Dolphins Facing Another Backup RB, But With Clear Differences

The Miami Dolphins are going to be facing another backup running Sunday, and it's not going to be difficult for them to do a better job than they did in Week 5.

Rico Dowdle of the Carolina Panthers was so effective against the Dolphins, in fact, that he was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his 206-yard performance in the discouraging 27-24 Miami loss at Bank of America Stadium.

The Los Angeles Chargers are missing not one running back like the Panthers were last week, but rather their top two rushers, which became official when they placed Omarion Hampton on IR on Wednesday to join Najee Harris, who's out for the season with an Achilles injury.

After what Dowdle did to the Dolphins, there was no way head coach Mike McDaniel would do anything but show respect to the Chargers backup (not that he would have done anything differently injuries or not).

“Well fortunately, or unfortunately, I look at you’re above the line in the National Football League and you’re on an active (roster) as a running back," McDaniel said. "Your trade is running the football and you must be regarded and respected as such; I think that was case and point. Any given week if you take any foot off the gas, any guy whether you know him or not — I’m not sure if you knew who number 5 was last week, regardless you have to tackle him. That will be our focus. There’s always talented runners on each team or they wouldn’t be there. They will stress us and we will see if we’re ready for them, or they’ll introduce themselves to us in the way we don’t want.” 

THE DOWDLE DIFFERENCE

Given the way the Dolphins run defense has performed this season — or should we say underperformed — it would be silly to overlook any running back.

That said, we will point out there's a major difference between Dowdle, the number 5 that McDaniel reference, and the current Chargers running backs.

And that difference is that Dowdle already had had some level of success before facing the Dolphins, unlike Chargers back Hassan Haskins and Kumani Vidal.

Haskins has been in the NFL since 2022 and has the grand total of 195 yards — or 11 fewer than Dowdle got last Sunday — in 37 career games.

Vidal, meanwhile, was on the Chargers practice squad until he was signed to the active roster Wednesday to take Hampton's spot. A sixth-round pick of the Chargers in 2024, he has played 12 NFL games and has 173 career rushing yards — or 33 fewer than Dowdle's output against the Dolphins.

Dowdle joined the Panthers this offseason after spending four years with the Dallas Cowboys, and he enjoyed a breakout season in 2024 when he rushed for over 1,000 yards. In the final weeks of the season, he had three consecutive 100-yard rushing performances and a stretch of four in five games.

So let's just say he had much better credentials than either Vidal or Haskins.

One thing in common between the Chargers and Panthers has been injuries on the offensive line — Carolina had its third starting right guard against the Dolphins; the Chargers are on their third left tackle and they might be switching centers.

The bottom line is we shouldn't assume that just because a backup running back had major success against the Dolphins in Week 5 that it's going to happen again in Week 6, just like we shouldn't assume the Dolphins are ready to stonewall any running back — period.

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