Prescott Leads Dallas Cowboys By Struggling Commanders to Begin Christmas Triple-Header.

Dak Prescott threw for 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 Thursday.

The Cowboys, now 7-8-1, scored touchdowns on their first three possessions to go up 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 greatly diminished the significance of this contest between longtime NFC East rivals.

Prescott's Historic Performance

Prescott connected on 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 at least 30 touchdown passes.

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

Commanders' QB Dilemma

Forced to play minus their top QBs Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington called upon 39-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson. Making his 10th career start and first since 2021, Johnson went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

Washington's Offensive Highlights

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.

Following a Prescott touchdown pass 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 completion to Deebo Samuel, Johnson’s biggest play since 2018.

Dallas' Methodical Drives

On their next drive, 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.