Prescott Leads Dallas Cowboys By Reeling Washington Commanders to Launch Christmas Three-Game Slate.
Dak Prescott accumulated 307 yards and a pair of scoring strikes, and the Dallas Cowboys squandered a large portion of an 18-point lead before narrowly defeating the Washington Commanders 30-23 on Thursday night.
The Cowboys, now 7-8-1, found the end zone on their initial three drives to build a 21-3 lead. Washington, falling to 4-12, narrowed the margin to a touchdown on three different occasions, they were unable to finish the comeback and absorbed their tenth defeat in 11 games.
Both teams were already out from postseason consideration, which greatly diminished the significance of this matchup between historic NFC East rivals.
Prescott's Record-Tying Outing
Prescott connected on 19 of 37 passes and was instrumental on all six of its fourth-down attempts. His pair of touchdown throws gave him 30 for the season, tying Tony Romo’s record of four seasons with 30 or more touchdown passes.
Prescott shrugged off six sacks, with three credited to Jer’Zhan Newton.
Washington's Quarterback Situation
Playing without injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington turned to veteran Josh Johnson. Making his 10th career start and his first in over two years, Johnson went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks.
The Commanders' Scoring Drives
Jacory Croskey-Merritt scored on runs of 10 and 72 yards for Washington. The 72-yard scamper got the Commanders to 24-17 in the third quarter, but Dallas reclaimed a double-digit lead with a 52-yard kick by kicker Brandon Aubrey.
Aubrey added a 51-yarder to make it 30-20 with 3:59 remaining.
After Prescott threw to tight end Jake Ferguson on the game’s opening drive, Johnson went 3 for 3 for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. A crucial connection was a 41-yard pass to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s biggest play since 2018.
Cowboys' Methodical Possessions
On their next drive, the Cowboys successfully executed 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 scoring pass to KaVontae Turpin.
