Panthers employ strange gameplan to split Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle touches

The RB committee got even stranger on Sunday.

Oct 12, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle (5) runs with the ball while getting pressured by Dallas Cowboys linebacker Shemar James (50) during the second half at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

The Carolina Panthers needed to figure out how to balance the carries and touches between Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard. So last week, when Hubbard got healthy again, they alternated drives. Hubbard started, then they essentially switched every possession.

That worked decently well, although Dowdle far outplayed Hubbard. So what do the Panthers do in the second week of this new-look partnership? They adopted an even stranger way of making sure the two get some touches.

Panthers get weird with Rico Dowdle, Chuba Hubbard split

It was pretty strange to see Rico Dowdle return kicks on the opening kick for the Panthers, but we just assumed it was to get him a few more touches since Chuba Hubbard would remain the starter. That's how the first drive, a total failure of a drive, went.

Then, with Dowdle set to take over in possession two, Hubbard was back and he returned the kick. The Panthers clearly want to stick with this alternating plan, but they're taking it to a weird level with this plan.

Neither player did particularly well on the kicks, but Dowdle was dominating on the ground in drive two (as opposed to two carries for four yards for Hubbard) before Andy Dalton fumbled the ball away.

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