Sure, this was a game between two teams with losing records and not much to play for in terms of the playoffs. And yes, there were plenty of penalties and mistakes made. But the Dallas Cowboys did what they needed to do. They took care of business against Carolina with a defense that largely dominated the Panthers in a 30-14 victory.
Despite receiving the bad news on Saturday that cornerback Trevon Diggs was being shut down for season-ending knee surgery, the Dallas defense was simply no match for the lowly Panthers. Micah Parsons and company produced six sacks and four turnovers, which now gives the unit 14 takeaways in its last seven games. In addition, Carolina quarterback Bryce Young was held to just 219 yards passing with a touchdown and two interceptions for a 73.4 passer rating, while the Panthers' ground game was limited to only 60 yards rushing
On the other side of the ball, the Cowboys offense was spearheaded by explosive wideout CeeDee Lamb. Despite still playing with a banged-up shoulder, he hauled in nine passes for a game-high 116 yards and a touchdown. He was one of seven players who caught passes from Cooper Rush with three different receivers scoring overall. The quarterback finished with 214 yards through the air, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 119 rating.
And after having never rushed for 100 yards in his first 47 career games, including the playoffs, Rico Dowdle has now topped the century mark in each of his last three. He rumbled through the Panthers for 149 yards on 25 carries, both of which set new career highs.
In all, the Cowboys totaled 410 yards of offense, were good on 50 percent of their third-down tries and reached the end zone on 75 percent of their trips to the red zone. They also held the time of possession advantage, 33:46 to 26:14.
With the victory, the 173rd of his career, Mike McCarthy moved past Hall of Famer Bill Parcells for 13th place on the all-time wins list for NFL coaches.
First Quarter
With the offense off to a stumbling start, there wasn't much to highlight in the opening quarter. However, a pair of Cowboys rookies sparked the Dallas defense.
With the Panthers driving, reaching the Cowboy' 18-yard line, Young spun around Parsons and stumbled forward. But on his way down, linebacker Marist Liufau punched the ball out with defensive end Marshawn Kneeland falling on the fumble, ending the threat.
Second Quarter
The second frame, though, got off to a different start for the Cowboys offense, thanks in large part to Lamb, who caught three passes for 62 yards in a 10-play, 77-yard drive. All three receptions came on third down, the last being a 14-yard catch corralled in the end zone to give the visitors a 7-0 lead. With that, Lamb also surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth straight season.
Linebacker Eric Kendricks then reached a milestone of sorts himself. When cornerback Jourdan Lewis broke up a pass on Carolina's ensuing position, the ball deflected right into the waiting hands of Kendricks. That marked his third takeaway of the season (two interceptions, one fumble recovery), equaling his career high.
Starting at the Panthers' 48-yard line after the gift, Dallas managed to reach the 39, but there the drive stalled. Out came Brandon Aubrey, who continued his stellar 2024 campaign with a 52-yard field goal right down the middle for another three points.
And then within just back-to-back plays, a pair of self-inflicted mistakes by the Cowboys gave the Panthers all the momentum going into the half. Dallas was on the doorstep of adding points when they reached the Carolina 14-yard line with 45 seconds left. But that's when Rush fumbled trying to pull the ball away from Rico Dowdle on an RPO play, which was recovered by the Panthers.
Even worse, on Carolina's first snap, a breakdown in coverage left receiver Jalen Coker streaking down the right sideline all alone. The result was an 83-yard touchdown and the Cowboys' advantage narrowed to 10-7 at the break.
Aubrey had a chance to set an NFL record when Dallas set him up for a 70-yard field goal on the final play of the quarter, but his kick was both wide left and short.
Third Quarter
Whatever momentum that may have been lost was quickly recovered by the Cowboys as the second half got underway. On the Panthers' first snap of the quarter, defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa roared up the middle untouched and sacked Young, who also lost the ball. When defensive end Chauncey Golston recovered the fumble, Dallas was set up at the Carolina 29-yard line. Five plays later, the Cowboys were across the goal line, Rush finding Jalen Tolbert streaking across the back of the end zone for the 11-yard touchdown.
The game was then essentially cemented when Dallas came right back and scored on its next possession as well to up their lead to 24-7 after three quarters. The six-play, 78-yard drive was wrapped up by Rush with an 18-yard pass to Brandin Cooks, an 11-yarder to Lamb and then finally a 17-yarder to Jalen Brooks, who made a nice catch in the end zone for his first career touchdown.
Fourth Quarter
On the move again as the clocked ticked over into the final frame, Rush engineered a 10-play, 46-yard drive that pushed into enemy territory. And although the drive stalled at the Carolina 27-yard line, Aubrey to split the uprights on a 45-yard field goal.
With that, there was nothing left to do but play out the clock.
The Panthers did score with just over nine minutes left. Helped by a couple of pass interference penalties on the Cowboys, Carolina got its second touchdown when Young scrambled six yards around the right end to the goal line, completing a 12-play, 70-yard drive.
Not to worry, Aubrey tacked on another three points for Dallas with a 41-yard field goal. This came after KaVontae Turpin provided a 24-yard kickoff return with the Panthers throwing in 15 more yards with an unnecessary roughness penalty. Set up at the Carolina 46, the Cowboys pushed up to the 23 before turning to their kicker.
Israel Mukuamu provided the team's fourth turnover with an interception of Young that he returned to the Dallas 25-yard line. But at this point, the Cowboys were content to keep the ball on the ground, run out the clock and secure the 30-14 win.
