Five takeaways from Dallas Cowboys’ troubling road loss to Carolina Panthers
The Dallas Cowboys suffered their third loss of the season Sunday in a back-and-forth affair with Carolina that finished with Ryan Fitzgerald kicking a 33-yard field goal as time expired to give the Panthers a 30-27 win.
The Cowboys’ passing offense performed well once again, as Dak Prescott and George Pickens connected for a lethal attack, although the run game could not find any momentum with just 31 yards on the day.
Meanwhile, former Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle combined for 239 total yards for the Panthers (183 rushing, 56 receiving) a week after exploding for 234 total yards (206 rushing, 28 receiving) in a win over Miami.
The Cowboys, who won at Carolina the past two years, fall to 2-3-1 this season as they search for answers defensively. The Panthers improved to 3-3.
Here are the five takeaways from the game:
Another troubling loss on the road
Three weeks ago, it was a loss to the under-repair Chicago Bears. This time it was the Panthers stealing one from the Cowboys for another demoralizing result on the road.
There has been optimism at times with this Cowboys team powered by the top offense in the NFL, but the defense continues to falter at the worst moments at crucial points in close games.
“Our standard,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “I step up in front of you guys all the time and talk about building a world championship football team, and we weren’t that today.”
As a result, it’s hard to see a reality where the Cowboys right the ship and make this a successful season after dropping to 2-3-1 during a stretch of games that Dallas would have had every right circling as wins at the beginning of the year.
Dak Prescott shining vs. zone coverage
Going into the game, Dak Prescott ranked first in the NFL in EPA (expected points added) per play against zone coverage, making for a good matchup against a Panthers defense that runs more Cover 3 zone than any team in the league. Well, what was expected happened.
Prescott found holes in the Panthers’ zone throughout the day, completing 25 of 34 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. Without receivers CeeDee Lamb and KaVontae Turpin, Prescott got multiple receivers involved as the game carried on.
His favorite target proved to be Pickens, who finished with nine receptions for 168 yards and a 34-yard score.
It was yet another notch in what has been a phenomenal start to the season for Prescott, who remains second in the NFL in passing yards with his performance Sunday.
George Pickens just made a lot of money
When CeeDee Lamb went down in Week 3 with a high ankle sprain, the offensive game plan pivoted to George Pickens in the receiving game, and he answered the call.
With the Cowboys planning to get Lamb back on the practice field this week in hopes of a return against the Washington Commanders next Sunday, there’s a chance Pickens’ increased responsibilities will dial back after a stretch of games that saw him post 24 receptions for 427 yards and five touchdowns in the three-plus games without his receiver running mate.
“He loves being on the grass,” Schottenheimer said. “I love the energy and juice he brings to our football team. It is infectious. I would never say receivers are unstoppable, but damn, he’s pretty good.”
In the final year of his rookie contract, Pickens will have a pretty solid selling point no matter what happens the rest of the season because of how he stepped up when Lamb was out. That type of insurance in the NFL is a premier luxury, and you can bet that Pickens will have that to bring to the table in the offseason.
Rico Dowdle backed up the talk
Former Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle made it known very early in the week that Dallas better “buckle up” for their matchup fresh off his 206-yard rushing performance and NFC Player of the Week honor last week. Well, he backed it up — and then some.
Dowdle tore through the Cowboys defense throughout the day in the run and receiving games, finishing with 183 rushing yards and 56 receiving yards. He became the first former player to rush for 100 yards against the Cowboys in franchise history.
In the win, Dowdle put the Panthers on his back and backed up some heavy talk from early in the week to move his team to 3-3.
“They wasn’t buckled up,” Dowdle said after the win.
Time to trade for a linebacker
The NFL trade deadline is quickly approaching on Nov. 4, and Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones has said that the team is open for business in the weeks leading up to the deadline.
One position that needs some big-time help is linebacker. The pass defense continues to struggle because of issues at the safety and linebacker position, but the lack of athleticism from linebackers Kenneth Murray and Jack Sanborn (did not play Sunday with a concussion) and the zone coverage mistakes from linebackers Marist Liufau and Shemar James show the need for a better player in the middle.
A safety that has a lot of experience with zone concepts also would be a welcomed addition, but an improvement at the linebacker may be a bigger necessity with the pass issues and increasingly worrisome issues in the run game.
This story was originally published October 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM.
