When you have the No. 1 offense and a last-place defense, every game can be a rollercoaster ride. And though Dak Prescott and his troops had put the Dallas Cowboys in the win column in previous outings, this time they couldn't make up for a leaky defensive unit as the Carolina Panthers pulled out the victory, 30-27.
Panthers running back Rico Dowdle had warned his former Cowboys teammates that they had better "buckle up." He wasn't lying. After running for 206 yards last weekend, he picked up right where he left off against a Dallas defense that struggled to stop both Carolina's ground and aerial attacks.
Dowdle finished the game with 186 rushing yards on 30 tries, a 6.1 yards per carry average. In doing so, he became the first former Cowboy to rush for more than 100 yards against his former team.
Not that the Dallas defense did much better against the Carolina passing game. Bryce Young threw for 199 yards with three touchdowns and an interception for a 114.8 rating. Dowdle added to that effort with another 56 receiving yards for his second straight game with more than 200 yards from scrimmage.
Meanwhile, Prescott and his side of the ball tried to do their part. The star quarterback completed 73.5 percent of his passes for 261 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 124.8 passer rating. He and George Pickens were simply on a different level than everyone else, as they connected nine times for 168 yards and a touchdown.
And Prescott had to do the heavy lifting for the offense because the rushing effort was anemic. Javaonte Williams managed only 29 yards on 13 carries while the group as a whole averaged just 1.6 yards per attempt.
Overall, the Cowboys were outgained 410 to 292 and came up short in the time of possession, 32:02 to 27:58.
First Quarter
After the Cowboys went a quick three-and-out, the team was perhaps fortunate to be down only 3-0 once Carolina was done with its opening turn. Behind Dowdle's 42 yards from scrimmage and a 21-yard pass to tight end Mitchell Evans, the Panthers got down to Dallas' 13-yard line. But there the defense stood its ground, forcing the home side to settle for a 31-yard field goal.
However, it didn't take long for Prescott and the offense to get going as the Cowboys tied the game with a 10-play, 68-yard drive. The highlight moment came when Pickens grabbed a Prescott pass, hurdled a Carolina defender and raced down the left sideline to the Panthers' 8 for a 31-yard gain. Despite having first-and-goal, though, Dallas also was forced to kick a field goal, the 23-yarder evening things up, 3-3.
And thanks to the defense, the Cowboys soon had the ball back. Late in the first quarter, Carolina had a first-and-10 at its own 41, but Young's pass went off the hands of his target, Tetairoa McMillan, and into the diving arms of Donovan Wilson. The safety then got up and ran the ball down to the Panthers' 12-yard line.
Second Quarter
The drive wrapped up on the Cowboys' first snap of the second frame. With Dallas facing a fourth-and-1 at the 3-yard line, Prescott found Hunter Luepke wide open on the left side of the end zone for the game's first touchdown and the first scoring catch of the fullback's career.
Regardless, Dowdle was proving to be a tough customer as he picked up 31 more rushing yards on Carolina's next series. But it was a 19-yard pass to McMillan that got the Panthers across the goal line, again tying the score, 10-10.
No matter, Prescott was really heating up now. He completed 8 of 9 passes for 68 yards on the Cowboys' next possession, the last of which was a 19-yard completion to tight end Jake Ferguson for the touchdown. Perhaps more impressive, on fourth-and-4 at the Panthers' 30-yard line, head coach Brian Schottenheimer elected to go for it instead of turning to trusted kicker Brandon Aubrey. The decision paid off with an 8-yard pass from Prescott to Pickens and the eventual score.
Carolina was able to add three more points before the half with a 55-yard field goal, but the Cowboys still went into the break with a 17-13 lead.
Third Quarter
This seesaw affair wasn't anywhere close to being done, though. Miscommunication again seemed to plague the Dallas secondary as on the first play of the third quarter, Carolina wideout Jimmy Horn was left wide open for a 34-yard gain. The four-play, 80-yard drive then came to an end when Dowdle got behind the defense on a wheel route for a 36-yard touchdown pass.
So now it was Prescott's turn. He led his men on a six-play, 73-yard series that saw him complete 4 of 5 passes, three of which were thrown to Pickens. That included the touchdown toss when the quarterback found his target streaking across the middle. Pickens then turned on the jets and darted through the Carolina defense to pay dirt, Dallas back on top 24-20.
Fourth Quarter
Despite the offense's continued success, at this point the Dallas defense seemingly had no solutions for stopping the Panthers when they had the ball. As the clock ticked over into the fourth quarter, Dowdle continued to pound away at their forces, rushing five times for 37 yards. The scoring honors, though, would go to McMillan, who got his second touchdown to provide Carolina with another lead.
Who would blink first? The Cowboys nearly did, but on a third-and-5 at his own 35-yard line, Prescott again connected with Pickens, who spun away from the defense for a 45-yard gain. Dallas went on to get to the Panthers' 8 but that would be it, and Aubrey had to come out for a 28-yard field goal to tie the game, 27-27.
When the Cowboys defense then finally – finally! – got a three-and-out stop, it seemed that would be the break the team needed. But unable to take advantage, the Dallas offense then had to punt for only the third time all game.
Meaning, the defense desperately needed another stop.
They couldn't get it.
It looked like the Cowboys actually did when a Carolina pass on third-and-7 at its own 17-yard line fell incomplete, but a pass interference penalty on Kaiir Elam moved the chains and the possession continued. And later in the series, another Young attempt was no good on third-and-4 at the Dallas 40-yard line, but the Panthers converted the fourth down try to keep the drive alive as the clock hit the two-minute warning.
When Carolina then picked up a first down at the Dallas 12-yard line with 1:01 remaining, and the Cowboys out of timeouts, Young simply kneeled the ball twice to run the time down to three seconds. Ryan Fitzgerald then kicked the 33-yard field goal as the clock hit zeroes to capture the 30-27 win.
