2003 has been a dream season for Quincy Carter. Last week, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback reached a personal milestone when he started his ninth game of the season in a 10-6 victory over Buffalo. Previously, his eight starts as a rookie in 2001 was as close as Carter had come to steady work.
Whether it was the arrival of Bill Parcells or his own growth as a player, Carter has played well enough to lead the Cowboys to a 7-2 record and first place in the NFC East. He was a sensation at the beginning of the season and his play was good enough to draw praise from nearly everybody in Cowboy Country.
Even overzealous owner Jerry Jones, who had a hand in Carter's unceremonious dismissal from the starting job last season, said of Carter's performance in a 38-7 win over Detroit in Week 7, "that was Troy Aikman stuff." High praise indeed. But Bill Parcells is somewhat more even-handed with his compliments.
Parcells gave Carter his seal of approval along with the starting job early in the year, but as the season wears on and Carter's fan club grows, the coach is careful to keep his quarterback's feet on the ground.
This week, Dallas travels to New England where another quarterback had a breakout season two years ago. Reporters in Dallas started drawing comparisons between Carter and Patriots' pivot Tom Brady, but Parcells says the parallel is a stretch at this point.
"We can't put Quincy in a class with Brady. Brady has a championship. He has done far more. He has played far better football under a lot more pressure," Parcells told the Fort-Worth Telegram.
There is good reason for the coach's caution. Carter averaged 227.8 passing yards through his first six games. Those numbers helped the Cowboys to 5-1 record, but after a loss and a couple of close wins in their last three games, Carter hasn't looked anything like Aikman or Brady.
His passing yardage has dropped to 150.6 yards through those three games. Part of the reason is Troy Hambrick's inability to move the ball on the ground, but Parcells says defenses are finally taking Carter seriously and adjusting coverages to make it harder to throw the ball. He says this point of the season is a proving ground for a young quarterback.
"Quincy is just getting started," Parcells said. "I was just talking to Quincy this morning about, 'Hey, this is about staying power. This is the furthest you have ever gone. You got to be able to hang.' "
Carter might get a break against a banged up Patriots defense, but they still have a healthy secondary that allows the fourth-lowest pass yardage in the league. Carter knows Sunday marks the start of a tough road in the Cowboys' bottom-heavy schedule. After the Patriots, Dallas has to face Carolina, Miami and Philadelphia.
"This is the stretch run of the season," Carter said. "You have to go out there and still do the little things that you were doing when the season started, studying, eating right."
Oddsmakers have the Cowboys as four-point underdogs on the road in New England.