Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry famously alternated quarterbacks during a game in the Cowboys’ championship season of 1971. Craig Morton began the season as the starter that year before Roger Staubach replaced him.
But in the seventh game of the season against the Bears, the quarterbacks alternated plays.
The Texans, the worst team in the league this season, tried something similar against the Cowboys on Sunday.
Davis Mills returned to the starting lineup Sunday after backing up Kyle Allen for two weeks. But Jeff Driskel ended up playing as many snaps at the position as Mills. Driskel and Mills each had 33 plays.
Texans coach Lovie Smith said the team was searching for a spark and decided on the two-platoon system early last week.
“Where we are, we haven’t gotten a whole lot of production offensively,” Smith said. “You look at your roster. Jeff has been there. Really, as we go back and look at it a little bit, he did some good things in the preseason early on. That plan kind of got us out of it a little bit when we couldn’t elevate him and some things like that, but he’s always been there. As you see, the most productive day we’ve had offensively. I know what the points said but we felt like we could move the ball and mix in a combination of the two.”
The Texans, who were 17-point underdogs, outplayed the Cowboys but couldn’t put them away when they had the chance late in the game. Dallas scored a touchdown with 41 seconds left to win 27-23.
The Texans elevated Driskel from the practice squad for the third time this season. He threw his first touchdown pass since Sept. 27, 2020, when he was with the Denver.
He finished 4-of-6 for 38 yards and ran for 36 yards on seven carries. Mills went 16-of-21 for 175 yards and an interception on a Hail Mary to end the game.
“That was something that we worked on all week, a nice little package for me in there,” Driskel said. “I was excited to get out there and help the team win and, obviously, it was not what we wanted to do at the end of the game. We’ve just got to execute a few more times and punch the ball in the end zone, but it was good to get back in the game.”
The Cowboys obviously were caught off guard by the Texans’ strategy. The Chiefs won’t be.
“We’ll evaluate it,” Smith said when asked whether they will continue with the two-quarterback system. “If we like what we’re able to do with it, we’ll keep it. We’ll see what gives us the best option to give us a chance to beat Kansas City.”