{"id":250494,"date":"2025-10-11T22:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T02:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=250494"},"modified":"2025-10-11T22:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T02:05:10","slug":"brian-schottenheimer-plans-to-gang-tackle-panthers-rb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/10\/11\/brian-schottenheimer-plans-to-gang-tackle-panthers-rb\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Schottenheimer Plans to \u201cGang Tackle\u201d Panthers\u2019 RB"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Dallas Cowboys (2-2-1) visit the Carolina Panthers (2-3) at noon Saturday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in a matchup that could reshape the NFC East race.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/10\/06\/dont-be-fooled-cowboy-fans-jets-fans-reacted-to-dallas-championship-level-football\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">After beating the New York Jets 37-22 last week<\/a>,\u00a0Brian Schottenheimer and company carry momentum into this game. The Panthers edged the Miami Dolphins 27-24, a small margin but against a strong AFC East opponent. In their last outings, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw three touchdowns and 256 yards, while Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott delivered four scores with 237 yards.<\/p>\n<h2>Brian Schottenheimer Plans<\/h2>\n<p>Brian Schottenheimer immediately turned Dallas\u2019 focus to Carolina\u2019s surging ground attack. He said he is \u201cexcited to see Rico,\u201d but stressed that running back Rico Dowdle, who rushed for more than 200 yards last week, is a downhill menace with \u201ctremendous power, great vision, and feet.\u201d Schottenheimer added, \u201cWe have to gang tackle him and do a great job of our hamstring tackles.\u201d [Timestamp &#8211; 2:43]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Brian Schottenheimer: Excited to See Rico | Cowboys Huddle\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ee8q59fC07s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Schottenheimer, who worked with Panthers coach Dave Canales in Seattle, said Carolina\u2019s offense is built on a commitment to running the football. According to him, the winning will depend on \u201cowning the line of scrimmage\u201d against a physical Carolina offensive line ranked among the league\u2019s top 10 in rushing.<\/p>\n<h3>The NFC East Picture Has Shifted<\/h3>\n<p>The Cowboys will be figuring out how to neutralize Carolina defensive tackle Derrick Brown, an elite run defender, who topped 100 tackles two years ago. Dallas\u2019 patchwork offensive line performed well last week with four non-starters, but that confidence must now translate into physical control against a defense anchored by Brown\u2019s interior pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the NFC East picture has shifted. Analysts see the division as \u201cwide open\u201d after the Philadelphia Eagles\u2019 recent slide and locker room tension involving receiver A.J. Brown and coordinator changes. That turmoil seems to give Dallas a prime opportunity to climb. However, former Cowboys safety Barry Church is favoring the Eagles. On Friday\u2019s episode of The Player&#8217;s Lounge, he said:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI feel like this is still Philadelphia&#8217;s division,\u201d Chirch said. \u201cI mean, this is the same squad, two and two last season, and they turned around and ripped off 13 straight.\u201d [3:41]<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Is The NFC East WIDE Open?! | Players Lounge\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lEh0keFHLtQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But Executive Vice President Stephen Jones trusts the Cowboys\u2019 aggressive mindset, calling Prescott the team\u2019s \u201cPied Piper\u201d who continues to make a \u201chuge difference,\u201d and said:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe believe in this team,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cWcsMx_G9a8\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he told 105.3 The Fan<\/a>. \u201cIf the right opportunity were sitting here today, we\u2019d pull the trigger. We have that kind of confidence in our team and really like where we&#8217;re headed right now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This week, however, Dallas took a hit when Jones announced that running back Miles Sanders is out for the season, shifting more responsibility to Javonte Williams and rookie Jaden Blue.<\/p>\n<p>Against the desperate Panthers &#8211; featuring perimeter threats Tetairoa McMillan and Xavier Legette, the Cowboys\u2019 road test will serve as a referendum on their championship caliber. Can Dallas maintain its trademark violence while stopping explosive plays, or will Dowdle\u2019s \u201crevenge game\u201d derail their climb in the division? Dallas&#8217; fans, let us know your thoughts and perspective in the comments box.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The gridiron drama reaches a fever pitch this Sunday as the Dallas Cowboys, fresh off a dominant performance, is set to play against Carolina<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5624,"featured_media":249355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,30],"tags":[3487,7661,32191],"class_list":["post-250494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cowboys","category-panthers","tag-brian-schottenheimer","tag-panthers-featured","tag-rico-dowdle"],"modified_by":"Mike Kashuba","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5624"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250494"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250535,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250494\/revisions\/250535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}