Prescott Pilots Dallas Cowboys Past Skidding Commanders to Launch 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 squeezing past the Washington Commanders 30-23 on Thursday night.
The Cowboys, now 7-8-1, found the end zone on their initial three drives to establish a 21-3 lead. Although the Commanders (4-12) cut the gap to a touchdown on three separate instances, they couldn’t complete the comeback and suffered their 10th loss in 11 games.
Both teams were already out from postseason consideration, which greatly diminished the importance of this matchup between longtime NFC East rivals.
Prescott's Record-Tying Performance
Prescott connected on 19 of 37 passes and helped Dallas convert all six of its fourth-down attempts. His two TD passes gave him 30 for the season, matching the franchise record of four seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes.
The signal-caller endured six sacks, including three coming from Jer’Zhan Newton.
Washington's QB Dilemma
Playing without injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington turned to 39-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson. Making his 10th career start and his first in over two years, Johnson was 15 for 23 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
Washington's 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 second half, 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 under four minutes to play.
After Prescott threw to tight end Jake Ferguson on the first possession, Johnson completed three passes for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. The key play was a 41-yard pass to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s biggest play since 2018.
Dallas' Sustained Drives
On their second possession, the Cowboys successfully executed three fourth downs on a 17-play march that ended with a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then made it three TDs in three drives with an 86-yard touchdown strike to KaVontae Turpin.
