Prescott Guides Cowboys Past Reeling Commanders to Kick Off Christmas Triple-Header.

Dak Prescott passed for 307 yards and two touchdowns, as Dallas squandered a large portion 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. Washington, falling to 4-12, closed the deficit to a touchdown on three different occasions, they couldn’t complete the comeback and suffered their 10th loss in 11 games.

Each squad were already out from postseason consideration, which greatly diminished the stakes of this matchup between historic NFC East rivals.

The Quarterback's Historic Performance

Prescott completed 19 of 37 passes and was instrumental on all six of its fourth-down attempts. 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 defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton.

Commanders' Quarterback Situation

Playing without 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 went 15 for 23 for 198 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks.

The Commanders' Offensive Highlights

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 extend the lead to 30-20 with under four minutes to play.

Following a Prescott touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson on the game’s opening drive, 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.

Cowboys' Sustained Possessions

On their second possession, the Cowboys successfully executed three fourth downs on a lengthy, 17-play drive that ended with a touchdown run by Javonte Williams. Prescott then completed the hat-trick in three drives with an 86-yard touchdown strike to KaVontae Turpin.