Game Overview ::
By HILOW >>
- The Cowboys held a walkthrough on Wednesday after playing on Monday night.
- Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown (knee) was estimated as a non-participant after injuring his knee in Week 14. The same holds true for S Juanyeh Thomas (knee) and LB Nick Vigil (foot).
- The Panthers appear relatively healthy outside of the torn ACL suffered by RB Jonathon Brooks in the same knee he hurt in college, a terrible runout for the promising rookie.
- These two teams rank 31st (Dallas) and 32nd (Carolina) in points allowed per game.
- Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle has averaged a 70% snap rate while seeing 20 running back opportunities or more over the previous three games.
- The Panthers continue to struggle against the run, allowing the fifth-most yards before contact per attempt (2.46), the most rush yards per game (170.1), and the most fantasy points per game (27.0) to opposing backfields this season.
HOW DALLAS WILL TRY TO WIN ::
The Cowboys have floundered well below expectations this season, sitting at a 5-8 record after a catastrophic loss to the Bengals on Monday night. They have allowed the second-most points per game this season, although Week 14 was the first time all season they had all three starting cornerbacks. After going undefeated during the regular season at home over the previous two years, they are only 1-6 in the unfriendly confines of Jerruh World in 2024. Dak Prescott was lost for the season, alpha wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has been playing through a painful AC joint injury, and they have largely been unable to run the football effectively until three weeks ago. But the last three weeks has seen them at least competitive, beating the Commanders and Giants while losing to the Bengals in spectacular fashion after blocking a punt with under two minutes to play, only to have a defender touch the ball beyond the line of scrimmage and see the Bengals recover in a then-tied game.
Through Week 11, “lead back” Dowdle played over 52% of the offensive snaps only once, a game in which Ezekiel Elliott missed due to team discipline. Over the last three games, Dowdle has been given a true lead-back/borderline workhorse role, during which time he has averaged 70% of the offensive snaps while seeing 20 or more running back opportunities in every game. That newfound workload is meaningful considering the Panthers have allowed the fifth-most yards before contact per attempt (2.46), the most rush yards per game (170.1), and the most fantasy points per game (27.0) to opposing backfields this season. Zeke has played fewer than 10 offensive snaps in consecutive games while ceding passing downs to fullback Hunter Luepke.
Lamb has looked extremely uncomfortable during the previous two games, during which time he has seen just six and seven targets. What leads me to believe his injury is hindering his ability to play at a high level is the fact that he took himself out of both games after hard hits and quarterback Cooper Rush attempted 36 and 31 passes in those two games. Rush targeted a whopping 11 pass catchers against the Bengals and five of Lamb’s seven targets came on the first two drives before being tackled hard on his injured shoulder on the team’s second possession. Jalen Tolbert and Brandin Cooks operate in complementary roles, while Jake Ferguson returned in Week 14 to reclaim his featured tight-end role, shifting Luke Schoonmaker back into a complementary role. In their Week 14 loss to the Bengals, only Lamb and Ferguson played more than 65% of the offensive snaps as the team continues to look for ways to get the ball into KaVontae Turpin’s hands and force recent acquisition Jonathan Mingo into being a thing to save face after a boneheaded midseason trade.
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