The Carolina Panthers dropped their first home game of the season Sunday, a 40-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills. By Scott Fowler
A number of bizarre things happened in the Carolina Panthers’ 40-9 loss to Buffalo Sunday, but here’s one of the weirdest.
In the first half, Panthers running back Rico Dowdle ran the ball seven times for 52 yards.
In the second half, he only touched the ball once.
You could argue that Dowdle was Carolina’s most effective weapon Sunday. And yet, there he was, the invisible man on the sideline for much of the second half as the Panthers (4-4) fell further and further behind in their eventual and embarrassing 40-9 loss to Buffalo (5-2).
Now I know the Panthers were so far behind they had to throw the ball a lot. I know that Panthers coach Dave Canales has committed to an “alternating series” idea that theoretically gives Dowdle and still-the-starter Chuba Hubbard the same number of opportunities.
But Canales’ refusal to give Dowdle a far larger percentage of the carries than Hubbard based on the recent results just doesn’t pass the smell test with me.
Carolina’s Rico Dowdle runs the ball against Buffalo cornerback Jordan Hancock in Sunday’s first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Grant Halverson Getty Images
Yes, Hubbard was the team’s undeniable Most Valuable Player last year. But this season, the calf injury that kept him out of two games entirely is obviously still limiting him. Hubbard may return to form. But at the moment, he’s not the same back that ran for 1195 yards in 2024.
Dowdle, on the other hand, is a more violent, explosive runner than Hubbard in the present day. Just look at the raw stats Sunday against Buffalo:
Dowdle: 8 carries, 54 yards, 6.8 yards per carry.
Hubbard: 12 carries, 34 yards, 2.8 yards per carry.
Neither of them had nearly the juice of James Cook.
The Buffalo running back sped for 216 yards (an amazing 168 of them before contact, according to ESPN Research) and set a record for the most yards the Panthers have ever given up to any back in a single game.
“I feel like I could go again,” Cook said after the game. “So I don’t feel like I got hit.”
The Panthers’ backs, on the other hand, got hit a lot. But just by looking at the Dowdle-Hubbard numbers, you can tell who was playing better. It was the same thing last week against the New York Jets, in the one other game Carolina has played with the “alternating series” backfield duo. Against the Jets:
Dowdle: 17 carries, 79 yards, 4.6 yards per carry.
Hubbard: 14 carries, 41 yards, 2.9 yards per carry.
Asked after the game if he second-guessed the idea of alternating the backs by series so evenly, Canales said: “Nope. Like the plan. Just looking for execution. And we have to be able to be balanced, you know, with passing in those situations. And turnovers really just got us out of our rhythm and put us in a different mode.”
Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard crosses the threshold of the end zone for a touchdown as Bills linebacker Shaq Thompson defends during the game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC on Sunday, October 26, 2025. Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez mrodriguez@charlotteobserver.com
It’s true that backup quarterback Andy Dalton’s three turnovers short-circuited any chance to win this game. It’s also true that Hubbard scored Carolina’s only touchdown, late in the game. But it’s also correct that Dowdle has to be used more.
For instance:
In the third quarter, on a Dowdle series, Dalton fumbled the ball away on the very first play. The only action that Dowdle got on that series? Making the tackle on the Buffalo defender who recovered the ball.
Should that really count as a full series for Carolina’s best current back? Yet it did.
The game was unwinnable at that point anyway, but you get my point. Until Hubbard returns to playing the way he did last year, Canales shouldn’t pretend. Hubbard can start if that’s absolutely necessary for team chemistry, but Dowdle should be getting 70% of the carries starting Sunday at Green Bay. He’s the guy who set the two-game total yardage record for the Panthers this season, eclipsing Christian McCaffrey. He’s the guy who’s hot.
Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle carries the ball as Taylor Moton (72) blocks for him in Buffalo’s 40-9 win over the Panthers Sunday. TRACY KIMBALL tkimball@heraldonline.com
It may not last much longer, but right now there is still a noticeable difference between Carolina’s two top running backs.
I’m just not sure why the Panthers don’t see it.
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