Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales speaks to the media after the team's 30-27 overtime win against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. By Scott Fowler
Rico Dowdle acknowledged that he screwed up.
He just used ... a different word to express it.
On the Carolina Panthers’ second drive, quarterback Bryce Young scanned the defense out of the shotgun and received the snap.. The Falcons blitzed. Cornerback Billy Bowman Jr., hovering right next to the nose of the center, sprinted untouched to Young, and just as he reached his target, he inadvertently stepped on Young’s right ankle.
The play resulted in a sack — and potentially something worse. Young lingered on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf for several minutes. Trainers sprinted out to him. Head coach Dave Canales knelt next to his quarterback and then told veteran backup quarterback Andy Dalton to get ready to play.
But while time and everything and everyone else stood still, there Dowdle was, pacing the sideline in frustration, wondering how a simple oversight could change a game — and perhaps a season — so abruptly. He couldn’t get it out of his head: How could I let that happen?
“That was on me,” Dowdle told reporters postgame. “I’m going to tell y’all right now, that hit he took, that sack, it was on me. That was my guy. I was supposed to stand over (there).
“So what was going through my head at the time was like, ‘F---, I can’t believe I let that happen.’ Excuse my language.”
Carolina’s Bryce Young hands the ball off to Rico Dowdle during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Jonathan Bachman Getty Images
Dowdle was able to tell this story with a wry smile, seated at his locker after the Panthers’ momentous 30-27 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons. It was a game that was replete with heroics, most of which were furnished by Young. The third-year quarterback finished Sunday 31 of 45 for 448 yards (a single-game franchise record) and three touchdowns. What made it all the more remarkable was that Young earned the bulk of his production with only one healthy ankle — embodying the resilience of a team that is 6-5 and somehow one game within the Tampa Bay Bucs for the NFC South lead and somehow winners of a Falcons series sweep for the first time since 2013.
And that strength, that prevailing through pain, will be how Sunday will be remembered by most. But to Dowdle, the day will be remembered for how stressed he felt when Young’s return was still uncertain.
“I kept checking on him,” Dowdle said. “Asking everybody, ‘What’s going on with Bryce? What’s the injury?’ And they told me he was going to be good. And when I saw him coming back out, and he told me he was good, I told him it wouldn’t happen again.”
Then what happened?
Dowdle delivered. He was redeemed.
He screwed up on the play that sent Young down; then, eventually, Dowdle lifted his quarterback up.
Carolina’s Bryce Young hands the ball off to Rico Dowdle during Sunday’s first quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Jonathan Bachman Getty Images
Rico Dowdle wasn’t wildly productive, but was clutch
The Panthers’ star running back finished Sunday with 100 yards from scrimmage. Forty-five rushing, 55 receiving. It was enough to push him over 1,000 scrimmage yards for the year. And while his numbers Sunday were pedestrian for him — Dowdle entered Sunday third among all NFL players in rushing yards — his playmaking was invaluable nonetheless.
That is particularly true of the 28-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter, on the drive that gave the Panthers a lead to set everything up for overtime.
The play in question:
The Panthers were 38 yards from the end zone, down 24-19, needing a touchdown, with only 1:29 to do it. Dowdle stood to Young’s left in the shotgun and executed the play he asked Canales to call: a screen pass to the left.
“That’s something that Rico has been kind of ribbing me on for weeks now,” Canales said, referring to the play-call. “I don’t mind telling you guys that. And they had a pressure look, and Rico executed it perfectly.”
He almost took it to the house, in other words. A touchdown was the initial ruling, in fact, but an official review later confirmed that he’d barely stepped out just as he was making the last defender miss. Still, it was the biggest play of the game at the time — and it set up the scores that let Carolina ultimately prevail.
“That was one of the looks that we wanted,” Ickey Ekwonu told reporters of the play. “We all just did our jobs. And when I turned around, I saw Rico and just open grass. I mean, I still think he scored!”
Canales added: “If he had white cleats on, it might be a touchdown.”
Rico Dowdle of the Carolina Panthers runs the ball after a catch during Sunday’s third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Jonathan Bachman Getty Images
The milestone Dowdle didn’t know he reached
After the game, Dowdle was asked about cresting the 1,000-yard mark from scrimmage — only the second time he’s done so in his five years in the NFL to date. He smiled.
“I didn’t know that,” Dowdle said. “That’s new to me.”
Forgive him for having other things on his mind. It was a Sunday of stress, a drove of highs and lows, and Dowdle felt involved in each one. In the end, though, just like his team, he came out ahead.