10 thoughts on the Cowboys expected, but still satisfying 30-14 win over the Panthers

The Dallas Cowboys won another football game. Yes, it was against the lowly three-win Carolina Panthers, but it still counts. This isn’t good news if you were holding out for a great draft pick, but if you like watching your team win, today was a good day for you. It took a bit, but the Cowboys started getting things going on offense and defense. Here are 10 thoughts on the Cowboys 30-14 win over the Panthers.

1. NORTH AND SOUTH RICO

For the third-straight game, Rico Dowdle set a new career-high for rushing yards. Against the Panthers, Dowdle had 25 carries for 149 yards (6.0 ypc). He is averaging over 130 yards per game in that span. Every week he looks better. Dowdle is running with more energy, showing great shiftiness, and has become a hard north-and-south runner. He’s been the team’s grinder and it’s worked well.

2. ANOTHER SHUFFLE FOR THE OLINE

What makes Dowdle’s resurgence even more impressive is how the Cowboys are pulling this off with a banged-up offensive line. Every week they are dealing with a new injury. They started the day down two starters, Zack Martin (out for the year) and Cooper Beebe (concussion). This week, backup guard T.J. Bass got hurt forcing the team to shuffle once again. Left tackle Chuma Edoga moved to right guard and rookie Tyler Guyton took his spot at left tackle. Surprisingly, the offensive line held things together well with Dowdle running and Cooper Rush only getting sacked once. Not too shabby.

3. LAMB IS SPECIAL

Even without Dak Prescott throwing him the ball, CeeDee Lamb is a star. He finished the game with nine catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. It was his first 100-yard performance since Rush took over at quarterback. On the Cowboys’ first scoring drive, it was all Lamb as he accounted for 62 of the team’s 77 yards. He only had three catches, but he had to work for them as a couple of passes were underthrown. It didn’t matter though as Lamb made the necessary adjustments and came away with the catch. The Cowboys were finally in business.

4. COSTLY SWING

With the first half winding down, it looked like the Cowboys were on the cusp of scoring a touchdown and going up 17-0 in the game. But just before we could get excited, things took a bad turn when Rush fumbled the ball. The Panthers jumped on it ending the Cowboys’ possession. Then, on their very next play, Bryce Young found Jalen Coker wide-open for an 83-yard touchdown. Instead of 17-0, it was a 10-7 game.

5. RETURNING THE FAVOR

Just as quickly as the Panthers shifted the momentum at the end of the first half, they immediately gave it back when they fumbled on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. Osa Odighizuwa got to Young causing the ball to come loose. Chauncey Golston was quick to pounce on it. Five plays later, the Rush found Jalen Tolbert in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Just like that, the Cowboys were back up by 10.

6. THE TWO JALENS

That’s right. You heard correctly. Tolbert scored a touchdown. It’s been an underwhelming season for the team’s third-year wide receiver. He hasn’t had a game with more than three catches since October and his biggest play came on the game-winning catch against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But now he has another big play as he hauled in a nice touchdown catch while keeping both feet in bounds. It was his only catch of the game, but it was a big one. Speaking of his only catch, his teammate Jalen Brooks also had a catch, and it too went for a touchdown, the first of his career. It was nice to see either of these two do something meaningful as these plays have been few and far between from the Cowboys’ depth receivers.

7. THE 70-YARD ATTEMPT

Mike McCarthy had chances to allow Cowboys’ kicker Brandon Aubrey to attempt a record-breaking field against the New York Giants on Thanksgiving inside a warm, turfed stadium such as AT&T, but he chose not to each time. Against Carolina, one of those opportunities showed up as he had a chance to kick a 70-yarder right before the end of the first half. Sadly, the kick never had a chance. It was wide left and considerably short. The Panthers tried to return it, but it didn’t turn into anything. Oh well, it was still fun to watch.

8. MICAH AND FRIENDS

Bryce Young had a rough game. He was sacked six times. The Cowboys pass rush gave him all sorts of fits as five different players recorded a sack. But most of the damage came from the Cowboys defensive linemen from their 2021 draft class – Micah Parsons, Osa Odighizuwa, and Chauncy Goltson. They each had four tackles in this game and at least one sack (Parsons had two). They were stripping the ball, pouncing on fumbles, and just creating all types of problems for Young.

9. A GOOD GAME FROM LIUFAU

The injury to DeMarvion Overshown was devastating news last week as it will sideline one of the team’s top young defenders for quite some time. With Overshown out of action, it meant more snaps for rookie linebacker Marist Liufau, and he took full advantage. Liufau finished the game tied for the team lead in tackles and had a couple of splash plays. He had a tackle for a loss as well as a forced fumble when he punched the ball out of Young’s hands. We miss Overshown deeply, but it was a good showing for the rook and adds some hope that he can be more of a contributor going forward.

10. MAKES LAST WEEK STING EVEN MORE

It’s always nice to see the team play well, and winning football games is good. Even though the season feels lost, we can’t help wondering what could have been. The Cowboys have now won three of their last four and were so close last week. Imagine how much different things would be if Amani Oruwariye didn’t touch the ball on that blocked punt last week. The Cowboys would be riding a four-game winning streak and sit a 7-7 with a real shot at making the playoffs. And people would be spending next week talking about how resilient the Cowboys are. Oh well.