Prescott Leads Cowboys Past Reeling Commanders to Kick Off Christmas Tripleheader.

Dak Prescott threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns, as Dallas squandered a large portion of an 18-point lead before squeezing past the Washington Commanders 30-23 Thursday.

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 separate instances, they couldn’t complete the comeback and suffered their 10th loss in 11 games.

Each squad were already out from playoff contention, which greatly diminished the significance of this matchup between historic NFC East rivals.

The Quarterback's Historic Outing

Prescott completed 19 of 37 passes and was instrumental on all six of its fourth-down attempts. His two TD passes gave him 30 for the season, tying 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 QB Situation

Forced to play minus 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 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.

The kicker later nailed a 51-yarder to extend the lead to 30-20 with under four minutes to play.

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. The key play was a 41-yard pass to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s longest since 2018.

Cowboys' Sustained Drives

On their next drive, the Cowboys successfully executed three fourth downs on a lengthy, 17-play drive that culminated in a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then completed the hat-trick in three drives with an 86-yard scoring pass to KaVontae Turpin.