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he sat out against Green Bay (11/24) and Philadelphia(12/4), it marked his first missed starts in 20 games,dating back to Nov. 21, 1993. He returned to the lineupagainst Cleveland (12/10) and, after guiding Dallas to afourth quarter touchdown, had the Cowboys on theBrowns’ one-yard line when time ran out in the 19-14loss. After completing 75.0% of his passes (21-of-28) atNew Orleans (12/19) in a Monday night victory, Aikmansaw limited first half action in the cold and rain againstthe Giants (12/24) in the season finale. Following theregular season, Aikman posted the two most impressivepassing days in Cowboys playoff history. In the DivisionalPlayoff Game against Green Bay (1/8/95), Aikman connectedwith Harper for a NFL postseason record 94-yardtouchdown toss. It was the longest play from scrimmagein NFL postseason history. He also set Dallas records forpassing yards (337) and completion percentage (76.7%on 23-of-30 passing) in a playoff game as the Cowboysposted a 35-9 win. The following week at San Francisco(1/15/95) in the NFC Championship Game, he broke hismark by throwing for 380 yards, and his 53 attempts tieda club playoff record. Both his attempts and yards werecareer highs (regular-season or postseason) at the time,and he also established NFC Championship Gamerecords for attempts, completions and passing yards.1993: In leading Dallas to its second consecutive SuperBowl title in 1993, Aikman posted one of the finest seasonsever by a NFL quarterback. His 99.0 quarterbackrating was the second highest in team history andplaced him second in the NFL, the highest finish by aDallas quarterback since Roger Staubach led the leaguein 1979 with a club-record 104.8 rating. The top vote getteramong all players for the Pro Bowl, Aikman earned aspot on his third consecutive Pro Bowl team following theseason, his first as the starting quarterback. Other 1993awards included All-Pro honors from Sports Illustratedand The Sporting News, Football News All-NFC and NFLAlumni Quarterback of the Year. The NFL’s most accuratepasser, Aikman led the league with a 69.1% completionrate. Aikman also avoided mistakes when throwing thefootball, leading the NFC and finishing second in the NFLin interception ratio at 1.53%, a club record. After missingmost of the preseason following June 19 back surgeryon a herniated disk, Aikman opened the regularseason at Washington (9/6) by completing an 80-yardtouchdown toss to Harper. The following week, Aikmanattempted a season-high 45 pass attempts againstBuffalo (9/12). At Phoenix (9/19), he completed 21-of-27 passes (77.8%) for 281 yards, beginning a streak ofthree straight weeks when his completion percentagetopped the 70 percent mark. The following week, heearned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors whenhe completed 18-of-23 passes (78.3%) for 317 yardsagainst Green Bay (10/3). He also posted a career-high13.8 yards-per-attempt. At Indianapolis (10/10), he completedthe threegame streak with a 21-of-28 day passing(75.0%). In the rain and wind at Philadelphia (10/31),Aikman had a string of 35 straight games with a completionpercentage above 50.0% snapped when he wasnine-of- 19. For his play in guiding Dallas to four consecutivewins in October, Aikman was named NFC OffensivePlayer of the Month. Aikman completed his first 10 passesagainst the N.Y. Giants (11/7) and 11-of-13 for 162yards and two touchdowns before suffering a strainedleft hamstring early in the third quarter, forcing him tomiss the remainder of that game and the games that followedagainst Phoenix (11/14) and Atlanta (11/21).Despite missing two and a half games due to injuries, hestill threw for 3,100 yards to finish fourth in the NFC andposted his second consecutive 3,000 yard passing season,the first back-to-back 3,000- yard seasons by aDallas quarterback since White accomplished the feat in1980-81. He returned to action on Thanksgiving Dayagainst the Dolphins (11/25). Aikman was 21-of-27(77.8%) for 252 yards and two touchdowns against theN.Y. Jets (12/18). He then closed out the year with backto-backseason-high 80.0% completion days againstWashington (12/26) (16-of-20) and at the N.Y. Giants(1/2/94) (24-of-30) – where he led Dallas to a 16-13overtime win and the NFC East title. Over the final threegames of the season, Aikman posted three straightgames with a completion percentage over 70.0%, andincluding the playoffs, he extended the streak to sixgames. In completing 28-of-37 passes (75.7%) for 302yards and three touchdowns against Green Bay(1/16/94) in a Divisional Playoff Game, Aikman had aclub record streak of 111 postseason pass attemptswithout an interception snapped. In the NFCChampionship Game against San Francisco (1/23/94),Aikman led Dallas to a 28-7 lead before suffering a concussionearly in the third quarter that ended his day. Hereturned to action against Buffalo (1/30/94) and helpedlead Dallas to the Super Bowl XXVIII title by completing19-of-27 passes (70.4%) for 207 yards.1992: Aikman led the team to victories in eight of thefirst nine games. After knocking off the defending SuperBowl champion Redskins (9/7) in the Monday night seasonopener, he threw three touchdown passes againstPhoenix (9/20), including a season-long 87-yard touchdowntoss to Irvin. Later in the year at Phoenix (11/22),Aikman completed a season-high 25 passes and threwfor two touchdowns, beginning a string of five straightgames in which he threw at least two touchdown passes– the longest such streak by a Dallas player since Whitehad six straight multi-touchdown games in 1983. Down27-24 late at Denver (12/6), Aikman completed 7-of-82006 Pro Football Hall of Fame <strong>Information</strong> GuideProfootballhof.com- 19 -

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