Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle continues to make the most of his opportunity as Chuba Hubbard's placeholder. On Sunday, Dowdle put together another masterful performance as Carolina's lead running back against none other than his former team, the Dallas Cowboys.
Dowdle had an axe to grind with the Cowboys, who let him walk in the 2025 free agency. After four seasons with Dallas, Dowdle took his talents to the NFC South division, as he inked a one-year contract worth $2.75 million with the Panthers.
Dowdle was primarily signed by Carolina to serve as a backup to Hubbard, but he's been nothing but incredible for the Panthers of late. With Hubbard out with a calf injury for the second game in a row, Dowdle punished the Cowboys' defense for 183 rushing yards on 30 carries in a 30-27 Carolina win at home. In addition, the former South Carolina Gamecocks star led the Panthers with 56 receiving yards and a touchdown on four catches and five targets.
Dallas clearly had no answer for the 27-year-old Dowdle, who had a perfect reaction to his dominating performance in Week 6.
“They wasn’t buckled up,” Dowdle said of the Cowboys, per Jon Machota of The Athletic.
That was a reference to Dowdle warning Dallas last week, saying that “They gotta buckle up.”
Dallas could have used someone like Dowdle in Week 6, as the Cowboys coughed up just 31 rushing yards on 19 carries against the Panthers. Javonte Williams, whom Dallas signed to a one-year contract in March, mustered only 29 rushing yards on 13 attempts.
It is unclear when Hubbard will return to action. For what it's worth, he did not practice at all in the lead-up to the Cowboys game.
But even if Hubbard gets cleared for Week 7's game away from home against the stumbling New York Jets, Dowdle has certainly shown enough to warrant continued ample usage in Carolina's offense.
That is a good problem to have for Carolina, with two reliable running backs both deserving major shares in touches out of the backfield.
Dowdle now leads the Panthers this season with 472 rushing yards and two touchdowns through six outings, while Hubbard has 217 rushing yards and zero scores in four games.
