Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales. Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Panthers HC plans to make major change to running game

By Zachary Cariola | Last updated Oct 28, 2025 10:45 AM ET

Coming off their worst loss of the season on Sunday, the Carolina Panthers struggled to stay competitive against the Buffalo Bills. They scored just one touchdown, and kicker Ryan Fitzgerald made one of his two field goal attempts, resulting in a 40-9 blowout.

Despite being without quarterback Bryce Young, the Panthers struggled in both the run and passing games against the Bills, failing to protect veteran quarterback Andy Dalton. The 37-year-old signal-caller was sacked seven times, threw one interception and fumbled twice.

Facing another tough matchup against the Green Bay Packers (5-1-1) in Week 9, head coach Dave Canales plans to make some changes to the Panthers' offense.

Panthers emphasize getting Rico Dowdle the ball more against Packers

Neither of Carolina's running backs, Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard, has rushed for over 100 yards in the past two games, due to Canales experimenting with alternating running backs on each series. Although Hubbard had more carries (12) than Dowdle (8), Dowdle gained more yards (54).

After this unsuccessful experiment, Canales has decided to make Dowdle his primary back heading into their matchup against the Packers. Green Bay has been one of the stronger teams at stopping the run, allowing 552 rushing yards.

"Chuba has meant a lot to his organization, certainly to the identity that we wanted to build our team on, and we wanted to give Chuba the opportunity to go out and continue to impact our team in a positive way,'' Canales said to ESPN's David Newton. "We cannot ignore that Rico has been exceptional in a couple of games, and then in the opportunities he's had over the last two weeks.”

Rico Dowdle has proven he's the Panthers' RB1

Hubbard is an exceptional running back in his own right, but Dowdle has proven he's the primary option for the Panthers in their running game, with two games over 180 yards rushing (including 206 yards against the Miami Dolphins in Week 5). His 605 yards place him fifth in the league, putting him on pace for a season similar to that of the Indianapolis Colts' Jonathan Taylor and the Bills' James Cook.

A strong running game against the Packers will benefit the Panthers if Young isn't ready to play on Sunday. However, Young might practice on Wednesday, and having him back under center will help restore the Panthers' passing attack and ideally complement a strong running game, which Dowdle will now lead.

Zachary Cariola

My name is Zachary Cariola and I have been a sports fan for as long as I can remember. My areas of expertise are MLB, NBA, and NFL. You can find my other work on Southside Showdown from FanSided and at Chicitysports where I cover all Chicago sports. When not watching sports, I love spending time with my family and learning history.

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