Pic 6: Cowboys struggle to get run game going, George Pickens' historic day and more

Trench Battle

A lot of games are won at the line of scrimmage, and the Cowboys were able to overcome their struggles up front despite not playing their best games on both the offensive and defensive lines.

Javonte Williams came into the game red-hot with 447 rushing yards and averaging 5.7 yards per carry, but was taken out of the equation in his return to his home state. Williams finished with 13 carries for 29 yards (2.2 ypc) and five receptions for five yards in the receiving game

Defensively, Carolina's rushing attack had a field day on the Cowboys' defensive front, who had given up the third-most rushing yards in the league over the course of the last two weeks. The Panthers threw on 216 yards on the ground, 183 of which came from former Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle.

Expected, and Unexpected

Coming into Sunday afternoon, the Panthers defense was one of the worst in the league defending tight ends, allowing 401 yards and three touchdowns to them over the course of their previous five games.

So, it was no surprise that Dak Prescott was able to finally find Jake Ferguson up the seam for a 19-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The two had struggled to find cohesion on the connection that helped Ferguson earn a Pro Bowl nod in 2023, but were able to find it again on Sunday.

What maybe wasn't as expected by many was FB/TE Hunter Luepke getting his first career receiving touchdown earlier in the second quarter on the heels of a Donovan Wilson interception. It was just the second career offensive touchdown for Luepke, and it came on his second reception of the season.

A Historic Start

The Dak Prescott to George Pickens connection has been everything that the Cowboys had hoped for and then some since Dallas traded a third-round pick for him in the offseason.

On Sunday, Pickens caught his sixth touchdown pass of the season, tied for the most through a six-game stretch for a Cowboy with Dez Bryant accomplishing it back in 2013. It's also a new career high in touchdowns for Pickens, who scored five in his second season in Pittsburgh but no more in a season until now.

In CeeDee Lamb's absence, Pickens has stepped up big time for the Cowboys. With nine catches for 168 yards against Carolina, Pickens' season totals now rise to 525 yards and six receiving touchdowns, both of which lead the Cowboys offense in each category.

The Margins

Brian Schottenheimer has harped on the importance of the Cowboys winning the turnover battle every week. Over the course of the year, they're in the bottom half of the league in terms of the turnover margin with -3 going into Sunday, but for the third straight week Dallas finished in the positive.

It was Donovan Wilson's interception in the first quarter that was enough for Dallas to win the battle for the third straight week.

Ultimately, it wouldn't be enough to win the Cowboys the game but is one of the positives that they can take away defensively, and there haven't been many thus far.

Reason for Belief

Despite the tough start to the year for the Cowboys defense that has seen them give up 30 or more points in four of their first six games, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer still believes that Dallas has what they need to find success defensively.

"Yeah, absolutely. No question about it." Schottenheimer said when asked if the Cowboys had the defensive personnel necessary to run Eberflus' scheme.

He's not along in that thought, as quarterback Dak Prescott goes against them every day in practice and is seeing signs of growth.

"It's an iron sharpens iron mentality," Prescott said. "I understand the players and pieces they have over there. You see them getting better. They're getting better."

Last Laugh

Former Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle said earlier in the week that his former team would have to "buckle up" before facing him fresh off a career-high 206-yard rushing performance.

Dowdle backed up his words on Sunday, rushing for 183 yards and adding 56 in the receiving game to finish with a grand total of 239 yards of offense for Carolina. The exclamation point for Dowdle came on the first drive of the second half for Carolina, where a miscommunication in the Cowboys' secondary left Dowdle wide open, and Bryce Young found him for a 36-yard touchdown.

"Great job tonight, great job last week," Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said when asked what his message would be for his former teammate. "He told us to buckle up, and he got the last laugh."