{"id":9266,"date":"2024-10-08T08:42:37","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T08:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266"},"modified":"2024-10-08T08:42:37","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T08:42:37","slug":"cowboys-rb-sends-strong-message-after-breakout-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys RB Sends Strong Message After Breakout Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"l-article__header\"><\/header>\n<div class=\"l-article__meta\">\n<div class=\"l-article__meta-item l-article__meta-item--dates\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"l-article__content\">\n<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2177179505-e1728318507310.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2177179505-e1728318507310.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2177179505-e1728318507310.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-2177179505-e1728318507310.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"311\" data-dom-ready-time=\"748\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span>Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Sunday night\u2019s win was the first time in his injury-plagued\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0career that running back\u00a0Rico Dowdle\u00a0truly got the opportunity to carry a heavy load for Dallas. He carried 20 times, the most in his career,\u00a0for 87 yards, and added two catches for 27 yards and a touchdown to put together the best game a Cowboys running back has had all season.<\/p>\n<p>It was also the best game of Dowdle\u2019s five-year career. His previous high had been 79 yards rushing on 12 carries last November against the Giants, totals that represented not only his most yardage but also the most carries he\u2019d had.<\/p>\n<p>Dowdle has shown the appearance of being a rhythm runner, meaning he needs to get a significant number of carries to find his groove and succeed. He\u2019s never really had that in Dallas, first playing behind Ezekiel Elliott, then behind Tony Pollard.<\/p>\n<p>He had it Sunday in Dallas\u2019s 20-17 win over the Steelers. His message for the Cowboys coaching staff: Keep feeding me the ball.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt felt good. It was just like I said the whole time, it\u2019s just all about finding a rhythm,\u201d Dowdle said,\u00a0via the Cowboys website. \u201cWe stuck with it. The linemen were making holes and we were able to pound it down against a good Pittsburgh defense.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Cowboys May Have a No. 1 Option<\/h2>\n<p>Dowdle could, in the end, be the answer for a Cowboys running game that entered Week 5 as the worst in the NFL, ranking 32<sup>nd<\/sup>\u00a0in yards gained. They gained 109 yards, their only 100-yard game since Week 1, in the win over the Steelers, and made a move\u2014however slight\u2014up the\u00a0rushing yards<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/teams\/dal\/2024.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\"> chart to 31<sup>st<\/sup>.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Baby steps. But the Cowboys may have found something in Dowdle they\u2019ve been lacking\u2014a reliable, every-down option they can give the ball to, allowing them to limit the touches for veteran\u00a0Ezekiel Elliott, who has struggled this season in returning to Dallas after spending last season with the Patriots.<\/p>\n<p>The Cowboys let Pollard walk in free agency last winter, and after they did not draft a running back in April, they signed Elliott and committed to a \u201ccommittee\u201d approach for 2024.<\/p>\n<p>But Dowdle has established himself as an option to be the team\u2019s lead back, and with veteran\u00a0Dalvin Cook\u00a0on the practice squad and eager to be called up, the team may be ready to juggle its committee.<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_3_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-3 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/18190176,25816858\/AdThrive_Content_3\/5ad7479721520f50ab7da88e_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"google-ad-manager-fallback-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Rico Dowdle: \u2018They Kept Feeding Me\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Dowdle did nearly blow the entire affair for the Cowboys late in the final game-winning drive. With 35 seconds to play and the Cowboys trailing, 17-13, in a second-and-goal situation from the Pittsburgh 1-yard line, Dowdle attempted to score on a dive up the middle, but had the ball batted from his hands for a fumble. Quarterback Dak Prescott quickly dived to cover the ball, though.<\/p>\n<p>Dallas scored on a fourth-and-4 pass play to Jalen Tolbert for the win. Before that, Dowdle did account for 21 yards on the 70-yard touchdown drive.<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_4_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-4 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/18190176,25816858\/AdThrive_Content_4\/5ad7479721520f50ab7da88e_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"google-ad-manager-fallback-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He told reporters that getting the ball consistently helped him be better late in the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s always been the case for me,\u201d Dowdle said. \u201cAs the games goes along, I think I get stronger and it was just about finding a rhythm. I was feeling good and they kept feeding me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; GettyCowboys RB Rico Dowdle Sunday night\u2019s win was the first time in his injury-plagued\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0career that running back\u00a0Rico Dowdle\u00a0truly got the opportunity to carry a heavy load&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cowboys RB Sends Strong Message After Breakout Game - Sport News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cowboys RB Sends Strong Message After Breakout Game - Sport News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; GettyCowboys RB Rico Dowdle Sunday night\u2019s win was the first time in his injury-plagued\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0career that running back\u00a0Rico Dowdle\u00a0truly got the opportunity to carry a heavy load...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sport News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-08T08:42:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-203.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"673\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThuan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThuan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266\",\"name\":\"Cowboys RB Sends Strong Message After Breakout Game - Sport News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-203.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-08T08:42:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-08T08:42:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/#\/schema\/person\/f294530285e51853800f403b386b29e9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-203.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-203.jpg\",\"width\":610,\"height\":673},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cowboys RB Sends Strong Message After Breakout Game\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/\",\"name\":\"Sport News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/#\/schema\/person\/f294530285e51853800f403b386b29e9\",\"name\":\"MrThuan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c5b64710f6f1bb07b1ec76a4e2746d05b11b7565055659141eef8ee88bf5d1bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c5b64710f6f1bb07b1ec76a4e2746d05b11b7565055659141eef8ee88bf5d1bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrThuan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cowboys RB Sends Strong Message After Breakout Game - Sport News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=9266","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cowboys RB Sends Strong Message After Breakout Game - Sport News","og_description":"&nbsp; 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