After Jalon Daniels leads Bucs over Cowboys, NFL teams are 8-4 when starting a backup QB

Published October 9, 2026 05:27 AM Jalon Daniels, the Buccaneers’ undrafted rookie backup quarterback, played surprisingly well on Thursday night in an upset win over the Cowboys. But maybe it shouldn’t have been so surprising.Daniels continued a notable trend of this early NFL season, with teams winning more than they lose when starting a backup quarterback.After Daniels and the Bucs won on Thursday night, NFL teams are now 8-4 in the 12 games started by backup quarterbacks this season. In addition to the Bucs going 1-1 with Daniels, teams that have won games with their backups this year are the Giants (2-0 with Jameis Winston), the Bears (2-0 with Case Keenum), the Vikings (1-0 with Carson Wentz), the Seahawks (1-0 with Drew Lock) and the Commanders (1-1 with Marcus Mariota).The Falcons drag the record down by going 0-2 with their third-string quarterback, Cooper Rush, who looked like a third-string quarterback when Michael Penix and Tua Tagovailoa were both injured for the first two games of the season. Atlanta is the only team that has started a backup quarterback and failed to win at least one game with him.No team wants to lose its starting quarterback, but the results this season show that losing a starter doesn’t have to be a disaster. Teams can and do win games with backup quarterbacks. This season, they’ve won twice as many games as they’ve lost.