CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle didn’t hesitate when asked what his postgame message to the Dallas Cowboys was after telling his former team to “buckle up” before Sunday’s 30-27 victory at Bank of America Stadium.
“They weren’t attached,” Dowdle deadpanned.
Not even close.
Dowdle recorded a team-high 239 yards from scrimmage against the team that opted not to re-sign him after the 2024 season, making him the seventh player in NFL history to total at least 230 yards from scrimmage in consecutive games.
His 473 scrimmage yards over the past two games shattered Christian McCaffrey’s two-game team record of 416 and helped Carolina (3-3) reach the .500 mark for the first time since going 5-5 in Week 10 of 2021.
Dowdle’s effort also opened up a conversation about who will start once Chuba Hubbard returns from a calf injury that has kept him sidelined the past two weeks.
“A great question,” coach Dave Canales said after Carolina improved to 3-0 at home this season with a road game against the 0-6 New York Jets. “We’ll figure that part out. But I know Rico does a great job and he’ll be a big part of what we do.
The Cowboys (2-3-1) and their league-worst defense weren’t ready for Dowdle from the start. Dowdle totaled 21 rushing yards on his first two carries and caught a 13-yard pass on Carolina’s fourth play to set up a field goal.
He received a 36-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bryce Young less than two minutes into the second half to give the Panthers a 20-17 lead. He celebrated this one by spinning the ball and then pretending to shovel dirt onto a grave.
Burying Dallas wouldn’t be as easy as Dowdle was battling defenders. The Panthers needed a 33-yard field goal from rookie Ryan Fitzgerald to earn the victory.
This is ultimately what Dowdle wanted most.
“Definitely,” said Dowdle, who spent his first five seasons in Dallas after being an undrafted free agent at South Carolina in 2020. “I said all week the bottom line is I just want to get this win.
“Big, big for me, but also big for the organization. Getting to .500 and protecting the field…I just have to keep building.”
Dowdle admitted the game was “a little personal” after the Cowboys failed to meet his financial demands following his first 1,000-yard rushing season a year ago.
Young, whose five touchdown passes in two tied games are the most he’s had in that span since he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, smiled when asked if he noticed the game meant more than usual to Dowdle.
“Yes, of course,” he said. “Rico is a competitor. It just speaks to the guy he is. We knew it was personal. We wanted to support him. He’s our brother. … If it’s personal for him, it’s personal for us.
It has almost become historic. Dowdle was 17 rushing yards away from becoming just the fifth player since 1970 to have 200 in consecutive games. OJ Simpson did it twice. Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams and Jay Ajayi have done it once each.
Dowdle’s 230-plus yards in consecutive games puts him in the company of Jim Brown (Browns), Walter Payton (Bears), Marshall Faulk (Rams), Deuce McAllister (Saints), Josh Gordon (Browns) and Le’Veon Bell (Steelers). This from a back who had 33 touches, 103 yards and a touchdown in the first four games.
“I didn’t realize that part,” Dowdle said of the historic nature of his feat, which included breaking McCaffrey’s single-game team record (237) for yards from scrimmage. “But it’s really special to be able to come here and go into the history books.”
But Dowdle wasn’t perfect. He took full responsibility for a lateral from receiver Xavier Legette that turned into a fumble, begging Legette to throw him the ball on a play that initially looked like a bad decision by the receiver.
“It’s my fault,” Dowdle said. “I told the coaches the same thing. [Coach] Told me not to make this stuff up.
Dowdle’s route that could land him in the starting lineup is something you can’t make up either. It’s something few, if any, expected when he signed a one-year, $3 million contract that could reach $6.5 million, with incentives to support Hubbard.
That certainly caught the attention of the Cowboys.
“He told us to buckle up,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “He had the last word.”
NFL Nation Cowboys reporter Todd Archer contributed to this report.
