Is Rico Dowdle playing tonight? Panthers RB does disappearing act after early touches originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Carolina Panthers have been riding with running back Rico Dowdle as their starter after he took the job from fellow back Chuba Hubbard.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhen Hubbard went down with an injury, Dowdle stepped up in a big way and went on to post ridiculous production. After splitting work with Hubbard upon his return, Dowdle fully took the reins of the backfield.
In the second quarter of the Week 12 game against the San Francisco 49ers, we haven't seen much of Dowdle. Here's what's going on.
Is Rico Dowdle playing tonight?
UPDATE: Just a brutal first half for Dowdle, who has just four carries for 19 yards and one catch for three yards. He only has two more carries than Hubbard.
The Panthers only ran 19 plays in the first half and the offense has been awful, so that has certainly contributed to Dowdle's poor showing.
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Dowdle is not dealing with any injury as far as we know, so his disappearing act has been strange, to say the least.
Dowdle had three touches early on, but the Panthers are also utilizing Hubbard in this game. It also hasn't helped that the Panthers haven't had the ball much.
What's more frustrating is the Panthers had a first-and-goal from the one-yard line and didn't go to Dowdle, which led to Bryce Young throwing a pick.
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