Best-ever Seasons by Dallas Cowboys Quarterbacks

By John Turney 

Roger Staubach
art credit: Merv Corning

The first priority for NFL quarterbacks is winning, and few have been as successful as those who played for the Dallas Cowboys.

Granted, they don't have a surfeit of post-season honors or glitzy numbers as some of the others. No Dallas quarterback, for instance, has ever been an Associated Press first-team All-Pro or AP MVP, and there's never been a Run-and-Shoot or Air Coryell passing attack in Big D. But Dallas quarterbacks know how to win -- with two of them, Hall-of-Famers Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, winning the trophy that matters most.

The Lombardi.

So, which Dallas quarterback had the best-ever season in the team's history? That's why I'm here with my Top Ten list.

Now, before we get started, a couple of things to know: First, the Cowboys' franchise has had remarkable stability at the position, so only a dozen or so qualify. Second, and most important, I evaluated a mix of stats, postseason honors, team success, intangibles and the ever-familiar "eye test" to compile their best seasons -- with only season one per customer.

Got it? Let's begin:

10. Eddie LeBaron, 1962—Playing for an expansion team is a nightmare for quarterbacks, even for an experienced one like LeBaron.Your line can't block,, and your receivers can't catch. It's an uphill battle to execute a series of plays properly.

LeBaron did his best, and in year three (1962) he actually did well. 

He played in the Pro Bowl and led the NFL with a 95.2 passer rating. Though it wasn't how the NFL determined passing leaders then, the league did go back and crown the winners once the passer rating was established. Under the formula used in 1962, LeBaron was third in the league in passing.

In either case, it was excellent. He threw 16 touchdowns, had nine interceptions, completed 57.2 percent of his passes and averaged 8.65 yards per attempt. 

Obviously, quarterback wins aren't a statistic, per se, so there will always be anomalies -- and the '62 Cowboys may be first in that department. In a truly unique approach, LeBaron and Don Meridith rotated that year under center.

Once it was by half, but just once. When both were healthy, they'd rotate by play. They'd carry the call in, run it, then exit while a sub would do that same thing all over again. Nine years later, coach Tom Landry implemented the scheme with Roger Staubach and Craig Morton ...but only for a single game.

It wasn't successful. In 1962 he did it for the entire season. 

Regardless of how and when he reached the field, when LeBaron was on it he made a lot of plays. His season is worthy of the No. 10 spot on this list.

9. Quincy Carter, 2003—He only had one chance to start all 16 games for Dallas, and that was 2003 when he won 10 times and was runner-up as the AP Comeback Player of the Year.

But Bill Parcells cut him the following preseason, with Carter moving on to the Jets and CFL before bouncing around a few indoor football leagues. Almost a decade later, Parcells said that Carter had personal issues and couldn't handle the pressure as quarterback of America's Team.

"Some people just can’t fight the pressure to succeed," he told ESPN. "They just can’t fight it. It’s too much on them once the bar gets up a little bit. It’s too much. I don’t know all the problems or the demons exactly, but that’s what eventually took him down."

It's too bad. Carter was a good quarterback.

8. Drew Bledsoe, 2005—Brought in to replace 41-year-old Vinny Testaverde after Dallas was 6-10 in 2004, he led the Cowboys to a 9-7 record -- completing 60.1 percent of his passes and throwing for 23 touchdowns. He led the NFL in fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives (Tom Brady was second in both) and twice was the NFC Offensive Player of the Week.

Not bad.

7. Craig Morton, 1969—When Morton took over for Meredith, he excelled -- leading the team to a 11-2-1 finish and throwing 21 touchdown passes. He also led the NFL in yards per attempt and yards per completion and was the NFL Offensive Player of the Week once.

6. Dak Prescott, 2021—Dak still has time to move up the list, but, to date, his best overall year was 2021 when he threw for 37 touchdowns and, after returning from a severe injury, led the Cowboys to the playoffs. He was 11-5 as a starter but lost to the 49ers in the Wild Card round.

He was second in the AP NFL Comeback Player-of-the Year voting, twice was the NFC Player of the Week, ranked fifth in completions, fourth in touchdown passes and eighth in yards per attempt.

5. Tony Romo, 2014—Though Romo had other years with better numbers, 2014 is the pick. He was 12-3 as a starter, won a playoff game and set a career-high with 34 touchdown passes and only nine interceptions.

