Prescott Leads Cowboys Past Struggling Washington Commanders to Kick Off Christmas Three-Game Slate.

Dak Prescott accumulated 307 yards and a pair of scoring strikes, as Dallas squandered a large portion of an 18-point lead before squeezing past the Washington Commanders 30-23 Thursday.

The Cowboys, now 7-8-1, scored touchdowns on their first three possessions to go up 21-3 lead. Although the Commanders (4-12) closed the deficit to a touchdown on three separate instances, they couldn’t complete the comeback and absorbed their tenth defeat in 11 games.

Both teams were previously eliminated from playoff contention, which greatly diminished the significance of this matchup between longtime NFC East rivals.

Prescott's Historic Outing

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

The signal-caller endured six sacks, with three coming from defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton.

Commanders' QB Situation

Forced to play minus 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 went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks.

The Commanders' Scoring Drives

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 third quarter, but Dallas restored its double-digit lead with a 52-yard kick by kicker Brandon Aubrey.

The kicker later nailed a 51-yarder to make it 30-20 with under four minutes to play.

After Prescott threw to tight end Jake Ferguson on the first possession, Johnson went 3 for 3 for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. A crucial connection was a 41-yard completion to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s longest since 2018.

Dallas' Methodical Drives

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