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Panthers dunk on Stephen A. Smith for doubting upset vs. Dallas

Almost nobody picked Carolina to beat the Cowboys this week - including the biggest personality at ESPN.
Tim Weaver|
Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith on the ESPN First Take set at the CFP Fan Central at the George World Congress Center.
Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith on the ESPN First Take set at the CFP Fan Central at the George World Congress Center. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Image

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Carolina Panthers

Coming into this week, almost nobody in the national media picked the Carolina Panthers to beat the Dallas Cowboys, even though they were playing at home.

To be fair, you can understand why. The Panthers have blown too many close games that they should have won in recent years to inspire much confidence for any big matchup like this.

That being said, it is always fun to take a victory lap when everyone was doubting you. Here's what the Panthers' vaunted social media team shared on the black void formerly known as Twitter after Sunday's big upset over the Cowboys.

Panthers dunk on Stephen A. Smith

The Panthers got it done by dominating a few key areas of the game. To put it as simply as possible, they ran the ball well, and they stopped the run.

The biggest key to their success was the second straight monster game from "backup" running back Rico Dowdle, who is starting to make Chuba Hubbard and every other back on the roster obselete. Dowdle racked up 183 rushing yards on 30 carries - averaging over six yards per attempt - and chipped in another 56 yards and a touchdown on five receptions.

That kind of performance is something the Panthers haven't gotten at this position - or any other - since Christian McCaffrey was traded to the San Francisco 49ers.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball Carolina is enjoying a revolution in run defense one year after giving up more than any other NFL team on the ground. After holding the Dolphins to a pathetic 19 rushing yards last week they did it again to the Cowboys, limiting them to just 31 yards on the ground.

Derrick Brown, A'Shawn Robinson and Bobby Brown all deserve credit for their part in plugging that run game, but the biggest difference these last two games has been inside linebacker Trevin Wallace - who's taken over the green dot role from Christian Rozeboom.

Not only is Wallace himself performing at an entirely different level than we'd become accustomed to, the rest of the unit has upped their game, as well - particularly against the run.

And we're on to the Jets.

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Tim Weaver
TIM WEAVER

Tim Weaver has been writing about the NFL since the 2013 season for multiple teams and outlets, including USA Today and The Sporting News. He currently covers the Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers for On SI.