Third in the AP NFL MVP voting, he was second-team All-Pro and went to his fourth Pro Bowl. Injuries derailed the rest of his career.

4. Danny White, 1981—White could never get the Cowboys over the hump ,leading them to NFC Championship Games in 1980, 1981 and 1982 ... but falling short each time. His best season was 1981 when Dallas met San Francisco for the conference championship ... game known for "The Catch" ... and barely fell short.

Following Dwight Clark's game-winning TD, White drove the Cowboys to a potential game-winning score by throwing an absolute dart to Drew Pearson. But a game-saving tackle by Eric Wright prevented a probable touchdown, and White fumbled away the contest on the next play when he was sacked by Lawrence Pillers.

That sums up Danny White's career in two plays.

He was second-team All-NFC in 1981, eighth in passer rating and touchdown passes and first in lowest interception percentage.

3. Don Meredith, 1966—The Cowboys fell a game shy of the Super Bowl, losing to Green Bay, but "Dandy Don" was marvelous -- setting career-highs for completions, passing yards, passing touchdowns, lowest interception percentage and passer rating. Voted the NFL's Player of the Year by the Maxwell Club, he was a second-team All-Pro and chosen to his first Pro Bowl.

Don Meredith
art credit: Merv Corning

In Week Two he was the NFL Offensive Player of the Week when he threw five touchdown passes in a 52-7 win over the Giants. Three weeks later, he threw for five more scores in a 56-7 win against the Eagles.

In the NFL Championship Game, Meredith had the Cowboys on the brink of victory, but under heavy pressure by Hall-of-Fame linebacker Dave Robinson, threw a fourth-down interception in the end zone, killing Dallas' chances. Nevertheless, it was a tremendous season in terms of team success, statistics and postseason honors.

2. Troy Aikman, 1992—Aikman's highest personal postseason occurred in 1993 when The Sporting News made him All-NFL (by a vote of NFL players) and was chosen All-Pro by Sports Illustrated (by Paul Zimmerman), USA Today (by Gordon Forbes) and the Buffalo News (by Larry Felser). Zimmerman, Forbes and Felser were all Hall-of-Fame voters. Additionally, he guided the Cowboys to their second-straight Super Bowl win. 

Troy Aikman
art credit:  Merv Corning

But that is his second-best season. His career year was 1992.

The Cowboys were 13-3, and Aikman was voted to the Pro Bowl. What made the season remarkable, however, was his postseason play. Cruising through three playoff games, he completed 68.5 percent of his passes for 795 yards and eight touchdowns. He didn't throw an interception and had a passer rating of 126.4.

Demolishing the Bills in the Super Bowl XXVII, Aikman threw four touchdowns, completed 73.3 percent of his passes and was named the game's MVP. He demonstrated uncanny accuracy as a passer, delivering tight spirals downfield to lead Dallas to its first Super Bowl win in nearly 20 years.

1. Roger Staubach, 1971—Like Aikman, he achieved the ultimate goal by winning the Super Bowl and turning "Next Year's Champions" into 1971's champions. But it was not without adversity. 

For the first month-and-a-half of the season, he split time with quarterback Craig Morton - once rotating on every play in a 23-19 loss in Chicago on Halloween.

Talk about a horror show.

The following week, Landry finally committed to the former Heisman Trophy winner, and the Cowboys didn't lose another game  -- including a 24-3 win over the Dolphins in Super Bowl VI where Staubach was the game's MVP.

That season, he was 13-0 as a starter, including the playoffs, and the NFL's leading passer. It was still two years before the current rating formula, but it didn't matter. Under the formula used then or under the current one, he was No. 1. He also led the NFL in lowest interception percentage (1.9 percent) and yards per attempt (8.92). 

But Staubach won with more than his right arm. His scrambling bedeviled defenses, too. Countless times he converted first downs by running around and through defenses that thought they had him sacked. He finished the season with a career-high 343 yards rushing and an average of 8.4 yards per rush average.

He was named runner-up for the league MVP, was second-team All-Pro (NEA, PFWA), went to his first Pro Bowl and was chosen NFC Offensive Player of the Year by the Kansas City Committee of 101 and The Sporting News.

Staubach had other outstanding seasons, especially in the late 1970s when he had better statistics, but his first year as a starter was the best-ever season by a Cowboys' quarterback.