By Jamal Baker
NDG Contributing Writer
The Dallas Cowboys suffered another disappointing road loss on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. A walk-off 33-yard field goal by Carolina kicker Ryan Fitzgerald put the Panthers up 30-27 at the end of regulation.
Dallas now sits at 2-3-1 through the first six weeks of the 2025 season and will need to get back to the drawing board after letting a winnable game slip away.
“That locker room’s hurt — I’m hurt,” said head coach Brian Schottenheimer. “Why? Because we let an opportunity slip, another championship opportunity, and it’s frustrating as hell. But you don’t point fingers, you know? You look at the film, and we’re gonna see it.
“It’s gonna jump off the film, the things that we didn’t do well, and we’ll get them fixed. And I don’t worry about this team starting to point fingers in any way, shape, or form.”
Quarterback Dak Prescott has arguably been the best at his position this season but expecting him to lead a flawless offense is unrealistic—yet that’s exactly what’s required due to the Cowboys’ porous defense.
Credit the Carolina defensive and offensive lines for setting the tone and winning the battle in trenches on both sides of the ball.
Javonte Williams was held to 29 rushing yards and 2.2 yards per carry—both were his lowest totals of the season.
On the other hand, former Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle talked the talked and walked the walk. After warning that the Cowboys ‘got to buckle up’ before the game, Dowdle backed it up by torching Dallas for 183 rushing yards, 56 receiving yards, and a receiving touchdown.
“We’ve got to coach better; we’ve got to play better. The physicality of it all. We’re a physical football team. We didn’t show it today. This is a game where you’ve got to win the line of scrimmage, and we didn’t win the line of scrimmage today. I told the team that. It’s disappointing,” Schottenheimer said.
The Cowboys currently do not have an identity on defense and with the offense playing at such a high level, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and his unit just need to be average at best for Dallas to have chance to make the postseason.
One of the few bright spots from Sunday’s game for Dallas was wide receiver George Pickens, who continues to thrive in the Dallas offense.
Pickens recorded nine receptions for 168 yards and a touchdown—becoming the first Cowboys player since the NFL merger to score six touchdowns in his first six games in Dallas since Dez Bryant.
“I’ll just say more finishing and more resiliency. It doesn’t matter if we were out there by ourselves, we definitely want to put up as much of a fight as we can and try to help the defense. That’s how you help the defense,” Pickens said.
CeeDee Lamb is expected to be back in the fold in Sunday’s matchup against the Washington Commanders—setting this offense up to put even more fear in the hearts of opposing defensive coordinators.
More help will soon be on the way for Dallas, as linebacker DeMarvion Overshown could have his 21-day practice window opened soon.
While Sunday’s loss is certainly disappointing, Dallas will approach this week with a mentality of simply getting back to work.
“We’ll make sure the effort’s where it needs to be, but, of course we’re frustrated,” said Schottenheimer. “That doesn’t mean the work stops. It means you just have to man up.”
