BREAKING: FORMER COWBOY RICO DOWDLE TORCHES DALLAS WITH HISTORIC REVENGE GAME — “THEY WASN’T BUCKLED UP.”

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle made good on his promise, torching his former team with a record-setting performance in a 30-27 victory on Sunday.

Dowdle spent five years in Dallas before the Cowboys decided to move on, despite him topping 1,000 rushing yards last season. With limited interest in free agency, he eventually landed in Carolina as the backup to Chuba Hubbard.

When Hubbard was sidelined last week with a calf injury, Dowdle got his shot — and made the most of it. He rushed for 206 yards.

Ahead of the matchup with his former team, Dowdle delivered a warning.

“It’s going to be a very physical game. I take pride in that,” Dowdle said. “Buckle your chinstraps up. I will be coming.”

Cowboys defensive tackle Kenny Clark fired back, “He gotta back it up. I’m not much into talking. He ain’t played nobody like us and we ain’t played them.”

Dowdle did just that. He ran for 183 yards on 30 carries and caught four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. Dowdle’s 239 scrimmage yards were the most in Panthers history. Making matters worse, the Cowboys managed just 31 yards rushing against the Panthers.

After the game, Dowdle took a shot at his former team.

“They wasn’t buckled up,” Dowdle said.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott Responds to Rico Dowdle

The Cowboys fell to 2-3-1 with the loss. Dallas was a 3.5-point road favorite entering the matchup. Dak Prescott didn’t mince words after the upset loss. The Cowboys’ quarterback acknowledged that his former teammate made good on his warning.

“He told us to buckle up,” Prescott said. “He got the last laugh.”

What didn’t help was some pregame comments from owner Jerry Jones, who appeared to poke fun at Dowdle’s “buckle up” comments.

“I can’t even get our guys to come to the field they’re shaking so bad,” Jones joked.

Jones wasn’t laughing after the game. He declined his typical media availability after watching his defense give up 410 yards to the Panthers.

Dallas Has Significant Questions on Defense

The Cowboys entered the matchup with the league’s worst defense — and things only got uglier against the Panthers. Dallas is surrendering more than 400 yards per game.

“It’s very frustrating. It’s all these points (given up), the receivers are running wide open down the field, too many busted coverages,” Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs said. “It’s a lot. I feel like we’re all over the place and we really don’t have no identity.”

Part of Dallas’ defensive identity disappeared when the team traded All-Pro Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. Jones defended the decision as a necessary step to fix a persistent weakness.

“The facts are specifically, we need to stop the run,” Jones said in August after the trade. “And we haven’t been able to stop the run in key times for several years. When you have the kind of extraordinary pass rush that [Micah] had, teams run right at you. If you’re not playing with a lead, that becomes a real problem.”

But the results haven’t matched the plan. Instead of tightening up against the run, the Cowboys have regressed, entering Week 7 with glaring defensive issues and a need for major adjustments across the board.

Holger Rune Refuses to Shake Umpire’s Hand After Controversial Davis Cup Clash

Holger Rune refused to shake the umpire's hand after his second singles match in the second round of the 2025 Davis Cup Qualifiers, and after the match, he explained why.

 

 

Rune hoped to lead his country to the Final 8 of the 2025 Davis Cup. After beating strong Serbia in the first round of the Qualifiers, Denmark took on Spain in the second (and final) round. The Spanish hopes took a massive hit with Carlos Alcaraz's withdrawal, while Dane's grew in confidence.

The Danish team handled the opening day of the tie, which was played on the clay courts at the Club de Tenis Puente Romano in Marbella, Spain, perfectly. Rune, who played with a new blacked-out racket, beat Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5, 6-3, and Elmer Moeller shocked Jaume Munar with an impressive comeback, winning 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

 

It was 2-0 for Denmark after day one, and things looked even more promising at the start of day two. August Holmgren and Johannes Ingildsen played a great first set of their doubles match, winning it 6-1. At that point, the Danish team was only one set away from securing the Final 8.

But then, Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar started a comeback, winning the following two sets to win the match 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. Martinez didn't have a lot of time to rest, as he immediately had to dress up to play a singles match against Rune. He was surprisingly chosen over Munar.

 

The match was a proper battle. Martinez came out firing, winning the first set 6-1, and he even led 4-2 in the second set. But Rune never gave up. He won four games in a row to turn the second set around, winning it 6-4.

 

The match was very heated, with the Spanish crowd heavily supporting their player. On top of that, the umpire of the match made a few questionable calls, which angered both teams. In the third set, Rune served for the match at 5-3 and even had a match point, but he failed to serve out the match, ultimately losing 1-6, 6-4, 6-7(3).

After the match, he shook hands with his opponent, Spain's team captain David Ferrer, and his team captain Frederik Nielsen, but as he reached out to shake the umpire's hand, Rune quickly pulled it back, refusing to shake hands with the umpire.

 

Holger Rune hits out at Spanish crowd after Davis Cup battle

After the match, Rune spoke to Danish journalist Nicholas Albek (per SpilXperten) about the Spanish crowd, which he thought was disrespectful during his match against Martinez.

"I just thought that there’s a difference between Danish and Spanish manners. When we played against Serbia, the atmosphere was also absolutely amazing, but there was clearly more respect. There’s a bit of a difference in upbringing. There were some things today that were a bit unsportsmanlike, but I’ve experienced worse. That wasn’t what decided the match."

Rune was also asked about not shaking the umpire's hand. He explained that, based on the umpire's performance, he didn't think he deserved a handshake after the match.

"He doesn’t deserve that. It’s pretty clear with so many mistakes. I don’t think it was very good work. So I don’t think he deserved it."

Rune's Denmark ultimately lost the tie. Elmer Moeller couldn't come up with another impressive win, as Pablo Carreno Busta beat him 6-2, 6-3 to turn the score of the tie around from 0-2 to 3-2. Therefore, Spain will play in the Final 8 of the 2025 Davis Cup.

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