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

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.

The Cowboys, now 7-8-1, found the end zone on their first three possessions to build 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 absorbed their tenth defeat in 11 games.

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

The Quarterback's Historic Outing

Prescott completed 19 of 37 passes and helped Dallas convert all six of its fourth-down attempts. His pair of touchdown throws gave him 30 for the season, matching the franchise record of four seasons with 30 or more touchdown passes.

Prescott shrugged off six sacks, with three coming from Jer’Zhan Newton.

Washington's Quarterback Dilemma

Forced to play minus their top QBs Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington turned to veteran Josh Johnson. In his 10th NFL 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 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 restored its 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 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' Sustained Possessions

On their second possession, 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 scoring pass to KaVontae Turpin.