Unbuckled: Dowdle backs up talk, rolls Cowboys

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers moving backmost Rico Dowdle didn't hesitate erstwhile asked what his postgame connection was to the Dallas Cowboys aft telling his erstwhile squad to "buckle up'' heading into Sunday's 30-27 triumph astatine Bank of America Stadium.

"They wasn't buckled up,'' Dowdle deadpanned.

Not adjacent close.

Dowdle had a team-record 239 scrimmage yards against the squad that chose not to re-sign him aft the 2024 season, making him the seventh subordinate successful NFL past to person astatine slightest 230 scrimmage yards successful consecutive games.

His 473 scrimmage yards the past 2 games smashed the squad two-game grounds of 416 held by Christian McCaffrey and helped Carolina (3-3) scope the .500 people for the archetypal clip since it was 5-5 successful Week 10 of the 2021 season.

Dowdle's effort besides opened up the speech of who volition commencement erstwhile Chuba Hubbard returns from a calf wounded that has sidelined him the past 2 weeks.

"A large question,'' manager Dave Canales said aft Carolina improved to 3-0 astatine location this play with a roadworthy crippled against the winless New York Jets (0-6) next. "We're going to fig that portion out. But I cognize Rico is doing a large job, and helium volition beryllium a large portion of what we're doing.''

The Cowboys (2-3-1) and the league's worst defence weren't acceptable for Dowdle from the outset. Dowdle had 21 yards rushing connected his archetypal 2 carries and caught a 13-yard walk connected Carolina's 4th play to acceptable up a tract goal.

He had a 36-yard touchdown walk from backmost Bryce Young little than 2 minutes into the 2nd fractional to enactment the Panthers up 20-17. He celebrated that 1 by spinning the shot and past pretending to shovel ungraded connected a grave.

Burying Dallas wouldn't beryllium arsenic casual arsenic Dowdle bowling implicit defenders seemed. The Panthers needed a walk-off 33-yard tract extremity by rookie Ryan Fitzgerald to get the win.

That's yet what Dowdle wanted the most.

"Definitely,'' said Dowdle, who spent his archetypal 5 seasons successful Dallas aft being an undrafted escaped cause retired of South Carolina successful 2020. "I've been saying each week the main happening is I conscionable wanted to get that win.

"Big, large for me, but besides large the organization. Getting to .500 and protecting the location tract . . . conscionable got to support building.''

Dowdle admitted the crippled was "a small personal'' aft the Cowboys didn't conscionable his fiscal demands aft his archetypal 1,000 gait rushing play a twelvemonth ago.

Young, whose 5 touchdown passes successful 2 games tied for the astir he's had implicit that span since being the apical prime of the 2023 draft, smiled erstwhile asked if helium noticed the crippled meant much than mean to Dowdle.

"Yeah, of course,'' helium said. "Rico is simply a competitor. That conscionable speaks to the dawg helium is. We knew it was personal. We wanted to person his back. That's our brother. . . . If it's idiosyncratic to him, it's idiosyncratic to us.''

It astir became historical. Dowdle was 17 yards rushing shy of becoming lone the 5th subordinate since 1970 to person 200 successful consecutive games. O.J. Simpson did it twice. Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams and Jay Ajayi did it erstwhile each.

Dowdle's 230-plus yards successful consecutive games enactment him successful the institution of Jim Brown (Browns), Walter Payton (Bear...