Prescott Leads Cowboys Beyond Skidding Washington Commanders to Kick Off Christmas Triple-Header.

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

Dallas (7-8-1) found the end zone on their first three possessions to go up 21-3 lead. Although the Commanders (4-12) cut the gap to a touchdown on three different occasions, they couldn’t complete the comeback and absorbed their tenth defeat in 11 games.

Each squad were already out from postseason consideration, which severely lessened the stakes of this contest between longtime NFC East rivals.

The Quarterback's Historic Outing

Prescott completed 19 of 37 passes and helped Dallas convert all six of its fourth-down tries. His two TD passes gave him 30 for the season, equaling Tony Romo’s record of four seasons with 30 or more touchdown passes.

Prescott shrugged off six sacks, including three coming from defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton.

Commanders' Quarterback Situation

Playing without injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington turned to 39-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson. In his 10th NFL start and first since 2021, Johnson went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

Washington's Scoring Drives

Jacory Croskey-Merritt scored on runs of 10 and 72 yards for Washington. The latter touchdown got the Commanders to 24-17 in the second half, but Dallas reclaimed a 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 3:59 remaining.

Following a Prescott touchdown pass 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 biggest play since 2018.

Cowboys' Sustained Drives

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