Prescott Leads Cowboys Past Reeling Washington Commanders to Launch Christmas Three-Game Slate.

Dak Prescott threw for 307 yards and a pair of scoring strikes, as Dallas squandered a large portion of an 18-point lead before narrowly defeating the Washington Commanders 30-23 on Thursday night.

Dallas (7-8-1) scored touchdowns on their initial three drives to establish a 21-3 lead. Washington, falling to 4-12, cut the gap to a touchdown on three separate instances, they couldn’t complete the comeback and suffered their 10th loss in 11 games.

Each squad were already out from postseason consideration, which significantly reduced the significance of this matchup between historic NFC East rivals.

Prescott's Historic Outing

Prescott completed 19 of 37 passes and was instrumental on all six of its fourth-down tries. His two TD passes gave him 30 for the season, matching the franchise record of four seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes.

Prescott shrugged off six sacks, including three credited to defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton.

Washington's QB Situation

Playing without their top QBs Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington turned to 39-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson. Making his 10th career start and first since 2021, Johnson was 15 for 23 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

The Commanders' Offensive Highlights

Jacory Croskey-Merritt found paydirt with runs of 10 and 72 yards for Washington. The 72-yard scamper got the Commanders to 24-17 in the second half, but Dallas reclaimed a double-digit lead with a 52-yard field goal by Brandon Aubrey.

The kicker later nailed a 51-yarder to make it 30-20 with 3:59 remaining.

Following a Prescott touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson on the game’s opening drive, Johnson completed three passes for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. The key play was a 41-yard completion to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s biggest play since 2018.

Dallas' Methodical Possessions

On their second possession, the Cowboys converted three fourth downs on a lengthy, 17-play drive that culminated in a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then made it three TDs in three drives with an 86-yard scoring pass to KaVontae Turpin.