By STEVE REED, AP Sports Writer, WRAL Sports

Dallas Cowboys	30
Carolina Panthers	14
Final

Recap

After showing steady grown since Bryce Young’s return under center, the Carolina Panthers took a step back against the Dallas Cowboys, losing at home 30-14. Young turned the ball over four times (two fumbles and two interceptions), resulting in 10 points for the Cowboys. Carolina falls to 3-11 on the season.

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb turned it on early, scoring his only touchdown of the game in the second quarter. He finished with 9 catches for 116 yards and the score. It looked. It looked like the Cowboys had a chance to really pile it on to end the first half, but quarterback Cooper Rush fumbles a handoff and the Panthers score on an 83-yard touchdown pass from Young to rookie receiver Jalen Coker to make it a 10-7 game at halftime. It was the longest play for the Panthers since week 1 of 2022.

On the first play in the third quarter, Young fumbles the ball and the Cowboys score on the next drive, going up 17-7 after a rush touchdown to Jalen Tolbert.

Throw in another third quarter passing touchdown, this time to Jalen Brooks, and the game was out of hand for Carolina.

Bryce Young added a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. Cowboys walk out of Bank of America Stadium with a win.

Young finished with 219 passing yards and a touchdown in the air and on the ground. He was sacked six times. The Cowboys contained running back Chuba Hubbard, who had just 32 yards on 10 carries, adding 4 catches for 17 yards as well.

The Panthers will play their final home game of the season next Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. on Fox 50.

Live Updates

30-14, Cowboys lead | 4Q/4:30 remaining

Trying to make a play down two possessions, Bryce Young underthrows Adam Thielen and it’s intercepted by Israel Mukuamu. That’s 4 turnovers for Young against the Cowboys: 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles.

30-14, Cowboys lead | 4Q/6:09 remaining

Brandon Aubrey adds his third field goal of the game, this one from 41 yards away.

27-14, Cowboys lead | 4Q/9:13 remaining

The Panthers find the end zone for the first time since the second quarter, going 70 yards in 12 plays. Bryce Young scrambles from 6 yards out to cut the Cowboy lead to 13 points.

27-7, Cowboys lead | 4Q/14:12 remaining

Brandon Aubrey adds another field goal, this time from 45 yards away.

24-7, Cowboys lead | 3Q/6:55 remaining

Dallas continues to add to its lead, this time Cooper Rush finds Jalen Brooks for a 17-yard score.

17-7, Cowboys lead | 3Q/12:46 remaining

The Cowboys make the Panthers pay for their mistakes. Cooper Rush throws an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert in the back of the end zone.

10-7, Cowboys lead | 3Q/14:56 remaining

Not what the Panthers wanted to start the second half. Bryce Young gets pressure in his face quickly, gets hit by Amani Oruwariye and loses the football. Chauncey Goldston recovers and the Cowboys have the ball deep in Carolina territory.

10-7, Cowboys lead | 2Q/0:31 remaining

Defense immediately turns to offense. The very first play after the fumble, Bryce Young hits Jalen Coker downfield and he does the rest, going 83 yards for the score. That’s the longest play of the season for the Panthers, and suddenly they’re right back in this game. Carolina will get the ball to start the second half.

10-0, Cowboys lead | 2Q/0:45 remaining

The Panthers defense gets a little lucky. With the Cowboys in scoring position, Cooper Rush fumbles a handoff and the Panthers recover the ball.

10-0, Cowboys lead | 2Q/4:05 remaining

The Cowboys get good field position after the turnover, starting in Panthers territory, but aren’t able to do too much with it. Dallas settles for a 52-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal, which he drills.

7-0, Cowboys lead | 2Q/6:19 remaining

Bryce Young targets Adam Thielen over the middle, but the pass is defended tight, tipped up into the air, and intercepted by Eric Kendricks. In the past five games, Young only had two turnovers. He now has two turnovers on Sunday against the Cowboys.

7-0, Cowboys lead | 2Q/9:01 remaining

Hello, CeeDee Lamb. He’s one of the best wide receivers in the NFL for a reason. He accounts for 62 of the 77 yards the Cowboys gained on the 10-play drive, including the 14-yard touchdown.

0-0, end of the first quarter

Defense coming to play for the Panthers, Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush is just 1/3 for 8 yards, but running back Rico Dowdle looks like he will be a problem today. He’s turned his 4 carries into 20 yards.

The red zone fumble is the difference between the Panthers having points on the board, but quarterback Bryce Young has been efficient early. He’s 7/8 for 42 yards. The rookie receivers, Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette have 4 catches combined, but running back Chuba Hubbard remains the engine of this offense. He has 5 carries for 22 yards, and 3 catches for 16 yards.

0-0, 1Q/2:52 remaining

It’s been a defensive showcase so far for both the Panthers and the Cowboys, highlighted by a Jaycee Horn blitz and sack, but just when Carolina looked to be in position to capitalize, Bryce Young tries to do a bit too much on the scramble in the red zone. Marist Liufau forces the fumble and Dallas recovers.

