Dallas Cowboys @ Carolina Panthers
Final Score: Panthers 30, Cowboys 27
Writer: Cody Parker @codyjparker
The Cowboys’ offense, paired with a putrid defense, is the gift that keeps on giving. Whether they’re facing high-quality opponents, such as the Packers or Eagles, or those of lower caliber, like the pre-Jaxson Dart Giants, the Cowboys tended to keep games both high-scoring and close. This game was more of the same. With another star turn from Rico Dowdle, this time in a revenge game, the Panthers were able to walk off the Cowboys with a Ryan Fitzgerald field goal.
Three Up
- Rico Dowdle — Coming off a 200-yard performance, there’s no way he’d do it again, right? With 239 all-purpose yards, Dowdle actually beat his total from a week ago. Chuba Hubbard will be back soon, but it’s hard to imagine the Panthers would go away from Dowdle, given his performance.
- George Pickens — It’s astonishing that Pickens wasn’t the player of the game. This was as impressive a WR performance as I’ve seen this season. CeeDee Lamb will likewise return (potentially as early as Week 7), but there’s enough here for both to eat, and Pickens has been too good to ignore.
- Jimmy Horn Jr. — Horn has played a limited role the past two weeks, but has made plays for the Panthers, something Carolina has lacked from WRs not named Tetairoa McMillan. It will be interesting to see if his role expands.
Three Down
- Jaydon Blue — Despite the season-ending Miles Sanders injury, Blue didn’t have much of a role. Javonte Williams is still the workhorse in Dallas.
- Jake Ferguson — Ferguson has played well, but his role has slightly diminished each of the past two weeks, and now he’s facing the return of Lamb. I believe Pickens will continue to produce when that happens, but it doesn’t leave a lot of room for others in this passing game.
- Chuba Hubbard — It’s unfortunate to see someone get Wally Pipped, but after back-to-back 200-yard performances, it seems inevitable that Hubbard’s role will diminish.
Carolina Panthers
Quarterback
Bryce Young: 17/25, 199 Yards, 3 TDs, INT | 3 Carries, 5 Yards
Despite the underwhelming numbers, I thought Bryce Young played pretty well in this game. The Panthers successfully took a run-first approach, and their low-volume pass game complemented that nicely. Young made quick and correct decisions, with a few highlight throws sprinkled in. While he’s been underwhelming to start the year, this performance more closely resembled the latter half passer, who had us excited going into the season. I’ve also felt Young has always been hampered by a lack of weapons, and that was very much the case in this game as well. Tetairoa McMillan and Rico Dowdle are important passing-game pieces for the Panthers, and Tommy Tremble also played well, but on most passing plays, those three were joined by Xavier Legette, Mitchell Evans, or Hunter Renfrow. Those three were nonfactors on the majority of plays, and combined for just four receptions. A defense’s job is a lot easier when they have to minimally account for 40% of the pass-catching personnel.
One note here: Young’s interception was very fluky. He hit McMillan on a slant route with an accurate pass. However, McMillan bobbled the ball directly into the hand of Cowboy safety Donovan Wilson. Live, I thought the pass was catchable, but potentially high. On rewatch, however, the ball was perfectly placed by Young in McMillan’s chest.
Running Back
Rico Dowdle: 30 Carries, 183 Yards | 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 56 Yards, TD
Breathtaking! I don’t know exactly what Carolina’s plans are when Chuba Hubbard returns, but I do know I couldn’t bring myself to take Dowdle off the field.
He was absolutely brilliant in this game. Dowdle showed decisiveness, impeccable vision, and shiftiness as a runner. One question I had about Dowdle heading into the season was long speed. Looking at the box score, Dowdle’s longest run being just 15 yards, might further that question. However, I thought Dowdle showed a really impressive burst. He routinely displayed speed in breaking out to the second level of the defense before encountering multiple defenders downfield. I have no question that Dowdle could have broken a long run had the opportunity presented itself.
Not only did Dowdle rush for 183 yards, but he was also Carolina’s leading receiver. A lot of that came on play, but that play was a tremendous one. This wasn’t a situation where a RB got loose on a screen pass, Dowdle displayed genuine route running, parlaying a play fake (to him) into breaking free on a wheel route. Dowdle has always had receiving skills, and those were on display in this game.
Trevor Etienne: 3 Carries, 17 Yards
Trevor Etienne carried the ball on each of the final non-kneel-down rushing attempts for the Panthers, but this appeared to be a case of Dowdle being gassed, understandably so, after carrying the ball 30 times, and the team on his back.
Deejay Dallas: 1 Carry, 0 Yards
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Tetairoa McMillan: 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 29 Yards, 2 TDs
Tetairoa McMillan recorded his lowest career receiving yard total by far, but made up for it by recording not just his first career TD, but his second as well. As stated earlier, McMillan made a huge mistake, but largely ran quality routes. This low yardage was also a result of a run-heavy game plan.
