Prescott Leads Dallas Cowboys By Reeling Washington Commanders to Launch Holiday Tripleheader.

Dak Prescott threw for 307 yards and a pair of scoring strikes, and the Dallas Cowboys squandered a large portion of an 18-point lead before narrowly defeating the Washington Commanders 30-23 Thursday.

Dallas (7-8-1) scored touchdowns on their first three possessions to go up 21-3 lead. Washington, falling to 4-12, narrowed the margin to a touchdown on three separate instances, they were unable to finish the comeback and suffered their tenth defeat in 11 games.

Both teams were previously eliminated from playoff contention, which significantly reduced the importance of this matchup between historic NFC East rivals.

The Quarterback's Historic Outing

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

The signal-caller endured six sacks, including three credited to Jer’Zhan Newton.

Washington's Quarterback Dilemma

Forced to play minus their top QBs Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington called upon veteran Josh Johnson. In his 10th NFL start and his first in over two years, Johnson went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks.

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 restored its double-digit lead with a 52-yard kick by kicker Brandon Aubrey.

Aubrey added 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 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.

Cowboys' Methodical Drives

On their second possession, the Cowboys converted 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.