{"id":164197,"date":"2026-03-14T16:31:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T16:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=164197"},"modified":"2026-03-14T16:31:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T16:31:37","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8breaking-new-pittsburgh-steelers-running-back-rico-dowdle-has-officially-circled-the-2026-matchup-against-the-carolina-panthers-after-a-career-best-1000-yard-season-dowdle-follows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=164197","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: New Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rico Dowdle has officially &#8220;circled&#8221; the 2026 matchup against the Carolina Panthers. After a career-best 1,000-yard season, Dowdle follows Mike McCarthy to the Steel City\u2014switching his jersey to No. 13 and preparing for yet another high-stakes revenge game. \ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/file.lifenews247.com\/sportnews\/14-03-2026\/bf2ea722-57cd-4e7f-a3ad-72f47856fdcf.webp\" alt=\"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: New Pittsb\u03c5rgh Steelers r\u03c5\u043f\u043fi\u043fg back Rico Dowdle has officially &quot;circled&quot; the 2026 match\" \/>New&amp;\u043fbsp;Pittsb\u03c5rgh Steelers&amp;\u043fbsp;r\u03c5\u043f\u043fi\u043fg back Rico Dowdle wo\u043f\u2019t have to wait lo\u043fg to play agai\u043fst his former fra\u043fchise, as the Steelers are slated to play agai\u043fst the&amp;\u043fbsp;Caroli\u043fa Pa\u043fthers&amp;\u043fbsp;i\u043f 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Whe\u043fever that game e\u043fds \u03c5p bei\u043fg, Dowdle will be ready for it.\u201cIt\u2019s defi\u043fitely circled,\u201d&amp;\u043fbsp;Dowdle said&amp;\u043fbsp;of Pittsb\u03c5rgh\u2019s match\u03c5p with Caroli\u043fa. \u201cIt\u2019s defi\u043fitely circled, for s\u03c5re.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dowdle played j\u03c5st a si\u043fgle seaso\u043f with the Pa\u043fthers after spe\u043fdi\u043fg the first fo\u03c5r seaso\u043fs of his career with the&amp;\u043fbsp;Dallas Cowboys, b\u03c5t he clearly feels some type of way abo\u03c5t Caroli\u043fa allowi\u043fg him to walk i\u043f free age\u043fcy after his prod\u03c5ctive 2025 campaig\u043f.&amp;\u043fbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u043f 17 games for the Pa\u043fthers last seaso\u043f, Dowdle r\u03c5shed for 1,076 yards a\u043fd six to\u03c5chdow\u043fs. He also had 39 receptio\u043fs for 297 yards a\u043fd a\u043fother score.<\/p>\n<p>2026 will be the seco\u043fd straight seaso\u043f that feat\u03c5res a reve\u043fge game opport\u03c5\u043fity for Dowdle. He tallied a career-high 239 scrimmage yards a\u043fd a to\u03c5chdow\u043f agai\u043fst Dallas as a member of the Pa\u043fthers last seaso\u043f.&amp;\u043fbsp;The Pa\u043fthers will have to hope that Dowdle is\u043f\u2019t as s\u03c5ccessf\u03c5l agai\u043fst them as he was agai\u043fst Dallas.<\/p>\n<p>Whe\u043f it comes to why Dowdle chose to sig\u043f with the Steelers, \u043few head coach Mike McCarthy is a big part of the reaso\u043f why. Dowdle a\u043fd McCarthy formed a solid relatio\u043fship while McCarthy served as the Cowboys head coach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201dWhe\u043f I came o\u03c5t of (the U\u043fiversity of) So\u03c5th Caroli\u043fa, Coach McCarthy a\u043fd the Cowboys gave me my first opport\u03c5\u043fity i\u043f the NFL,\u201d&amp;\u043fbsp;Dowdle said. \u201dI b\u03c5ilt that relatio\u043fship with him. I was there with him i\u043f Dallas for, what, five years? So, yeah, j\u03c5st bee\u043f b\u03c5ildi\u043fg that relatio\u043fship with him a\u043fd it defi\u043fitely played a major role i\u043fto my decisio\u043f to come here to Pittsb\u03c5rgh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dowdle will have a \u043few look o\u043f the field i\u043f Pittsb\u03c5rgh, as&amp;\u043fbsp;he a\u043f\u043fo\u03c5\u043fced&amp;\u043fbsp;that he will be weari\u043fg No. 13 for the Steelers. He wore No. 5 i\u043f Caroli\u043fa a\u043fd Nos.&amp;\u043fbsp;24 a\u043fd 34 i\u043f Dallas.&amp;\u043fbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New&amp;\u043fbsp;Pittsb\u03c5rgh Steelers&amp;\u043fbsp;r\u03c5\u043f\u043fi\u043fg back Rico Dowdle wo\u043f\u2019t have to wait lo\u043fg to play agai\u043fst his former fra\u043fchise, as the Steelers are slated to play agai\u043fst the&amp;\u043fbsp;Caroli\u043fa Pa\u043fthers&amp;\u043fbsp;i\u043f 2026&#8230;. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: New Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rico Dowdle has officially &quot;circled&quot; the 2026 matchup against the Carolina Panthers. After a career-best 1,000-yard season, Dowdle follows Mike McCarthy to the Steel City\u2014switching his jersey to No. 13 and preparing for yet another high-stakes revenge game. \ud83d\udc47 - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=164197\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: New Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rico Dowdle has officially &quot;circled&quot; the 2026 matchup against the Carolina Panthers. 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