Tag: Dallas Cowboys vs Carolina Panthers

LOOK: Pollard’s strong drive ends when Prescott hits TE for early Cowboys lead

Dallas gets on the board first in Carolina.

Dak Prescott is continuing where he left off against the New York Giants in Week 10. Now in Carolina, the MVP candidate has put the pressure on the Panthers early with a touchdown on the club’s second drive.

The teams traded punts on the opening possessions, putting Dallas at their own 17-yard line to restart things for the offense. RB Tony Pollard, who hasn’t had the type of year he hoped for as the new No. 1 back, opened things off with a reception for 12 yards. He chipped in another 12 yards in back-to-back runs before later getting around the right edge on a pin-and-pull for 22 yards.

Now in the red zone, it took just two plays for Prescott to capitalize, finding rookie TE Luke Schoonmaker up the seam for the 18-yard score.

Twitter reacts to big Cowboys, Jimmy Johnson announcement: ‘It’s about time!’

Cowboys Nation and national observers all had similar reactions to the news that Johnson will finally be honored. | From @KDDrummondNFL

Finally. After all these years, Jimmy Johnson is finally going to get the respect he deserves from the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Buzz started to circulate among the Cowboys media and as everything in the world today, Twitter quickly disseminated the information to the general public. Ahead of kickoff for Week 11, on the road in Carolina, Jerry Jones finally gave in.

Jones announced a press conference for 25 minutes before kickoff and when Johnson appeared with him on the field at Bank of America Stadium, it was obvious what was happening. Johnson will be enshrined in the club’s Ring of Honor during halftime of the team’s December 30 bout with the Detroit Lions. Finally.

Johnson was Jones’ first coach as owner of the Dallas Cowboys, and they won two Super Bowl’s together. But the relationship soon soured and Jones fired Johnson, winning a third Super Bowl two years later with Barry Switzer as his head coach.

Though the two eventually repaired their relationship, Jones has refused to put Johnson in the storied Ring of Honor, despite Johnson being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020. The delay has angered Cowboys fans, whose greatest memories involve Johnson leading the charge. As expected, Twitter responded with a hugh sigh of relief at the news, and the potential for the curse to be broken.

Week 11 Inactives: Rico Dowdle to play, Vaughn out as Cowboys full-force in Carolina

The Cowboys are 100% vs. Panthers as running back Rico Dowdle is active, while Carolina is dealing with multiple injured starters. | From @cdburnett7

CHARLOTTE – The Dallas Cowboys enter their Week 11 bout without any major injury issues among their 53-man roster. Bank of America Stadium, filled with Dallas fans, will get to see the Cowboys playing with their full hand.

After concern surrounding running back Rico Dowdle, listed as questionable earlier on Sunday, the Dallas running back is active on the road as he looks to continue to prove himself in 2023.

It’s very different on the Panthers side, who are dealing with key injuries on both sides of the ball. Starting tight end Hayden Hurst is out while starting cornerback C.J. Henderson will also miss the contest. Young CB Jaycee Horn will not return to the field this week, either.

The odds were already stacked for the ‘road’ team, but it keeps piling on. Cowboys-Panthers kicks off at noon p.m. CT, televised on FOX.

Reports: Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle downgraded to questionable for Week 11 at Carolina

From @ToddBrock24f7: Last week’s breakout RB apparently aggravated an ankle injury in a Saturday workout and is now a 50/50 proposition in Carolina.

After an exclamation-point performance versus the Giants in Week 10, Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle is now a surprise question mark for the Week 11 tilt in Charlotte.

Dowdle, who appeared on the week’s practice reports with some sort of ankle injury but was still listed as a full participant, was suddenly given a game-day designation for Sunday. The fourth-year back is now officially questionable for the early-afternoon meeting with the Carolina Panthers.

According to reports, Dowdle aggravated the ankle during a workout on Saturday, prompting the downgrade.

