Prescott Leads Cowboys Past Reeling Washington Commanders to Launch Holiday Triple-Header.
The Cowboys' quarterback passed for 307 yards and two touchdowns, and the Dallas Cowboys blew most of an 18-point lead before narrowly defeating the Washington Commanders 30-23 Thursday.
Dallas (7-8-1) found the end zone on their first three possessions to go up 21-3 lead. Although the Commanders (4-12) cut the gap to a touchdown on three separate instances, they were unable to finish the comeback and suffered their 10th loss in 11 games.
Each squad were previously eliminated from postseason consideration, which severely lessened the stakes of this matchup between longtime NFC East rivals.
Prescott's Historic Outing
Prescott connected on 19 of 37 passes and was instrumental on all six of its fourth-down tries. His pair of touchdown throws gave him 30 for the season, matching Tony Romo’s record of four seasons with 30 or more touchdown passes.
Prescott shrugged off six sacks, including three coming from Jer’Zhan Newton.
Commanders' QB Situation
Forced to play minus injured quarterbacks Jayden Daniels (elbow) and Marcus Mariota (quad, hand), Washington called upon 39-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson. In his 10th NFL start and his first in over two years, Johnson was 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 latter touchdown got the Commanders to 24-17 in the third quarter, but Dallas reclaimed a double-digit lead with a 52-yard field goal by Brandon Aubrey.
Aubrey added 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 went 3 for 3 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.
Cowboys' Sustained Drives
On their second possession, the Cowboys converted three fourth downs on a 17-play march that ended with a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then made it three TDs in three drives with an 86-yard scoring pass to KaVontae Turpin.
