Dallas Cowboys: 15 greatest quarterbacks in franchise history

Just before the 1991 NFL season began, the Cowboys made a move to bring in an experienced backup to play behind Troy Aikman. That player was Steve Beuerlein, who had started 15 games over the past two seasons for the then-Los Angeles Raiders and was a respectable 8-7 as a starter.

In addition to the record, Beuerlein was able to throw 21 touchdowns against 16 picks, but his completion percentage wasn’t great, as he was good on just 46.8 percent of his throws. Still, he was good about keeping the mistakes at a minimum, something he continued to do in Big D.

During his first season with the Cowboys, he was called upon to start four games while Aikman was dealing with a knee injury. Beuerlein was 4-0 in that span and there was even a bit of a quarterback controversy due to how well he was playing.

Beuerlein finished the regular season with 909 yards passing and five touchdowns against only two picks. He then guided them to a postseason win on the road against the Chicago Bears ‚— their first road playoff win in more than 10 years.

They lost the following week to the Detroit Lions. Beuerlein was replaced by Aikman, who went on to have the best season of his career in 1992, as he started the dynasty we all remember from those days.

Still, Beuerlein was good enough to make head coach Jimmy Johnson keep Aikman benched for a playoff game — despite being healthy — shows just how impressed he was with how the second-string quarterback played.