Dallas Cowboys Week 6 Preview: At Carolina Panthers

Cover photo: Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott is tackled against the Carolina Panthers in 2018. Photo credit: Bob Donnan, USA Today Sport

The Dallas Cowboys, 2-2-1, are coming off of a dominant win in East Rutherford N.J., 37-22, in Week 5 against the New York Jets, and will try to carry that momentum down south as they face the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on October 12 at 1 p.m. 

The 2-3 Panthers defeated the Miami Dolphins at home in Week 5 by a 27-24 score, with former Cowboy running back Rico Dowdle exploding for 206 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Quarterback Bryce Young completed 19-of-30 passes for 198 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Rookie wide receiver Tet McMillan caught six Young tosses for 73 yards, while receiver Xavier Legette managed 31 yards receiving and caught Young’s lone touchdown pass. 

While the Cowboys rank first in the NFL in yards per game (406.6; Dak Prescott’s 272.2 passing yards per game are 3rd while the Cowboy rushing attack led the Javonte Williams stands at 134.4 per game), the Panthers rank 21st at 315.0 yards per game. The rushing offense just cracks the top 10 at 128.0 per game, thanks in large part to Dowdle’s Week 5 performance. 

The Panthers have a top 15 unit in yards allowed, 12th at 311.6, while the Cowboys remain in last, allowing 412.0 yards per game. The Cowboys allow a league worst 284.6 yards through the air while their run defense is 23rd at 127.4 rushing yards allowed per game. The Panthers allow 107.2 rushing yards per game, 13th in the NFL. Their pass defense is ninth at 204.4 allowed. 

Friday’s injury report for the Cowboys included 19 players. While CeeDee Lamb and Tyler Booker will miss their third consecutive game, KaVontae Turpin will miss his second straight. It was also revealed on Friday that backup running back Miles Sanders has a knee injury that will require season-ending surgery. This will thrust rookie Jaydon Blue into the No. 2 running back spot. Blue saw his first NFL action against the Jets, running four times for 7 yards. 

Middle linebacker Jack Sanborn suffered a concussion against the Jets and will miss Week 6. Questionable for the Cowboys are left guard Tyler Smith, cornerbacks DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs, defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, cornerback Caelen Carson, and receiver Jonathan Mingo. 

For the Panthers, running back Chubba Hubbard, who missed Week 5’s game against the Dolphins, will also miss Week 6 due to his calf injury. That means that Dowdle will get the opportunity against his former team to build on his 200+ yard performance against the Dolphins. Young has thrown for 154, 328, 121, 150, and 198 yards this season. He will face a Cowboy secondary that has Diggs and Bland iffy and has Juanyeh Thomas making his second consecutive start at safety for the injured Malik Hooker who is on IR and will miss at least three more weeks with a toe injury. Young is 0-2 against the Cowboys in his career - he completed 16-of-29 passes for 123 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the team as a rookie and 19-of-28 for 219 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in 2024. At 6 feet, 5 inches and 212 pounds, the Panthers’ McMillan will be a tough cover for the Cowboys. The most prolific game of the rookie’s short career thus far came in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals when he caught six passes for 100 yards. He and Legette (6 feet, 3 inches, 227 pounds) are big receivers who will challenge a banged up Cowboy secondary. 

Dowdle will be met by a defense that has allowed 158 yards rushing yards (Week 1 to the Philadelphia Eagles), 84 (Week 2 to the New York Giants), 87 to the Chicago Bears in Week 3, 164 to the Green Bay Packers in Week 4, and 144 to the Jets. In the last two weeks, the Cowboys have allowed 4.7 and 6.5 yards per carry. The Jets’ Breece Hall in Week 5 ran for 113 yards on 14 carries. The Cowboy run defense and how well they will fare is one of the intriguing storylines of Sunday’s game, with Dowdle going up against his former team. He rushed for 1,079 yards as a Cowboy in 2024. 

The Cowboys’ defensive front, namely Kenny Clark, Osa Odighizuwa, and Solomon Thomas, does a good job of occupying blocks at the line of scrimmage. James Houston with 3.5 sacks (first on the team) has been a surprise. Rookie end Donovan Ezeiruaku has improved game by game. The second level however is where the Cowboy defense has struggled in getting off blocks and making tackles. Against the Jets, Sanborn was replaced by rookie Shemar James, who recorded 15 tackles in the game and is faster to the ball. James is however on the slighter side at 222 pounds. The Cowboy linebackers James and Kenneth Murray Jr. will need to be at their best in pursuit and tackling on Sunday in order to limit Dowdle. The former Cowboy ran nine times for 42 yards in Week 4 against the New England Patriots, 10 times for 30 yards in Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons, six times for 9 yards against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2, and three times for 12 yards in Week 1 against the Jacksonville Jaguars before his breakout Week 5 showing. 

Positive news for the Cowboy offensive front is two-fold. First, they will have left tackle Tyler Guyton (concussion) back and should have their left guard Smith, who was limited in Friday’s practice with his knee injury, back as well. Second, the Panthers boast a defense that has managed just five sacks through five weeks. Their 2023 Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Brown, defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton, defensive end A’Shawn Robinson, and linebackers Princely Umanmielen and Patrick Jones II each have one sack on the season. Brown figures to be the focal point followed by Robinson, who tallied 5.5 sacks in 2024. 

Jaycee Horn, the Panthers’ 25-year-old Pro Bowl cornerback, will get the assignment Sunday of Cowboy receiver George Pickens, who in place of CeeDee Lamb has performed splendidly - 8 catches, 134 yards and two touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers and 2 catches, 57 yards and a touchdown against the Jets. Pickens’ five touchdowns through five weeks are the most by a Cowboy all-time in that span in his first five games with the team. 

In weeks two, three, and four, the Cowboy secondary allowed 100+ yards to Malik Nabers and Wan’dale Robinson - both of the New York Giants - and Luther Burden III of the Chicago Bears, and surrendered three touchdowns to Romeo Doubs of the Green Bay Packers. The Arizona Cardinals’ Marvin Harrison Jr. caught two passes for just 27 yards against the Panthers, but Carolina did not succeed in limiting the Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle and Darren Waller in Week 5. Waddle tallied six catches for 110 yards and a touchdown while the tight end Waller caught five for 78 yards and a touchdown. Tua Tagovailoa threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns against the Panthers, numbers that do not give Panther fans optimism going against the No. 1 offense in the NFL with Dak Prescott having thrown 10 touchdowns to just three interceptions so far this season. Cowboy tight end Jake Ferguson is also second in the NFL in receptions through five weeks, with 41.

The Cowboys and Panthers have met 17 times over the years, with the Cowboys holding a 12-5 record. The Cowboys have won three consecutive games against the Panthers, dating back to October 3, 2021, a 36-28 win. They also defeated the Panthers 33-10 on November 19, 2023 and 30-14 on December 15, 2024. 

The Panthers could have some success running the ball on Sunday and may get some big plays out of McMillan and Legette. The Cowboys’ offense though should prove too much. 

Prediction: Cowboys 31 Panthers 23