Rico Dowdle got a pathetic cowboy streak on Thanksgiving

It’s not clear why Dallas Cowboys fans figured out that Rico Dowdle should be the lead so much earlier than Mike McCarthy and the rest of the coaching staff did, but the Cowboys are finally leaning on their best running back.

The move toward featuring Dowdle more was completed during Thursday’s game against the New York Giants when Dowdle found the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter that extended the lead to 27-10 and put the game out of reach. But the touchdown was more significant than it might first appear.

Not only was this the first rushing touchdown of the season for Dowdle, but it was the first rushing touchdown in a home game for any Cowboys running back this season. Seriously.

The lone previous rushing TD the Cowboys had scored at AT&T Stadium this year came back in Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens and was by Dak Prescott. The team’s other two rushing scores, both by Ezekiel Elliott, came on the road.

That the team’s best running back only had his first touchdown of the year in Week 13 really underscores how poorly managed this offense has been all season. Dowdle entered this game averaging 4.4 yards per carry. carry, compared to just 3.2 for Elliott (who ranked second among Cowboys running backs).

Dowdle eclipsed 100 yards in a game for the first time in his career Thursday and easily looked like the best player on the Dallas offense.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say the Cowboys would be more legitimate postseason contenders at this point if they had committed to Dowdle earlier in the year (there are too many issues to narrow it down to just that one), but running the running back situation perfectly captures how much Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy have failed this season.

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