CHARLOTTE, N.C — Former Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle spoke to a few former teammates before Sunday’s 30-27 win for his Carolina Panthers. He gave Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele a handshake and a hug. He also went up to safety Donovan Wilson and chatted with him, though there probably wasn’t much to say by the time Sunday’s game came around.
Dowdle, fresh off the best game of his life last Sunday, made it known that his former teammates should “buckle up” for his reunion against them. A week later, he backed it up.
Dowdle ran through the Cowboys’ defense early and often on Sunday. He was the central part of the Panthers’ offense, finishing with 30 carries for 183 yards. He also had four catches for 56 yards and a touchdown.
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“I know I said those comments. I talked to a couple of guys out there and they know I meant no harm by it,” Dowdle said after the game. “That’s me, I just always talk and joke around with them, and things like that.”
Dowdle then seemingly had one more parting joke for his former teammates: “They wasn’t buckled up.”
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It seems that the only way the Cowboys can limit Dowdle is to have him on their roster, where he made 15 starts in 52 appearances.
“This was the same guy as last week,” said Panthers head coach Dave Canales. “Ran with violence, had a plan, a man on a mission who wants to make yards and really take our schemes and make them come alive.
“He’s human. I’m sure there are emotions coming from his former team and all that, so I will acknowledge that part of it, but I didn’t see a difference from what I saw last week.”
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The same can be said about a Cowboys’ run defense that’s seemingly taken a turn for the worse over the last two weeks. The Cowboys have allowed 360 yards on 60 carries against the Jets and Panthers combined — an average of six yards per carry.
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Dowdle, alone, averaged 6.1 yards per carry on Sunday.
“He did what he said he was going to do,” said Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas. “He had 200-and-some yards. Kudos to him. We’ve got to be better.”
Thomas was even asked if Dowdle’s “buckle up” comments made it harder to deal with what transpired on Sunday. Thomas said no. So did fellow safety Markquese Bell, repeatedly, standing next to Thomas.
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“That game is over with now. That’s behind me. He did what he did, so kudos to him.”
Cowboys defensive tackle Kenny Clark said the Panthers lived up to their expectations. There weren’t surprises.
“We’ve just got to clean it up,” he said.
As frustrating as that lesson was to experience on Sunday.
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“It’s frustrating. You want to stop the run,” Clark said. “You want to get them in passing situations. When we did, we were able to get stops, but they was able to stay on first and second down most of the day.”
Dowdle’s comments carried the conversation about the game all week. They even made their way to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He was asked about it before the game on 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM).
“I can’t even get our guys to come to the field they’re shaking so bad,” he said jokingly.
By the end of the game, the Cowboys’ run defense against Dowdle was no laughing matter.
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