Is Rico Dowdle the spark the Dallas Cowboys’ rushing offense has been searching for?
After starting the season as the worst rushing offense through four weeks across the entire NFL (75.3 yards per game), the Cowboys found a much-needed spark in the form of fifth-year running back Rico Dowdle on Sunday night in the team’s 20-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Head coach Mike McCarthy had been preaching in his media sessions that production in the run game would come when the team could get the attempts up, and Dowdle’s performance was a direct reflection of that idea. While the South Carolina product kept his season pace consistent at 4.2 yards per carry, his 20 attempts allowed him to rush for a career-high 87 yards to help keep a rhythm established offensively. It also powered a night that saw the Cowboys put up a season-high 109 yards on the ground.
“It felt good,” Dowdle said postgame. “The whole time, it’s all about finding our rhythm. I think we found our rhythm today and stuck with it, and it was able to show out there. Linemen made holes and we were able to pound down a good Pittsburgh run defense.”
His first career game carrying the ball at least 20 times, Dowdle rushed for over 50 yards for just the second time in his career. His season total jumped from 134 yards to 221 yards which sits as the 29th-most in the NFL.
In addition to his productive day on the ground, Dowdle also improvised on a pass play that saw him audible out of his own route mid-play and break for the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown.
“Actually, it wasn’t the play design,” he said. “I was supposed to stop and come back. The dude who was guarding me fell down and I was like, ‘I’m going corner, I hope [quarterback Dak Prescott] sees me.’ Dak found me and it was a great touchdown.”
On a night where Prescott accounted for three costly turnovers, he gave credit to the run game spearheaded by Dowdle for helping the offense keep pace and attack when needed.
“He was patient,” Prescott said. “Pressing the hole, trusting the linemen to get up to the next level and then making cuts. Just great balance, being able to run the ball, pass the ball and keep them off-balance. Everybody stepped up when they had to and that’s what it takes.”
While Dowdle’s emergence has come at the cost of carries being taken from veteran running back Ezekiel Elliott who has seen his number of offensive touches drop from 12 in week one to six in each of the last two games, the nine-year veteran was all smiles when praising his fellow positional teammate after the win.
“He definitely stepped up today when his number was called,” Elliott said. “He was running it hard. We were able to stick to the run. You saw once you get those attempts how that works with the defense. That was a by-product of it.”
After overcoming multiple injuries early in his career, the undrafted running back turned starter saw a long journey go by in Dallas before his time came. A free agent in 2023, the Cowboys brought back Dowdle for one last shot at making a name for himself opposite Dak Prescott in the Dallas backfield.
While a lot more work is left to be done to establish a productive running game that extends far beyond just one performance, Dowdle’s night in Pittsburgh could be the turning point he and his offense was searching for.
“It shows the type of team we are,” Dowdle said of the win. “The grit, the toughness, staying locked in the whole time and coming out with the win.”
