CHARLOTTE — When Rico Dowdle hobbled off the field to the sidelines late in the fourth quarter on Sunday in the Panthers' win against the Dolphins, he didn't know that with the latest 16-yard rush, he'd topped 200-plus yards on the day. He didn't know that he was knocking on the second-most single-game rushing yards in franchise history, and in reachable distance of the top spot.

He just knew he was cramping badly.

Granted, he'd pounded the grass during one of the warmer days Charlotte had seen in a week, featured as the primary back with Chuba Hubbard out due to a calf injury, so cramps were not a surprise. But Dowdle also knew he wanted to finish what he started. So he did what any player would do in that situation.

"I drank like five (pickle juices) on the sidelines. Five pickle juices, a Rite stuff, and some cramp stuff," Dowdle laughed, sitting in his locker post-game, propped back against the chair as a gaggle of reporters flocked to arguably the player of the game.

The Panthers' offense kept rolling on that penultimate offensive drive, using the yardage Dowdle had picked up to get started, and let rookie Trevor Etienne and DeeJay Dallas finish off the possession that was extended with huge plays to Xavier Legette and Jimmy Horn Jr., and capped with a touchdown to Mitchell Evans.

On the next drive, Dowdle was able to go back in and pick up 5 more yards, tying him with Jonathan Stewart for the second-best single-game rushing performance (206 yards) in franchise history.

"He's coming out of there like a rocket. He hitting the hole hard," Legette said.

"We knew we would be able to run it, just a matter of how well we could run it," Dowdle shared. "Those guys up front did a great job of opening up and allowing me to just run through those tackles and get to the second level. It worked out in my favor."

Did it ever.

Dowdle finished with 234 all-purpose yards from scrimmage. It was a finish that trails only Christian McCaffrey, who holds the top two spots with a couple of 237-yard performances. His 1-yard touchdown with just over six minutes left in the game gave the Panthers their first lead of the game in a game that was tied for the largest comeback in franchise history.

"We had a great game plan," explained coach Dave Canales of the 27-24 win that featured Dowdle. "Rico would be up here and first to tell you, the offensive line did an excellent job of getting movement to get the run started, but it's the attitude that he ran with, the violence that he ran with, finishing through arm tackles, something that we've been challenging our guys on, when we get you to the second level, have a plan for how you finish, and I saw a great finish today out of Rico."

That finish on each run is what gave Canales and staff confidence that they could finish the game by sticking with their game plan. When down 17-0, Carolina came out and started a drive at their own 24-yard line. This is normally when a team, the Panthers included, would start throwing, attempting to get back into the game.

Canales called five straight run plays to start the drive, before a pass was thrown. On those plays, Dowdle got three carries and picked up 28 yards. Etienne took two rushes for 6 yards. It flipped field position, and the Panthers finished the drive with their first touchdown of the game.

It also signaled to Dowdle that even down, and even without Hubbard, coaches were putting this game in his hands.

"He said that we were going to keep running it," Dowdle said of Canales' message to him on the sideline. "I mean, I think I honestly started off slow, I think my first two runs I had like 5 yards. It was just a matter of grinding it out and giving coach the confidence to keep calling the run. Like you said, we started off slow, and we were able to turn it into a game. And we was able to run the ball."

That trust manifested itself in Dowdle's biggest play of the day.

During the second quarter, the running back who arrived in Charlotte this offseason as a free agent from Dallas walked up to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik and asked him to put a specific play in. It was one they'd worked on in practice, and Dowdle felt like he could hit it against the Dolphins' run defense.

"It's an inside zone," explained Dowdle. "They never ran inside zone here, but I asked him could we run that one. He came up to me after the game and was like 'just tell me which ones you want to run.'"

On the first play of the second half, Canales and Idzik called it; Young turned from under center, tossed the ball back to Dowdle, and the offensive line gave him a lane. He ran virtually untouched (one hand swiped at his elbow) for 53 yards before finally being brought down.

"That's something that coach does a great job of empowering us with," said quarterback Bryce Young. "Brad, coach Canales, whoever it may be, you know, wanting us to be vocal, wanting us to pound on the desk for a play, and yeah, Rico did that, he called a shot, and when we all have that belief, we all have that drive for something, it's a lot better chance of making it work. So that speaks to the competitor he is."

There was a moment when Dowdle learned how close he was to the franchise record single-game record (DeAngelo Williams finished with 210 rushing yards on Dec. 30, 2012, against the New Orleans Saints) that he couldn't help but think, what if he hadn't left with cramps in the fourth quarter.

"Oh yeah, for sure I definitely said that," Dowdle laughed. "I think I would have, honestly, if I didn't leave with cramps, I definitely would have gotten it."

But it's neither here nor there. In the end, Rico Dowdle still walked off the field with 234 all-purpose yards, with 200-plus on the ground, and got the final shout-out from Dave Canales in the post-game locker room speech because, as Canales put it, he "saved the best for last."

"I mean, you know, that speaks for itself," said receiver Tetairoa McMillan. "He's a dude that shows up every single day ready to work, and Sunday, his name got called, and it's hard to argue with what he did today."