ended the contest with 14 penalties for 99 yards. The Panthers had a bad game and only had eight penalties for 65 yards. In the final year of his five-year deal, McCarthy needed to clean up an issue they'd had for all five years, during which he was the head coach. Penalties were the weak spot of the team in a convincing win, something they can hopefully clean up in the last few games.
Since Dowdle's illness caused him to miss the game against the San Francisco 49ers, he has been second in the league in rushing yards to MVP candidate Saquon Barkley. Dowdle has 392 yards over the last three games, the most since Ezekiel Elliott in 2018. Dowdle has been one of the most productive runners in the league since being used as the lead back.
On Sunda he had a career-high in attempts (25) and yards (149), and continued to increase his per-attempt average, getting to six yards an attempt against the Panthers. He is only 120 yards from his first 1,000-yard season.
He wasn't just a good rusher versus Carolina. His blitz pick-up set up the game's first score, Rush hitting Lamb for the 14-yard TD.
Three more games of 100 yards and a few more touchdowns, and Dowdle could be looking at his first significant payday. The fans can only wonder what would have been if he got 15 or more attempts every game in 2024.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or YouTube on the Across the Cowboys Podcast.