– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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CHARLOTTE — Not known to have an iron chin over the past few seasons, the Carolina Panthers were once again on the receiving end of an early knockout punch right to the kisser. Only this time, after barely beating the count, the Panthers got up from off the canvas and proved the old boxing adage true that it just takes one punch to change the entire fight, and the body blows and haymakers that Rico Dowdle threw from the backfield allowed Carolina to come away on the winning side of one of the most unlikely decisions in franchise history.
Dowdle rushed for a career-high 206 yards, spurring the Panthers’ offense as Carolina came back from a 17-point deficit and defeated the Miami Dolphins 27-24 inside Bank of America Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Bryce Young threw for two touchdowns, including one to rookie Mitchell Evans at the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter to complete the turnaround, matching the biggest come-from-behind victory in Panthers history.
Dowdle, making his first start in a Panthers’ uniform, tied for the second-must rushing yards in a game in franchise history.
The Panthers took the lead for the first time, 20-17, on Dowdle’s 1-yard touchdown plunge with 6:10 remaining in the fourth, a play that was set up by his XX-yard run that put the Panthers in scoring position. Less than two minutes later, Miami see-sawed back in front on Tua Tagovailoa’s 46-yard deep ball to Jaylen Waddle, the former’s third touchdown pass of the afternoon.
Young responded to the Dolphins’ score, leading Carolina down the field while converting a fourth-down play to stay alive, a 17-yard pass to rookie Jimmy Horn Jr. to move the Panthers into the red zone with 3:24 remaining. Two plays later, and after a 12-yard run by rookie Trevor Etienne to set up first-and-goal, Young connected with another rookie, Evans, on a crossing route at the goal line to give Carolina the lead for good.
A week after a first-quarter punt return by New England was the catalyst in the Patriots scoring 42 unanswered points, the Panthers once again got off to a sluggish start as Young turned over the ball twice on Carolina’s first two possessions of the game — a sack-fumble by Bradley Chubb and an interception by Minkah Fitzpatrick. Miami converted both giveaways into touchdowns, a pair of touchdown passes to De’Von Achane and Darren Waller, respectively, and the Dolphins were up 17-0 less than 20 minutes into the game.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by staff photographer William Anthony. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 20 pictures in total.
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