Panthers could be problematic for Dallas today

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A football player in a white uniform, resembling Dak Prescott, throws a pass while three Panthers players in blue and black attempt to block the throw.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) makes a throw on the run during the first half of an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021, in Arlington. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)

When the Carolina Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys walk off the field at the end of today’s contest, both teams will hit the one-third mark in the 2025 season.

The Panthers will be looking to get to .500 with their third win of the season. The Cowboys will be hoping to get above .500 for the first time in the 2025 campaign.

Dallas has an offense that has been clicking on all cylinders, albeit against some weak opposition.

Bear in mind that the Cowboys’ two wins this year have come against teams with a combined record of 1-9 so far.

Carolina has two very good running backs to pound away at the Dallas defense no matter which one of them starts. Chuba Hubbard missed last week’s win over Miami and had 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns in just 15 games last year.

His replacement last week was former Cowboy Rico Dowdle, who had 1,079 yards and two scores in 16 games last year.

And last week against the Dolphins, Dowdle had 206 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 23 carries – almost nine yards a carry.

Given Dallas’ struggles to stop the run, the Cowboys gave up 113 yards on 14 carries to the Jets’ Breece Hall last week, that 1-2 punch likely will cause headaches for Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus.

  • Who: Carolina Panthers
  • Where: at Bank Of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
  • When: Today, Noon (CDT)
  • How (to watch): FOX

All-Time Marks

Dallas is 12-5 all-time against the Panthers and have won the last three meetings by a combined score of 99-52.

This will be the third-straight year that the two teams will play each other. All three being played at Carolina.

The Cowboys are 7-3 against the Panthers when playing in North Carolina.

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The last time Carolina beat Dallas at home was in 2018, a 16-8 win.

The Cowboys are 32-26 all time in Week 6 games with one game lost to the 1982 strike and six bye weeks falling on this week. They are 13-16 when playing on the road in the sixth week of the year.

The Prediction

The Cowboys mustered one of their better games of 2024 when they traveled to Carolina in December and left with a 30-14 win.

Dowdle had a career game for Dallas with 149 yards while Hubbard was held to 32 yards on 10 carries. The Cowboys will need a repeat performance on both sides of the ball.

If Dallas can’t contain either Dowdle or Hubbard, that will open things up for Bryce Young in the passing game.

Should that happen, the Cowboys will be in deep trouble.

Panthers 31, Cowboys 24

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Richard Paolinelli is an award-winning sports journalist with 34 years of professional newsroom experience. His newspaper career (1991–2011) includes the Gallup Independent, Modesto Bee, Gustine Press-Standard, Turlock Journal, Merced Sun-Star, Tracy Press, Patch, and San Francisco Examiner. He received the 2001 California Newspaper Publishers Association Best Sports Story award. Richard has authored two non-fiction sports books and 11 novels. At InsideTheStar.com, he has published 874 articles reaching over 728,000 readers.

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