


He’s one of the 32 best QBs in football, which makes him one of the league’s best backups. He went 1-0 starting in place of Morton, who was 10-2-1 that year.Īnyway, Dalton is a long-established quarterback who was solid for many years with the Bengals. In 1969, Dallas’ backup quarterback was Roger Staubach. Carter was 3-5, Wright 1-2, Leaf 0-3 and Stoerner 1-1.

The Cowboys started overmatched rookie Quincy Carter eight times, Anthony Wright and Ryan Leaf thrice each, and Clint Stoerner twice. Beurlein then went 1-1 in that postseason, helping Dallas beat Chicago 17-13.Ģ001 was as bad of a quarterbacking year as any team ever had. Steve Beurlein went 4-0 in place of the injured Troy Aikman in 1991, allowing the Cowboys to post an 11-5 record and make the playoffs for the first time in six years. Sometimes we forget what a quality backup Garrett proved to be.

Jason Garrett was 6-3 as a starter in relief of Troy Aikman from 1993-99. Here are a few other notes about Dallas backup QBs over the years. Which made him a fabulous backup starting quarterback. 746 (85-29), but still, Morton was a good NFL starting quarterback. Staubach’s winning percentage was a gaudy. Good enough that Morton’s regular-season record as the Dallas starter was 32-14-1, a winning percentage of. Good enough that Morton was 3-2 starting in place of Meredith, including one game in 1965. Good enough that in 1977, at age 34, he took the Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl. As in, what took Landry so long to give Staubach the job?īut the truth is, Morton was a good NFL quarterback. We sometimes write off Morton as the guy who was in Staubach’s way. It helps that Prescott was a home-run draft pick and that Morton was such a quality QB. Backup quarterbacks often are a one-way ticket to defeat. I researched the Cowboys’ use of backup quarterbacks going back to 1963, the year Don Meredith became the Cowboys’ starting quarterback.īest as I can figure, Dallas’ record in the regular season is 56-66 with a backup QB. In the NFC Championship Game, Washington battered Dallas 26-3. In the playoffs, Staubach relieved Morton and led Dallas to a 30-28 victory over the 49ers, then Tom Landry returned the starting job to Staubach. Craig Morton became the starter and led the Cowboys to a 10-4 record. In 1972, Roger Staubach was injured in the exhibition season and missed most of the regular season. That 2016 season? The Cowboys went 13-3 before losing to Green Bay 34-31 in the playoffs. Prescott, then a rookie drafted in the fourth round, took over and has been the starter ever since. In 2016, Tony Romo was lost for the season during the exhibition season. In fact, Dallas has a history of solid backup quarterbacks. Jerry Jones has many faults as the Dallas general manager, but having a solid backup QB rarely is an issue. Dak Prescott is lost for the season, and the Dallas Cowboys forge ahead with backup Andy Dalton as their quarterback.ĭalton was a fortuitous signing by the Cowboys in the off-season, but that’s not surprising.
