![\"Rico](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/new-york-jets-v-pittsburgh-steelers-pittsburgh-pennsylvania-august-21-rico-1-e1788540941574.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rico Dowdle. <\/p>\n
The Dallas Cowboys<\/a> have such an incredible offensive line, it\u2019s easy to give them the credit for any success the team has running the ball \u2013 and not the running backs.<\/p>\n For former 1,000-yard rusher and current Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> running back Rico Dowdle<\/a>, it\u2019s a level of disrespect he\u2019s turned into pretty potent motivation after Dallas let him walk in free agency following the 2024 season.<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Ben Solak<\/a> put Dowdle at the top of his list of \u201cX-Factors\u201d for NFL teams headed into the 2026 season after he signed a 2-year, $12.25 million free-agent contract with the Steelers on March 9.<\/p>\n Dowdle made the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and played in Dallas for 5 seasons, including his 1st career 1,000-yard rushing season in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past two seasons, Dowdle is ninth in yards per rush and 12th in rushing yards per game despite playing in time shares in two offenses (Dallas, Carolina) over the past two years,\u201d Solak wrote on September 4. \u201cDowdle is a no-nonsense runner (sixth in success rate over the same time frame) who doesn\u2019t necessarily break tackles and create explosives at the rate of an elite back \u2026 if Dowdle fills his role well behind this Steelers offensive line, which could be the best he has played behind, Pittsburgh has an avenue to defensive victories thanks to a reliable rushing attack that controls the clock and stays ahead of the sticks.\u201d<\/p>\n Rico Dowdle Chasing NFL History in 2026<\/p>\n Another 1,000-yard season in 2026 would put Dowdle in rare company in terms of NFL<\/a> history. It would make him just the 3rd running back to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season for 3 different teams, joining Ricky Watters and Willis McGahee.<\/p>\n One record Dowdle would hold by himself with another 1,000-yard season \u2014 he\u2019d be the 1st running back in NFL history to run for 1,000 yards in 3 consecutive seasons for 3 different teams.<\/p>\n Epic Revenge Game for Rico Dowdle vs. Cowboys<\/p>\n The Cowboys were on the receiving end of one of the\u00a0great called shots in recent NFL history<\/a>\u00a0in Week 6 when they faced Dowdle and the Panthers<\/a>.<\/p>\n After telling the Cowboys to \u201cbuckle up\u201d before the game, Dowdle put up 239 yards from scrimmage \u2014 the franchise record \u2014 in a 30-27 Panthers win. He did so while his replacement, Cowboys running back\u00a0Javonte Williams<\/a>, had his worst game of the season with 13 carries for 29 yards.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know Emmitt Smith was going to show up in a Panthers uniform (against the Cowboys),\u201d ESPN\u2019s Stephen A. Smith said after Dowdle\u2019s record-setting performance.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Revenge of Rico Dowdle\u201d was a hot topic following his breakout performance.<\/p>\n \u201cThat wasn\u2019t Rico Dowdle out there,\u201d former\u00a0NFL<\/a>\u00a0MVP and ESPN commentator\u00a0Cam Newton<\/a> said. \u201cThat man said \u2018tell them to buckle up\u2019 then went out and did the damn thing. That wasn\u2019t Rico Dowdle out there \u2026 that was Rico Suave\u00a0out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Dowdle had an incredible 473 yards from scrimmage in 2 games following the win over the Cowboys, becoming just the seventh\u00a0NFL<\/a>\u00a0player since 1970 to have over 225 yards from scrimmage\u00a0in 2 consecutive games<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cRico\u00a0Dowdle\u00a0has more yards from scrimmage in his last 2 games (473) than\u00a0Saquon Barkley<\/a>\u00a0has all season (462),\u201d\u00a0\u00a0NFL on CBS wrote<\/a>\u00a0on its official X account.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been saying he was a dog \u2026 today he was a horse,\u201d former\u00a0Panthers<\/a>\u00a0running back\u00a0Jonathan Stewart said<\/a>. \u201cIs he the best running back in the league right now? Because he\u2019s sure playing like it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, and the entire NFC East Division. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rico Dowdle. The Dallas Cowboys have such an incredible offensive line, it\u2019s easy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":991817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6],"class_list":["post-991816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-cowboys","tag-cowboys","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallascowboys","tag-football","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117214009744153948","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=991816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/991817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=991816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=991816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=991816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}