Jimmy Horn Jr.: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 38 Yards | 1 Carry, 11 Yards
Jimmy Horn Jr. played somewhat of a gadget, schemed-up touch role, but also made a remarkable downfield reception for 34 yards.
Xavier Legette: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 11 Yards
As much as I love Xavier Legette‘s accent, the Panthers continuing to play him seems like a sunk-cost fallacy at this point. Legette’s lack of consistent production could be justified if it came with the occasional big play, but it’s hard to call him a big-play threat when those haven’t come.
The impending return of Jalen Coker and Horn’s emergence threaten Legette’s playing time if he doesn’t improve.
Hunter Renfrow: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 7 Yards
Low volume, high impact! Hunter Renfrow‘s lone reception came on fourth-and-3, during the game-winning drive. This play was the difference in the game. Credit here is due to Young, who perfectly split Daron Bland and Kenneth Murray Jr. to advance the Panthers into field-goal range and milk the remaining clock.
Tommy Tremble: 4 Targets, 4 Receptions, 39 Yards
Tommy Tremble was another player I was impressed with. He was consistently open and displayed impressive ball skills for a TE. He stepped up in this game, as Young would have had very few outlets for open passes otherwise.
Mitchell Evans: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 21 Yards
Dallas Cowboys
Quarterback
Dak Prescott: 25/34 261 Yards, 3 TDs | 2 Carries, -1 Yard
Something I like to see from QBs is an avoidance of mistakes. That means not only no interceptions, but no sacks as well. Dak Prescott accomplished that in this game. Avoiding these blemishes goes a long way in winning games, but it wasn’t enough in this game.
Dak is having one of his best, if not the best, seasons, but will be on a fringe playoff team at best because his defense can’t stop anyone. Prescott played as clean of a pocket-passing game as you’ll see, but still fell short here. He’ll get Lamb back soon and see his weaponry boosted even further.
Running Back
Javonte Williams: 13 Carries, 29 Yards | 8 Targets, 5 Receptions, 5 Yards
Javonte Williams struggled in this game, but I didn’t feel it was a problem with him so much as consistently being contacted behind the line of scrimmage. The lack of burst and straight-line speed was noticeable on some plays, but that was always a known with Williams. The Panthers held De’Von Achane to just 16 rushing yards last week and acquitted themselves well against Dallas as well. This seemed more like a Panthers defense performance than a worrying sign for Williams.
While unproductive, Williams was very involved in the passing game and had the second-most targets on the team, behind only Pickens. The yardage total fell drastically when he lost 13 yards on consecutive receptions, a failed check-down, and a screen pass, respectively. He made the catch while simultaneously being tackled on both plays.
Jaydon Blue: 3 Carries, 0 Yards
Known for his receiving prowess at Texas, Jaydon Blue failed to record so much as a target. He got a few carries to spell Williams, but he didn’t look particularly good on those carries. He’s a long way from making an impact.
Hunter Luepke: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 7 Yards, TD
Wide Receiver/Tight End
George Pickens: 11 Targets, 9 Receptions, 168 Yards, TD
CeeDee who?
Was I impressed by a 168-yard game? Obviously. That said, it can’t be overstated just how complete this was as a receiving display. George Pickens won in all quadrants of the field. He won on crossing routes, short routes, or double moves. He showed outstanding ball skills, route running, and YAC ability. This was every bit a No. 1 WR performance.
I try my best to avoid the contract-year cliche, but Pickens is about to get himself paid!
Ryan Flournoy: 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 30 Yards | 1 Carry, 3 Yards
Ryan Flournoy had been deployed similarly to what the Panthers did with Horn, but his role has expanded with the Lamb injury, and while he had some gadget plays in this game, he also played a fair amount of outside receiver in this one.
I like him a lot! He’s a dynamic player, and while his route running is unrefined, his shiftiness makes up for it, and he’s a nice weapon to have on the field. I increasingly just like having players on the field who can make plays in space, and that is certainly something Flournoy can do. That would be especially interesting as a complement to Pickens and Lamb. It will be interesting to see what his role is going forward.
Jalen Tolbert: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 8 Yards
According to PFF, Jalen Tolbert actually ran the most routes on the team. Though the word “route” is doing a lot of heavy lifting when you’re targeted just once on 33 routes. The wind-sprint specialist is ostensibly a starter on the Cowboys, but Flournoy is a much more impressive weapon.
Jake Ferguson: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 33 Yards, TD
Jake Ferguson played well here and is a reliable short-yardage and checkdown option for Prescott. He simply came off the field a lot more than he previously had. Any fantasy managers who started him are happy due to the TD, but it may be worth lowering expectations moving forward.
Luke Schoonmaker: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 8 Yards
Brevyn Spann-Ford: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 8 Yards