Dak Prescott Pilots Cowboys By Struggling Commanders to Begin Holiday Three-Game Slate.
The Cowboys' quarterback 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.
Dallas (7-8-1) found the end zone on their initial three drives to establish 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 suffered their 10th loss in 11 games.
Each squad were already out from playoff contention, which greatly diminished the stakes of this contest 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 two TD passes gave him 30 for the season, equaling the franchise record of four seasons with 30 or more touchdown passes.
Prescott shrugged off six sacks, with three coming from Jer’Zhan Newton.
Commanders' QB Dilemma
Playing without their top QBs Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington called upon veteran Josh Johnson. In his 10th NFL start and first since 2021, Johnson went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks.
Washington's Scoring Drives
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 third quarter, but Dallas reclaimed a double-digit lead with a 52-yard kick by kicker Brandon Aubrey.
The kicker later nailed a 51-yarder to make it 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. A crucial connection was a 41-yard pass to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s longest since 2018.
Dallas' Methodical Drives
On their second possession, the Cowboys successfully executed three fourth downs on a 17-play march that culminated in a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then completed the hat-trick in three drives with an 86-yard touchdown strike to KaVontae Turpin.
