Dak Prescott Leads Cowboys Past Skidding Washington Commanders to Kick Off Holiday Triple-Header.

The Cowboys' quarterback threw for 307 yards and a pair of scoring strikes, as Dallas blew most of an 18-point lead before edging the Washington Commanders 30-23 Thursday.

The Cowboys, now 7-8-1, found the end zone on their initial three drives to go up 21-3 lead. Washington, falling to 4-12, cut the gap to a touchdown on three different occasions, they were unable to finish the comeback and suffered their tenth defeat in 11 games.

Each squad were already out from postseason consideration, which greatly diminished the significance of this contest between historic NFC East rivals.

Prescott's Historic Outing

Prescott connected on 19 of 37 passes and was instrumental on all six of its fourth-down tries. His pair of touchdown throws gave him 30 for the season, tying Tony Romo’s record of four seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes.

Prescott shrugged off six sacks, with three credited to Jer’Zhan Newton.

Commanders' QB Dilemma

Playing without injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington called upon 39-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson. In his 10th NFL start and first since 2021, Johnson was 15 for 23 for 198 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks.

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 kicker Brandon Aubrey.

Aubrey added a 51-yarder to make it 30-20 with under four minutes to play.

Following a Prescott touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson on the first possession, Johnson completed three passes for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. A crucial connection was a 41-yard pass to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s longest since 2018.

Dallas' Methodical Possessions

On their second possession, the Cowboys successfully executed three fourth downs on a lengthy, 17-play drive 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.