At the start of the season, the Dallas Cowboys couldn’t find a way to establish the run on offense nor stop it on defense. In a 30-14 win over the Carolina Panthers, they did both.
Rico Dowdle went over 100 yards on the ground for the third straight week with a career-high 149 yards on 25 carries. It marks the first time a Dallas running back has had three straight 100-yard games since Ezekiel Elliott did so in 2019.
“Just a combination of his running style and the run blocking unit, I think they’re definitely in sync,” head coach Mike McCarthy said when asked what’s clicked for Dowdle after some early struggles running the ball. “He’s doing a really good job, breaks tackles, has a violent run style, but his courses and his decision-making has been excellent.”
Coming into the game, Dowdle led the league in rushing yards over the last two weeks with 243. It’s likely that he’ll lead the league in rushing yards over the last three weeks as well with his total climbing to 392. Not only is he putting up big numbers in that time span, he’s also having some of the most fun he’s ever had in his career.
“Probably not, honestly,” Dowdle said when asked if he’s ever had this much fun running the ball. “Maybe high school. … Lot of touchdowns, that’s the only thing I’m missing right now, but it’s definitely a great time.”
Once again, Dowdle’s rushing performance came behind some movement up front on the offensive line. Chuma Edoga was out briefly with an ankle injury with Tyler Guyton replacing him. Then, T.J. Bass was quickly ruled out with a thigh injury he sustained in the fourth quarter, and Edoga took over for him at right guard. Nonetheless, all the credit still went to the guys up front.
“Those guys are playing violent up front, they’re moving people off the ball,” Dowdle said. “When they’re doing that, it makes it easy for me. They’re making my job really easy right now.”
Earlier last week, Dowdle had made it clear that he’s got his eyes set on a 1,000-yard rushing season. Sunday’s performance gets him to 880 yards on the year, and he’s confident he can finish the job.
“Closing in, definitely feels good, definitely want to hit that milestone in my first year being a starter,” Dowdle said. “Definitely going to get it.”
On the defensive side, six days removed from a gut-wrenching season-ending injury to DeMarvion Overshown, the Cowboys linebackers made sure there was no drop-off in explosive plays.
Eric Kendricks and Marist Liufau accounted for two of Dallas’ four turnovers, with Liufau punching a fumble out from Bryce Young in the first quarter and Kendricks being in the right spot at the right time for an interception on a pass broken up by Jourdan Lewis.
“It’s all about responding” Liufau said. “It shows you how many competitors we have in the room, and how great our competitors are by responding after a loss and doing what we did today.”
Liufau is the latest example of a young player for Dallas’ defense that has made the most of his opportunity to start. He added five tackles to his performance on Sunday, a week after generating 1.5 sacks in Overshown’s place against the Bengals.
“I got a blessing to start on defense the whole game, and so whenever you have opportunities to get on the field and compete and make plays, man, it feels awesome.” Liufau said.
With the help of their linebackers, the Dallas defense held Chuba Hubbard to 32 yards rushing, his second lowest output of the season. The effort that both Kendricks and Liufau showed to get to this point both physically and emotionally speaks volumes and translates well for the Cowboys defense as they continue to improve down the stretch.
“What Eric Kendricks is, what he’s gone through and for him to be here today I think just speaks volumes about him as a man,” McCarthy said of his veteran linebacker who did not practice all week, but still played.
“And then Marist to be able to train at both positions throughout the week, there’s so much that goes into the preparation of all this, and I’m just so proud of those guys.”