The Dallas Cowboys had made their way back into the win column in Week 5, and were looking to establish a winning streak as they approach the midpoint of their season. Dallas hasdn’t lost since Week 3 and were looking to extend their undefeated streak to three as they took on the Panthers in Carolina’s Bank of America Stadium.
Unfortunately, the Cowboys defense performed the way it had in the other four contests prior to last week. The Panthers and running back Rico Dowdle assaulted the Cowboys without much resistance. Dowdle routinely raced for six or more yards on early downs, keeping the job of QB Bryce Young pretty simple. When the Cowboys offense blinked late in the fourth, it opened up the opportunity for a game-winning drive, which the Panthers executed, running the final six minutes off the clock.
Carolina wins, 30-27. Follow below for a reverse-chronological recap of how it all went down.
Final Score – Panthers win, 30-27
4th Quarter Highlights – Panthers win, 30-27
The Dallas defense is just atrocious. The Panthers marched right down the field, once again, getting seven-plus yards on their rushes. Bryce Young sealed the deal, stepping up through a Sam Williams pressure and finding Tet McMillan in the back of the end zone.
The Cowboys appeared ready to answer, but their drive fizzled out on goal to go, and they settle for the tying field goal.
Dallas forces a punt after back-to-back third-down penalties on the Panthers offense, giving the Cowboys the ball back with 8:18 remaining.
The Cowboys do nothing with the possession that starts near midfield.
For some reason, they went conservative, and their short passes (screen, dump off) to RB Williams were blown up, bringing up 3rd-and-22 and an eventual punt.
The Panthers returned to form, milking the final six minutes off the clock to get in position for the short game-winning kick from Ryan Fitzgerald.
3rd Quarter Highlights – Cowboys lead 24-20
Panthers make it look easy, getting multiple receivers wide open behind the Cowboys’ defense. The last, Rico Dowdle out the backfield to bring his total yardage up to 143 just two minutes into the second half.
Halftime Statistics
Offensive Stats
Defensive Stats
Team Stats
2nd Quarter Highlights and Analysis | Cowboys lead 17-13
Cowboys 3rd Drive (cont)
Panthers 3rd Drive
Cowboys 4th Drive
Panthers 4th Drive
1st Quarter Highlights and Analysis | Game tied at 3
Cowboys Opening Drive
Panthers Opening Drive
Cowboys 2nd Drive
Panthers 2nd Drive
Cowboys 3rd Drive
Pregame Warmups and Chatter
Cowboys-Panthers Inactives: OG Tyler Smith will play
The Cowboys offensive line is starting to get healthier, but there are still problems at wideout. Dallas will get back OG Tyler Smith and OT Tyler Guyton in this game, but will still be without rookie OG Tyler Booker. Meanwhile both CeeDee Lamb and KaVontae Turpin are both ruled out.
Here’s a look at the complete inactives list.
Cowboys Inactives
Panthers Inactives
Cowboys-Panthers Coverage
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys vs Panthers: Week 6 Live Updates
Reporting by K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
