Cat Scratch Reader
It turns out that winning is more fun than losing. Who knew? The Dallas Cowboys came into Bank of America Stadium with all the expectations that they were going to win this game, but they forgot to do one thing. The one thing that former Cowboy and current Carolina Panther Rico Dowdle told them they would have to do a week ago: they forget to buckle up.
No shame in that, I’m forgetful myself from time to time. But you can’t come to play the Panthers in Charlotte, North Carolina without being strapped in and ready to go and still expect to come away with a win. That’s why the Panthers are undefeated so far this season at home – they’re just that good.
Now, let me remove my tongue from my cheek for the rest of this week’s game review.
The Panthers thus far this season had struggled mightily with the concept of consistency. Yours truly wrote about it after a disappointing defeat against the New England Patriots. Versus the Cowboys, however, the Panthers seemingly took a big step forward in their consistency and ability to play complimentary football.
There are still mistakes here and there, but in the NFL what matters most is who can do right the longest and when it matters most. Let’s take a look at the areas the Panthers made progress on this week and how it helped them pull out the victory.
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way, the Panthers ran Rico Dowdle without mercy on Sunday. Dowdle set a personal record for most rushing attempts in a game (30) that led to the franchise record in yards from scrimmage with 239. Had Dowdle not been suffering from some calf cramps in the fourth quarter, he likely would have broken 200 yards rushing again – instead he had to settle for a measly 183 and the completed revenge narrative.
As a team, the Panthers managed 216 yards rushing on 38 carries. Being able to hand the ball off and reliably expect almost 6 yards a touch makes offensive football simpler. The whole playbook is available on every down, play-action works just a little bit better, offensive lineman are confident and out for blood after dishing out more pancakes than IHOP. Doesn’t hurt that it also kept the Cowboys top-ranked offense off the field and their bottom ranked defense on it.
Greg Olsen said it during the FOX broadcast, but the Cowboys were the most effective team in the NFL during the final two minutes of the 2nd and 4th quarters. No doubt the Panthers were aware of this, as the drives they orchestrated at the end of each half left no room for the Cowboys to sneak in a few points under the buzzer.
At the end of the first half, the Panthers bled all but 20 seconds off the clock with a 9 play, 29 yard drive that lasted 3:19....
