On Sunday afternoon, the Carolina Panthers will take the field on the road against the Green Bay Packers, in search of their fifth win of the season. Last week, Carolina dropped a blowout loss at home to the Buffalo Bills, and will look to avoid a similar fate on the road against an elite Green Bay team.
Much has been made this year about the seeming competition for the number one running back position for the Panthers between Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard. Both backs have had big games so far this year, and on Sunday, the team announced which would be getting the starting nod in the game against Green Bay.
“The #Panthers have acknowledged that Rico Dowdle is expected to start today,” reported Mike Kaye of the Charlotte Observer on X, formerly Twitter.
As previously mentioned, Dowdle has put together several big games this year, including rushing for 206 yards and a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins, and then following that up with 183 yards against his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, in what was something of a revenge game.
Meanwhile, the Panthers as a whole have performed above expectations this year, currently sitting at 4-4 in a season in which they were expected by many to be among the worst teams in the NFL. In fact, last week's defeat against Buffalo was the first time that the Panthers have lost at home all year.
Things haven't gone as well for Carolina on the road, as they've already suffered multiple blowout losses away from home, and they'll look to avoid that fate on Sunday against a Packers team that seems to be rounding back into form after a slow couple of weeks.
In any case, the Panthers and Packers are set to kick things off at 1:00 PM ET on Sunday from Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
