Mina Kimes stunned by Panthers' dominance of Cowboys rushing attack

The Carolina Panthers have somehow stumbled into a good run defense. They were absolutely gashed by the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1 to the tune of 200 yards. That indicated that more abysmal defense up front was in store in 2025. They were dead last against the run in 2024.

Things changed after that, though. They gave up only 82 rushing yards to the Arizona Cardinals. The Atlanta Falcons (131) and New England Patriots (104) eclipsed the century mark, but those aren't as gaudy numbers as you'd think. Then, they gave up a combined 50 yards on the ground to the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys.

A stunning development on that side of the ball actually has the Panthers fielding the ninth-best rushing defense in the NFL. After giving up a tick under 180 yards per game last year, they're under 100 this year, and that's with the 200-yard outburst.

It all came to a head against Dallas' vaunted rushing attack, and it left Mina Kimes, ESPN analyst, stunned.

Mina Kimes thoroughly impressed with Carolina's run defense

Javonte Williams had been an absolute revelation for the Dallas Cowboys. Combined with Dak Prescott's efficiency that made teams respect the pass, Williams was incredible until he faced the Panthers. They had team rush totals of 119, 135, 121, 117, and 180 before Carolina held them to 31.

It's not as if the Cowboys had to abandon the run. This was a back-and-forth game. They were never out of it, so they could still run as usual. They just had no success at all.

The Panthers steamrolled Dallas on the ground…but that’s not what surprised me the most about their win.

Discussed on NFL Live 👇 pic.twitter.com/jo7LeJHGdf
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) October 13, 2025

Kimes said she loved what Rico Dowdle and the Panthers' offensive line did, but she was more impressed with the inverse. "The Carolina run defense holding Javonte Williams to 2.2 yards per carry, because he came into this game [as] one of the best rushing attacks in football," Kimes said.

She recalled 2024 when the Cowboys and Panthers had the two worst run defenses in the league. Clearly, the Panthers, who went to great efforts to fix the issue this offseason, have improved vastly. Getting Derrick Brown back, who was "excellent" in Kimes' eyes, was huge, as was the arrival of Bobby Brown.

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