During the Cowboys’ 49-17 win last week, the South Carolina product rushed 12 times for 79 yards and a touchdown.

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If it is determined that Dowdle cannot go against the Panthers, rookies Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke could see an uptick in usage behind starter Tony Pollard. Malik Davis is also on the practice squad and has two game-day elevations remaining.

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How the Cowboys can keep rolling against the Panthers and beyond

In some games, a win isn’t just about the scoreboard. Here’s how Dallas stays hot in Carolina and into the Thanksgiving stretch. | From @cdpiglet

The Cowboys have escalated their play each contest since the terrible performance in San Francisco in Week 5. They have gone 3-1 since, a close game in Philadelphia being their only loss. The offense has finally caught up to the defense and special teams, making them a formidable team for opponents.

This week is the type of game Dallas has struggled with in the past. An early game on the East Coast against an opponent who has no playoff chances but will look to play at a higher level in this game because of all the eyes the Cowboys bring to the table. They even had a few extra days to prepare as their Week 10 game was Thursday night. Mike McCarthy, Dan Quinn, and Dak Prescott must have the team ready to match the opponent’s energy.

The last game versus the New York Giants and this one against the Carolina Panthers are about more than just winning on the scoreboard. They are a chance to build momentum, and the definition of winning is more than scoring more points than the opponent. Getting Brandin Cooks involved in the offense, getting a bounce-back game for Terence Steele, or bringing back Michael Gallup’s confidence could be more of a win than just the final score. Here is how Dallas leaves Carolina with a victory and remains hot going into the upcoming Thanksgiving gauntlet.

 

Cowboys 53-man roster for Week 11: LB need forces rookie to IR

A look at the Cowboys’ roster they’ll choose to go to battle with against the Carolina Panthers in Week 11. | From @KDDrumondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys had to juggle their roster a bit on Saturday, despite having a clean bill of health for the players on their 53-man roster. Ahead of their Week 11 matchup with the Carolina Panthers, the club added linebacker Rashaan Evans to the 53-man roster. Evans, signed following the initial move of Leighton Vander Esch to IR last month, has been active each of the last three games. However, that was as a practice squad player who had to be elevated prior to each game.

Now out of elevations, Dallas had to make a move to create space on their roster. Evans was added to the 53-man roster, replacing rookie DL Viliami Fehoko. Fehoko showed up on this week’s injury report with a knee injury. Although he was a full participant each day of practice, apparently he needs at least four weeks to get healthy.

Wink, wink.

Evans is the only addition to the roster for this week prior to the inactives list. There was some consideration the club would activate TE Peyton Hendershot. Hendershot has been on IR and the club activated his 21-day practice window this week. They will hold off on returning him to the full roster, though. Once that happens, a corresponding move will have to be made.

Dallas is also opting not to elevate practice squaders WR Martavis Bryant or DT Carl Davis; the two most recent additions to the club. As it stands, here are the 53 men eligible to play on Sunday.

Quarterbacks (3)
Running Backs (4)
Wideouts (6)
Tight Ends (3)
Offensive Tackles (3)
Offensive Guards (4)
Centers (2)

Defensive Ends (4)
Defensive Tackles (5)
Linebacker (4)
Cornerbacks (6)
Safeties (6)

Special Teams (3)

 

Cowboys-Panthers key matchups for Week 11: Lewis, Gallup must step up

In order for the Cowboys to avoid an upset and better prepare for future games, they should focus on kickstarting these parts of their team, says @ReidDHanson.

Much like the week prior, the Cowboys matchup with Carolina looks like an easy win on paper. The 1-8 Panthers rank at the bottom of the league in most major categories and are outclassed in nearly every major way this week against Dallas. But a few key matchups could go a long way in swinging the balance and ultimately deciding the game.

