By Jon Machota, Joe Person and Jenna West
The Carolina Panthers improved to 3-3 with Sunday’s 30-27 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
Rookie Ryan Fitzgerald kicked a 33-yard game-winning field goal as time expired to give the Panthers their second straight win.
Tied 27-27 with a little over six minutes remaining, Carolina capped off a 15-play, 71-yard drive with the game winner. The Panthers had ample time to work after a stalled final drive for the Cowboys, who failed to convert on third-and-22 and were forced to punt.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was 17-for-25 for 199 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Sunday marked the first game of the season in which Young threw three touchdown passes.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had an equally impressive day, completing 25 of 34 passes for 261 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, but Dallas’ defense proved to be its stumbling block again.
The Cowboys fell to 2-3-1.
Are the Panthers for real?
The Panthers did what they were supposed to do against the league’s worst-ranked defense, rolling up more than 400 yards of offense and 30 points to win for the second week in a row. It’s only their second two-game winning streak under coach Dave Canales. And don’t look now, but the Panthers are .500 for the first time since Week 10 in 2021 in Matt Rhule’s second season.
Young matched a career high with three TD passes, with two of them going to rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan. The defense made stops when it had to, and Fitzgerald supplied the game winner. The schedule gets tougher after next week’s game against the 0-6 New York Jets, so they need to stack these W’s while they can. — Joe Person, Panthers beat writer
It’s Rico’s world
Panthers running back Rico Dowdle tried to warn his old team. After encouraging the Cowboys to “buckle up” after rushing for 206 yards against the Miami Dolphins, Dowdle backed up his big talk with another big performance.
He ran for 183 yards on 30 carries and also caught four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. His 473 scrimmage yards broke Christian McCaffrey’s previous high of 416 over a two-game span. As Canales said, the Panthers have a “good problem” to deal with when Chuba Hubbard returns from his calf injury, maybe as soon as next week. — Person
Cowboys’ playoff talk ends
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones have been asked multiple times over the last month about Dallas being a playoff team. That talk can stop now. This was a game the Cowboys absolutely had to have for any real thoughts of a 10-win season. If they can’t beat the Panthers, there aren’t many teams they should be expected to beat the rest of the way.
Prescott and the offense could’ve played better. The run game was stunningly bad. But this one is completely on defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and the defense. There’s no reason to think that side of the ball is getting fixed even when DeMarvion Overshown returns from the knee injury that ended his season last December.
The 2025 Cowboys’ defense would obviously be better with Micah Parsons. But it would still be a bad defense. They have a long way to go to even be decent. — Jon Machota, Cowboys beat writer
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