Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle went for just 56 total yards in Sunday's lopsided loss to the Eagles. He rushed 12 times for 53 (4.4 per rush) and added only 3 yards on 3 receptions. The positive? Dowdle continued to assert himself as the backfield leader.
Dowdle handled just 67% of RB carries for the game, but that stood at 75% before Dowdle left the game (with other starters) early in the fourth quarter.
Ezekiel Elliott played just 13 snaps to Dowdle's 31 overall. And Dalvin Cook didn't play at all.
Dowdle also led the backfield in passing-down snaps but continues to cede some of that time to Hunter Luepke. The FB trailed Dowdle by just 3 pass routes Sunday. That's a much smaller gap than Week 9 but in line with previous weeks.
Here's how their route totals have compared:
| week | Dowdle | Luepke |
| 1 | 10 | 7 |
| 2 | 16 | 4 |
| 3 | 18 | 16 |
| 4 | 9 | 13 |
| 5 | 16 | 14 |
| 6 | 13 | 14 |
| 8 | DNP | 15 |
| 9 | 34 | 12 |
| 10 | 15 | 12 |
It'd be nice to see more of those go Dowdle's way. But Dowdle ranks fifth on the team in targets and fourth in receptions, despite a slower start to his usage.
Dowdle won't be an attractive fantasy play because of his team's weak offense. But his role will be enough to make him useful at an RB3 level.
Dallas gets a bad matchup vs. Houston in Week 11. But the schedule looks OK for RB scoring beyond that until a Week 17 rematch with the Eagles.
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