The Cowboys’ Week 3 matchup with Arizona serves as a painful reminder that things can snowball quickly, and easy wins can become embarrassing losses, in an instant. Dallas must remain mindful of this on Sunday and come out focused on the task. If the Cowboys offense can stay on their current tear, the defense should have no trouble keeping Carolina in check.

Cowboys fans expected to invade Charlotte; Panthers practicing silent count for home game

From @ToddBrock24f7: With as much as 60% of their own stadium expected to be occupied by Cowboys faithful, the Panthers are taking steps to deal with noise.

The Cowboys and Panthers have played just 15 times, including two postseason meetings. Those games have tended to lean in Dallas’s favor, with the Cowboys posting a 5-2 record at home and going 5-3 all-time in Charlotte.

But this season has seen the Cowboys put up their weakest performances on the road, going just 2-3 in their away games thus far. In an early-afternoon timeslot and in their own Eastern-time-zone building, the struggling Panthers and their fans might see it a golden opportunity to bring the noise and shock the world.

Their head coach, however, seems to be preparing for just the opposite. Carolina’s Frank Reich confirmed this week that the Panthers offense has been working in practice on a silent count, indicating that the team is expecting a large contingent of rowdy Cowboys fans to make Bank of America Stadium feel almost like a Dallas home game.

The ticket marketplace Vivid Seats uses proprietary data to project attendance outcomes, and their algorithm suggests that Cowboys fans could make up as much as 60% of the crowd in Charlotte on Sunday.

“I think everybody knows how well Dallas travels,” said Reich. “We have a great city that other fans like to come to. We’re prepared; we’ve practiced silent count this week if we have to use it. So we’re prepared either way.”

Panthers Wire’s Anthony Rizzuti points out that the team has seen home-stadium takeovers by other fanbases in recent seasons, including the Eagles, Patriots, 49ers, and the Vikings twice.

Working off a silent count may actually benefit the Panthers offense and rookie quarterback Bryce Young; Carolina is tied for the league lead in false start penalties in 2023.

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For the Cowboys, who are already double-digit favorites to win, having their own vocal support presence in the stands will certainly help. The team is undefeated at home thus far, something coaches and players alike attribute, in part, to their fans.

“Our fans are huge,” said wide receiver Brandin Cooks on Sunday, after a crowd of 93,338 watched them demolish the Giants 49-17 in Arlington. “They come out whether it’s a noon game, 3:25 game, night game. The energy that they bring us to get us going? Shout out to the fans for always showing up and being ready for us.”

Sounds like they may show up in force this weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Carolina Panthers are bracing for it.

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Pollard’s performance shows position’s volatile nature for Cowboys

Tracking Tony Pollard’s performance, past and present, the Cowboys can see why the RB is unstable and why long-term investment is dangerous. | From @ReidDHanson

When the Cowboys parted ways with Ezekeil Elliott in the 2023 offseason, many wondered what it would mean for Tony Pollard in Dallas. After four years as Elliott’s understudy, Pollard was scheduled to hit free agency.

The Cowboys had a dilemma on their hands. Would they re-sign Pollard to pick up where Elliott left off? Would they let him test the waters in free agency knowing they had a deep draft class to draw from if they needed to? Or would they split the difference and slap him with the franchise tag? 10 weeks into the 2023 season and the Cowboys are probably happy they did things the way they did.

As we all know, the Cowboys opted for the franchise tag, paying him handsomely but not committing beyond the season.

At a cost of $10,091,000 it was certainly not chump-change they were committing to the RB position. They could have saved money in the immediate if they signed him to a multi-year deal instead because it could have spread the cost into future seasons. They also could have let him walk and rolled the dice with a rookie. They had options.

While nearly everyone in the “Running Backs Don’t Matter Fan Club” agreed the long-term contract wasn’t the way to go, many others around the league questioned Dallas’ handling of the situation.

Pollard was one of the most efficient RBs in the NFL and locking the 26-year-old in for 2-3 years would offer stability through his prime years and would free up money for other contracts in the process.