4 major factors to blame for Carolina Panthers’ loss at the Cowboys in Week 4

Carolina Panthers run defense was poor

All the talk before the game was whether the Carolina Panthers could stop the two-headed monster at running back in Ezekiel Elliot and Tony Pollard. As it turned out, the Dallas Cowboys had their way with a front seven that took the NFL by storm during the early stages of the campaign.

Simply put, the Cowboys dominated at the line of scrimmage whenever they ran the ball and didn’t even use Pollard much to accomplish this.

Elliot ran for 140 yards and a score, quarterback Dak Prescott scrambled for another 35, and Pollard gained 65 yards on the ground on just 10 carries.

That’s 245 yards at an average of 7.2 yards for anyone keeping score.

The Cowboys have a formidable offensive line led by All-Pro guard Zack Martin, who was a commanding presence on almost every down. This proved too much for the likes of Derrick Brown, DaQuan Jones, and Daviyon Nixon during an afternoon they’ll want to forget in a hurry.

Hopefully, this won’t be a sign of things to come. And judging by what we’ve seen from Phil Snow’s defense this season, they are far too talented for this to become an ongoing complication.