Prescott Guides Cowboys By Skidding Commanders to Launch Holiday Tripleheader.

Dak Prescott accumulated 307 yards and two touchdowns, 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, scored touchdowns on their first three possessions to establish a 21-3 lead. Washington, falling to 4-12, cut the gap to a touchdown on three separate instances, they were unable to finish the comeback and absorbed their 10th loss in 11 games.

Each squad were already out from playoff contention, which severely lessened the significance of this contest between longtime NFC East rivals.

Prescott's Historic Outing

Prescott connected on 19 of 37 passes and helped Dallas convert all six of its fourth-down tries. His two TD passes gave him 30 for the season, tying Tony Romo’s record of four seasons with at least 30 touchdown passes.

Prescott shrugged off six sacks, including three credited to Jer’Zhan Newton.

Commanders' QB Dilemma

Forced to play minus their top QBs Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington called upon veteran Josh Johnson. Making his 10th career start and first since 2021, 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 second half, but Dallas reclaimed a double-digit lead with a 52-yard kick by Brandon Aubrey.

Aubrey added a 51-yarder to make it 30-20 with 3:59 remaining.

Following a Prescott touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson on the first possession, Johnson went 3 for 3 for 68 yards to get Washington to 7-3. A crucial connection was a 41-yard completion to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s biggest play since 2018.

Dallas' Sustained 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.