Pregame

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers find themselves in an unfamiliar position entering Sunday’s home game against the Dallas Cowboys.

For the first time in nearly two years, they’re favored to win.

Yes, the 3-10 Panthers.

Oddsmakers at the BetMGM Sportsbook have dubbed Carolina a 3-point favorite over the Cowboys (5-8), marking an end to a 33-game streak of being the underdog — the sixth-longest streak since the 1970 merger.

Panthers coach Dave Canales was aware of the streak, but joked that he purposely hasn’t paid much attention to his team’s odds.

“Vegas is really good with the odds, you know,” Canales said with a laugh.

“I really don’t like to see what the spread is and all that stuff,” Carolina’s first-year head coach added. “And I just try to make the focus about us, about what is our next step, and those things don’t help us. I try not to use external things to motivate our guys.”

After losing its first two games by a combined of 60 points, Carolina has been much more competitive since Bryce Young’s return to the starting lineup, covering the spread in each of its past five games.

Of course, being the favorite doesn’t guarantee a victory.

The previous time the Panthers were favored to win on Dec. 18, 2022, they lost 24-16 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“It doesn’t mean anything for Sunday,” Young said of being the favorite for the first time in his NFL career. “The score is going to start 0-0.”

Botched punt block

Amani Oruwariye stands by what he said was a reactionary decision to try to secure a bouncing ball after it appeared Nick Vigil’s blocked punt would give the Cowboys a chance to beat Cincinnati in the final two minutes of Monday night’s 27-20 loss.

Oruwariye touched ball when leaving it alone would have given Dallas possession around the Bengals 40-yard line with the score tied 20-20. Instead, Cincinnati got the ball because Oruwariye touched it beyond the line of scrimmage. The Bengals scored the go-ahead touchdown three plays later.

“I turned around to react just like any athlete would and saw the ball there,” Oruwariye said. “Made the decision to go try to secure the ball. It was something that I felt in that moment was the reactionary thing to do. I’m standing by it.”

Oruwariye said it wasn’t until after the play that the sixth-year pro with plenty of special teams experience realized the magnitude of the moment in a loss that effectively ended Dallas’ hopes of a fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs.

“The ball kind of got up on me real quick,” he said. “Wish I could have secured it. Wish I could have just not touched it. Either way, it kind of unfolded how it did. That’s part of the game. That’s part of life. You’ve got to take and learn from it and move on.”

Legette looks to rebound

On the Carolina side, it was a drop by Xavier Legette that cost the team a potential win Sunday at Philadelphia.

Trailing 22-16, Young led the Panthers down the field and appeared to connect with Legette on a 32-yard touchdown strike, but the ball briefly touched the ground and the rookie wide receiver couldn’t haul it in. Carolina wound up turning the ball over on downs.

Legette said afterward he needs to come up with that catch.

Canales chalked it up to a learning experience, adding that he has “full confidence” in Legette moving forward.

“These are all things that we take, and we learn, and we grow,” Canales said. “I truly believe we’ll be in high-stakes games someday, playing against great players and great teams. We’re going to have to make those plays to become the team we want to become.”

Gaining ground

Rico Dowdle is gaining momentum as the lead back for the Cowboys, resetting his career high in consecutive games with his first two 100-yard outings. The surge comes despite upheaval in the offensive line, including the absence of seven-time All-Pro right guard Zack Martin because of an ankle injury.

Before the 27-20 loss to Cincinnati on Monday night, Martin opted for season-ending surgery after missing two games. His replacement, Brock Hoffman, had to slide over to center when rookie Cooper Beebe sustained a concussion against the Bengals. T.J. Bass took Hoffman’s place at right guard.

Through it all, Dowdle has thrived. His career-best 131 yards against the Bengals included a 7.3-yard average on 18 carries. That was the best per-carry showing for a Dallas back with at least 15 carries in a game since Ezekiel Elliott in 2018.

“I think he fits the way we’re running the football, particularly the last three games,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I think there’s a number of variables, but it definitely starts with the runner. And more importantly, I think the guys up front are getting it done.”

Surging Thielen

Over the past two games, 34-year-old Adam Thielen has been the focal point of the Caroliona passing game, hauling in 17 of his 21 targets for 201 yards and a touchdown. Thielen missed a portion of the season on injured reserve with a hamstring issue, but is now back to being Young’s favorite option.

Thielen has seen more action with Jalen Coker out the past three games with a quad injury, but the rookie is expected to return Sunday.

Another Cowboys takeover?

When Dallas played in Charlotte last season it amounted to a Cowboys home game. At least 75% of the crowd was pro-Cowboys, and they were loud when the Panthers had the ball and stuck around after the game to celebrate a Dallas victory. Canales was made aware of what happened, and said the Panthers have turned up the crowd noise at practice this week in case a similar situation arises.

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AP Pro Football Writer Schuyler Dixon contributed to this report.

Source: wralsportsfan.com