Sure, this was a game between two teams with losing records and there was little chance of making the playoffs. And yes, there were a lot of penalties and mistakes made. But the Dallas Cowboys did what they had to do. They took care of the Carolina game with a defense that largely dominated the Panthers in a 30-14 win.

Although we got the bad news on Saturday that cornerback Trevon Diggs was out due to season-ending knee surgery, Dallas’ defense was simply no match for the weak Panthers. Micah Parsons and Co. produced six sacks and four turnovers, giving the unit now 14 takeaways in the last seven games. Additionally, Carolina quarterback Bryce Young was only able to total 219 yards passing with one touchdown and two interceptions, for a passer rating of 73.4, while the Panthers’ ground game was limited to just 60 yards rushing

On the other side of the ball, the Cowboys’ offense was led by explosive wideout CeeDee Lamb. Despite still playing with a bruised shoulder, he threw nine passes for a game-high 116 yards and a touchdown. He was one of seven players to catch passes from Cooper Rush, with a total of three different receivers scoring. The quarterback finished the game with 214 yards through the air, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 119 rating.

And after never rushing for 100 yards in his first 47 career games, including the playoffs, Rico Dowdle has now surpassed the century mark in each of his last three games. He rushed for 149 yards on 25 carries for the Panthers, both of which were new career highs.

Overall, the Cowboys accumulated 410 yards of offense, were good on 50 percent of their third-down attempts and reached the end zone on 75 percent of their trips to the red zone. They also maintained the possession advantage 33:46 to 26:14.

With the victory the 173rd^approx In his career, Mike McCarthy passed Hall of Famer Bill Parcells to rank 13th on the all-time NFL coaches list.

With the offense getting off to a rocky start, there wasn’t much to write home about in the first quarter. However, two Cowboys rookies got the Dallas defense going.

As the Panthers advanced and reached the Cowboys’ 18-yard line, Young spun around Parsons and stumbled forward. But on the way down, linebacker Marist Liufau knocked the ball out, while defensive end Marshawn Kneeland went down on the fumble, ending the threat.

The second frame started differently for the Cowboys’ offense, however, thanks in large part to Lamb, who caught three passes for 62 yards in a 10-play, 77-yard drive. All three receptions came on third down, the last being a 14-yard catch in the end zone that gave the visitors a 7-0 lead. This marked the fourth time in a row that Lamb surpassed the 1,000 receiving yard mark.

Linebacker Eric Kendricks then reached a milestone of sorts himself. When cornerback Jourdan Lewis intercepted a pass at Carolina’s ensuing position, the ball deflected right into the waiting hands of Kendricks. This was his third interception of the season (two interceptions, one fumble recovery) and tied his career high.

Dallas started at the Panthers’ 48-yard line after the giveaway and managed to reach the 39-yard line, but the drive stalled there. Out came Brandon Aubrey, who continued his outstanding 2024 season with a 52-yard field goal right up the middle for another three points.

And then, in just two consecutive plays, two self-inflicted mistakes by the Cowboys gave the Panthers the momentum they needed heading into halftime. Dallas was close to putting up points when they reached the Carolina 14-yard line with 45 seconds left. But then Rush fumbled and tried to strip the ball away from Rico Dowdle on an RPO play that was recovered by the Panthers.

Even worse, on Carolina’s first snap, receiver Jalen Coker stormed down the right sideline all alone due to a coverage breakdown. The result was an 83-yard touchdown and the Cowboys’ lead decreased to 10-7 at halftime.

Aubrey had a chance to set an NFL record when Dallas set him up for a 70-yard field goal on the final play of the quarter, but his shot was both wide left and short.

Any momentum they may have lost was quickly restored by the Cowboys early in the second half. On the Panthers’ first snap of the quarter, defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa stormed down the middle untouched and sacked Young, who also lost the ball. When defensive end Chauncey Golston recovered the fumble, Dallas was lined up at the Carolina 29-yard line. Five plays later, the Cowboys were over the goal line and Rush found Jalen Tolbert, who ran across the back of the end zone for the 11-yard touchdown.

The game was then essentially cemented when Dallas came right back and scored on its next possession to extend its lead to 24-7 after three quarters. The six-play, 78-yard drive was capped off by Rush with an 18-yard pass to Brandin Cooks, an 11-yarder to Lamb and finally a 17-yarder to Jalen Brooks, who made a nice catch in the end zone for his first Career touchdown.

Rush was on the move again as the clock ticked over into the final frame, engineering a 10-play, 46-yard drive that moved into enemy territory. And although the drive stalled at the Carolina 27-yard line, Aubrey split the uprights on a 45-yard field goal.

So we had no choice but to waste time.

The Panthers scored with just over nine minutes left. Aided by a pair of pass interference penalties against the Cowboys, Carolina scored its second touchdown when Young scrambled six yards around the right end to the goal line on a 12-play, 70-yard drive.

Don’t worry, Aubrey scored another three points for Dallas with a 41-yard field goal. This came after KaVontae Turpin had a 24-yard kickoff return and the Panthers added 15 more yards with an unnecessary roughness penalty. The Cowboys lined up at the Carolina 46 and pushed their way to the 23 before turning to their kicker.

Israel Mukuamu caused the team’s fourth turnover with an interception of Young and returned it to the Dallas 25-yard line. But at that point, the Cowboys were content to keep the ball on the ground, run out the clock and secure the 30-14 win.